Tampa Bay Lightning at Nashville Predators (12.00pm AEDT Fox Sports 505 HD)
Wednesday’s televised game of the day takes us to Nashville as the Predators take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa Bay are still taking care of business in the Atlantic Division, but have lost their last three and are finding it tough to fill the gap of injured defenseman Victor Hedman.
Hedman sustained a lower body injury back in January 11th and will miss the next 3-6 weeks. Since his departure the Lightning are 0-3 on the road and have only managed to generate four goals in those three losses. Despite the loss of Hedman, the Lightning have two of the best forwards in the league with Stamkos and Kucherov on deck. Stamkos has been quiet in the goal scoring category as of late but still has the ability to share the puck and Kucherov is still leading the league in scoring. Something tells me they will be ok for the coming weeks. This will be the Lightnings second game in two nights as they take on Chicago on Tuesday afternoon.
Nashville have won the last five games and will be well rested with their three day break. The Preds are now 16-4-2 at home this season after taking care of the Golden Knights, Arizona and Florida this week. The goaltending has been at a high level this season with Pekka Rinne at his best and youngster Juuse Saros becoming a reliable back up. Nashville give up the most penalty minutes this season and are ranked 24th in shots on goal allowed. It's hard not to talk about goaltending when you see stats like this. This is their first matchup of the season between these two teams and this should be a cracker. Last time these two teams met the Predators won 6-1, highly unlikely to see this result again but I do think Nashville will be to strong at home.
TIP: Nashville Predators H2H - Price not yet available
Colorado Avalanche at Montreal Canadiens (11.30am AEDT)
The Avalanches are making some serious noise at the moment. They have won their last nine straight and are crushing teams with their fast offensive play that is lead by Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon has points in his last nine games which is NHL longest active streak and has scored in his last five. The Avalanches will play back to back games, as they start their road trip on Tuesday against Toronto then head north to Montreal. The team are 8-9-2 on the road this season and are expected to play back up goalie Andrew Hammond who was called up from the AHL last Thursday. He hasn't played since Sept 5th.
Montreal looked impressive over the Capitals on Saturday getting the 3-2 win on the road but struggled against Boston as they lost twice in a week to the Bruins. It's been an up and down season for the Canadiens now ranked fifth in the Atlantic Division and along way from the postseason. The Canadiens have been hit with some injury news and will be without Shea Weber and Andrew Shaw until after the All Star break. The team are 11-9-5 at home this season and will need a solid game to knock over the hottest team in the league.
TIP: Colorado Avalanches H2H - Price not yet available
Winnipeg Jets at San Jose Sharks (2.00pm AEDT)
The leaders of the Central Division the Winnipeg Jets head into San Jose to take on the Sharks in a Western Conference battle. The Jets have scrapped over the line in their last two victories over the Flames and the Canucks winning both games by one goal. But more importantly they have only gave up one goal in their last two outings. Connor Hellebuyck got the shut out over Vancouver and allowed one goal on 31 shots against the Flames. He already has four shutouts to his game this season and a 25-6-6 record to go along with that. The Jets faced off against the Sharks earlier this month and won that battle 4-1, will we see the same result this game?
The Sharks haven't put a foot wrong as of late with their last two wins coming against a traveling Penguins team then backed up for the 6-2 over Anaheim on the road. Teams find it tough to get the victory on the Sharks ice, the reason being that the Sharks are one of the best defensive teams in the league. Ranked fifth for goals allowed and third for penalty kill. Will be interesting to see how the Jets approach this as they haven't won in San Jose since 2016.
TIP: San Jose Sharks H2H - $1.83 at Sportsbet
Make sure to read full terms and conditions of any betting promotion before placing any bets - may not be available to residents of all states.
Always Gamble Responsibly.
