Massive 12 game slate in the NHL this Wednesday, the 3rd of January. We take a look at some of the key games of the day including the Fox Sports televised Penguins at Flyers and give our betting tips below.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers (11.00am AEDT Fox Sports 3HD)
Pittsburgh head to Wells Fargo Center in Philly for their first game of 2018. Both teams are currently outside the wildcard slot and are looking to climb the standings in the second half of the season.
The Penguins have dropped the previous two games, with losses against the Hurricanes and Red Wings. The offense went missing in those games only registering two goals in two games. The defense has also been hit hard in the past week with Kris Letang remaining on the day to day injury list suffering a lower body injury and Bryan Rust also out. The Pens might struggle with the Flyers having such a strong scoring lineup.
The Flyers seem to win matchups over the top teams but lose to teams on their level. The win over Tampa Bay last game surely must add some much needed confidence and satisfaction as they try and scrape off the bottom of the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers have struggled at home this season, having dropped six straight late last year which now pushing their home record to 8-7-4. They definitely won't be a shoe in against the Pens, but with the injuries to Pittsburgh and they power of Voracek, Couturier and Giroux, Murray might have his hands full.
TIP: Philadelphia Flyers H2H - $1.84 at Sportsbet
Tampa Bay Lightning at Toronto Maple Leafs (11.00am AEDT)
In one of the games of the night, the Lightning travel north to face Austin Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs. With both teams having offensive strengths this one could be high scoring.
Philadelphia broke the eight game winning streak on Tampa home ice, but it clearly unfazed the Lightning, who came out of Monday’s game with a 5-0 shutout over the Bluejackets. Stamkos and Vasilevskiy have been the stand out for the Lightning as of late. Stamkos extended his scoring streak to three games and has put through four goals which puts his total to 17 of the year. Vasilevskiy is now 25-5-1 for the year as he picked up another win, this time over the Jackets who only put 16 shots on goal.
The Leafs are back on home ice after their trip out west and once again will be tested by the league's best. Toronto have dropped the last two on the road with the latest lose coming to the hands of the Vegas Knights. Toronto are strong on home ice with an 11-5-0 record and will match anyone in front of their hostile crowd. It will depend on how the Leafs control the forwards of Tampa, they are ranked 29th in the league for shots on goal allowed, that's a recipe for disaster against the league best if they continue this trend.
TIP: Tampa Bay Lightning H2H - $1.77 at CrownBet
Nashville Predators at Vegas Golden Knights (2.00pm AEDT)
Matchup of the night in the West sends the Predators to Vegas. Both teams met only weeks ago with Vegas taking that in a shootout. The Predators are 11-6-3 on the road this season and are coming off a win in their last outing over the Wild as Rinne got the shutout. Nashville have had the extra day rest ahead of this game and come into this game second in the Central Division. Nashville are one of the strongest teams on the power play ranked second in the league and also have solid penalty kill ranking eighth. They certainly push hard to make teams earn their goals on five on five hockey.
Vegas can't put a foot wrong and are three points clear of LA in the Pacific standings. They have now won seven on the trot with their latest victory coming over Toronto on home ice. Vegas are second in the league for goals scoring just over 3.5 goals per game. Marc Andre Fleury will be in the net for this one as he looks for his eighth win of the season as he currently supports a 7-1-1 record. Vegas are the real deal and are 16-2-1 at home. It's hard to look past them at home or on the road at this stage of the year.
TIP: Nashville Predators H2H - $2.18 at Ladbrokes
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