Greetings fellow hockey fans, it's safe to say that quite a bit has happened since last week's edition of picks.
The Vancouver Canucks completely cleaned house in terms of their leadership as the team fired general manager Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green. The Canucks also hired their replacement in new head coach Bruce Boudreau and new general manager Jim Rutherford. If that wasn't enough drama, the Philadelphia Flyers fired head coach Alain Vigneault after losing their eighth consecutive game last Sunday. Philadelphia chose to replace Vigneault with assistant coach Mike Yeo, who previously served as the head coach for the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues.
Both teams were floundering, so the moves may not have come as much of a surprise. Still, the situations are very different when it comes to the roster makeup. The Canucks may have one of the worst records in the Western Conference, but the franchise does have young building blocks in Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, and Bo Horvat. Pettersson and Hughes have already shown the potential to blossom into superstars.
Meanwhile, the Flyers don't exactly have the same luxury. As much as it pains me as a Flyers fan, the team should've moved captain Claude Giroux two or three years ago when his value was still fairly high. Now the team appears to be going nowhere and are paying out lofty contracts to the likes of Giroux and Kevin Hayes. It might be time to blow up the roster and begin to build around guys like defenseman Ivan Provorov, forward Joel Farabee, and goaltender Carter Hart (if he proves he's the netminder of the future).
Anyway, let's get to the picks, which do feature the Flyers.
All times Eastern, and all odds via Caesars Sportsbook
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🔥 The Hot Ticket
🏒 Rangers at Sabres, 7 p.m. | TV: ESPN+
The Pick: Rangers (-190): Over the last month, there hasn't been a hotter team in the NHL than the Rangers. This is a group that has won 11 of its last 13 games and were riding a seven-game winning streak before losing 7-3 to the Avalanche on Wednesday. Despite the loss, I'm more than happy to jump back on the Rangers in this spot.
New York could continue to be without goaltender Igor Shesterkin as he continues to recover from a lower-body injury that he suffered last Friday against the Sharks. Even if Shesterkin can't go, backup netminder Alexandar Georgiev has held his own in Shesterkin's absence. Georgiev started back-to-back games against the Blackhawks and only surrendered four total goals in two wins.
On the other hand, the Sabres have had their fair share of struggles as of late. This is a team that has dropped nine of its last 10 games and has scored two goals or fewer in five of those contests. In their last seven games, the Sabres are 1-6 as home underdogs and that's a trend that I expect to continue with another defeat.
Key Trend: Rangers are 10-1 in their last 11 games when their opponent scores two or fewer goals in their previous game
💰 More NHL picks
🏒 Penguins at Capitals, 7 p.m. | TV: ESPN+
The Pick: Capitals (-145): The Capitals have gotten out to an extremely strong start this season as they're tied for the most points (38) in the Eastern Conference. Part of the reason for that success has been the play of star winger Alex Ovechkin. It's been well-documented that Ovechkin is chasing the all-time goals record, but what's even more impressive is that he's having one of the best years of his career. Entering Friday, Ovechkin is on pace for a 129-point season, which would be a career-best. He's also played historically well against the Penguins as he's recorded 36 goals and 30 assists in 66 career games.
Meanwhile, the Penguins enter Friday's tilt after outscoring their opponents 10-2 over their past two games. However, it's worth noting that those came in wins over the Canucks and Kraken, who are two of the worst teams in the Western Conference. The Penguins are still clearly missing the presence of Evgeni Malkin in the lineup, who is coming back from a knee injury. In their lone meeting this season, the Capitals absolutely torched goaltender Tristan Jarry and came away with a 6-1 win. While I don't envision another blowout this time around, I'm comfortable taking the Capitals once again.
Key Trend: Capitals are 5-1 in their last six games as a home favorite
🏒 Flyers at Golden Knights, 10 p.m. | TV: ESPN+
The Pick: Under 6.0 goals (-110): As I mentioned earlier, the Flyers are currently going through one of the worst stretches that we've seen in quite some time. This is a group that is riding a 10-game losing streak and the coaching change hasn't seemed to have made much of a difference. On the season, the Flyers are only averaging 2.3 goals-per-game, which ranks 28th in the league. In seven of their last nine games, the Flyers have scored two goals or less, so the under makes a ton of sense.
The Golden Knights have battled back in contention in the Western Conference despite dropping four of their five games. On top of that, the team lost star forwards William Karlsson, Max Pacioretty, and Mark Stone for significant periods, but the trio is back in the fold. Vegas is one of the better scoring teams in the NHL as they're 10th in the league in total goals (85). However, I'm confident that the Golden Knights can score a few goals and this number still hits. Something along the lines of a 3-1 or 4-1 Golden Knights victory wouldn't surprise me.
Key Trend: The under is 9-2 in the Flyers' last 11 road games
