Monday's Best NHL Bets
New York Rangers at New York Islanders (N/A)
Are the Islanders cursed? The team’s backers have to be asking themselves that question after franchise player John Tavares suffered a concussion in the first period against the Stars on Saturday night.
This is a big deal people. Tavares is a unique talent and concussions aren’t being treated lightly in the NHL any longer, especially not after that scary incident involving Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec.
"He's arguably our best forward, and John's a prolific player that brings a lot of offense to our team," team captain Doug Weight told the Islanders' official website.
It’s a really bad break for the Islanders who are already missing their top defenseman Mark Streit and bruising forward Kyle Okposo.
The Rangers, meanwhile, looked dynamic lighting the lamp six times against the Sabres on Saturday.
Pick: Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins at New Jersey Devils (-140, 5.5)
Expectations are always going to be high for the Penguins as long as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are in the lineup. So that’s why many are surprised by the club’s 0-2 start, with both loses coming at the club’s new arena.
So what’s the deal? The Pens led late in the third period against the Habs, the same team who knocked Pittsburgh out of the playoffs last spring, but Montreal scored two late goals to steal two points and walk away with a 3-2 win.
Some are pointing fingers at goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and his 3.07 goals against average, but everyone knows Sid and Company need to score more than two goals a game to be successful.
It seems like the early absence of center Jordan Staal is hurting a bit more than expected.
The opening few games haven’t gone much better for the Devils. New Jersey grabbed a point in its first game but then got blown out by Washington, 7-2, on Saturday.
Devils coach John MacLean stated the obvious after the game, telling reporters his team had some work to do.
Expect the Pens offense to come alive against the Devils Monday night.
Pick: Penguins