NHL Betting Tips For Saturday, December 8

Game: Rangers @ Panthers Pick

Time: 7:00PM ET

A break couldn’t have come at a better time for the struggling Rangers. New York’s been off since blowing a 3-0 third-period lead Sunday in a 4-3 shootout loss at home to the Jets, the Rangers’ fifth loss in their last six games. An inability to keep the puck out of their own net has been the biggest culprit during the skid, with New York allowing 22 goals in those 6 games.

There’s a chance for a win tonight in Florida, however, because the Panthers aren’t exactly dominating in their own end right now either. Florida’s given up at least 3 goals in 8 of its last 10 games, a big reason why the Cats have just one regulation win in their last 9. The only two times Florida didn’t allow at least 3 goals were against a tired Sabres team that had its 10-game winning streak snapped the previous night in Tampa, and against a Bruins squad that couldn’t find the opposition net with a map right now.

We think the goals come for both teams tonight, and the Over 6 (-126) might be the way you want to go instead. But if there are going to be 7 or more goals scored in this one, however, both teams will be contributing towards the total. With New York having earned at least a point in 8 of the last 9 meetings (5-1-3) and having won 6 of its last 8 trips to Florida, we’ll back a rested Rangers team to score at least 3 goals for the 7^th time in its last 11 games here.

Game: Islanders @ Red Wings Pick

Time: 7:00PM ET

Sometimes situation trumps statistics when you’re handicapping sports, and this is a situation where we think the Islanders have a pretty big edge.

On one hand, you’ve got an Islanders team that is struggling right now, losers of 4 of 5 and 6 of 9. On the other, the Red Wings are flying high, following up an OT loss against Tampa with a wild 5-4 OT win at Toronto on Thursday night. During a 5-3-2 run in their last 10 games, the Wings have also posted 2 wins over the Bruins, and they’ve scored 4 goals or more in 5 of their last 6.

Yet, all the betting action in this game has come on the visitors, with New York moving from a +104 opener yesterday at Pinnacle up to -120 range right now. That’s smart money talking, and we agree with it largely because of both teams’ state of mind coming into this one. The Isles are desperate to turn around their recent fortunes while the Wings are probably feeling a bit too good about themselves right now and vulnerable to a letdown. New York’s also got an edge in goal with Thomas Greiss slated to face Wings backup Jonathan Bernier. We like the Isles’ chances of earning their 8^th victory in their last 11 trips to Detroit tonight.

Game: Predators @ Flames Pick

Time: 10:00PM ET

The Flames have been a tale of two teams so far this year, playing high-scoring games at home (10-3 to the Over) and low-scoring games on the road (11-4 to the Under). That’s one of the reasons we backed the Over in Calgary’s home game Thursday against the Wild, especially with the Flames’ offense going into that affair with 25 goals in its previous 5 games and 4+ goals in 6 of its previous 9.

Of course, that game went well Under the total of 6 as the Flames blanked the Wild 2-0. In the process, however, another recent trend continued to develop – Calgary’s defensive play at home. They’ve now held opponents to 3 regulation time goals or less in 8 straight in their own rink, allowing just 17 regulation time goals during that span.

If those tendencies continue tonight, it’ll take 4 goals from the Flames to see this one go Over 6. That doesn’t seem too likely with the Predators expected to heighten their defensive focus after allowing 5 goals Thursday in Vancouver. The Preds have a strong history of tightening things up after giving up 5 goals or more (they’re 14-3-1 to the Under in their last 18 in that situation), and we think they bring an all-business approach tonight as they look to snap a 5-game losing streak on the road. We’re not sure if they’ll snap the losing streak, but we do anticipate a low-scoring battle.