NHL matchups, odds to watch: December 12
NHL.com identifies key gameday matchups and players to watch throughout the 2023-24 season.
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1. Toronto Maple Leafs at New York Rangers (7 p.m. ET; MSG, TSN4)
TOR moneyline: +140
NYR moneyline: -165
The Maple Leafs lost 4-3 in overtime to the New York Islanders on Monday but are on a six-game point streak (4-0-2) entering their second of back-to-back games against the Rangers. Toronto captain John Tavares had one goal and one assist to reach 1,000 points for his NHL career against his former team.
The Rangers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Sunday, with backup goalie Jonathan Quick (25 saves on 26 shots faced) winning his first game against his former team to improve to 8-0-1 this season. New York is 9-2-0 at home and tied for the second-most points in the NHL standings (39; 19-6-1), while Toronto is 6-2-4 on the road.
Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews is tied with Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the NHL lead in goals (19), reaching that mark in three fewer games than Kucherov. Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski, who was recalled Nov. 28 after Kaapo Kakko’s injury, had a multpoint game (one goal, one assist) against the Kings on Sunday, giving him six points (one goal, five assists) in seven games this season. Toronto’s backup goalie Martin Jones stopped nine of 10 shots faced in his season debut in a win against the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 7, when he relieved injured rookie Joseph Woll.
2. Chicago Blackhawks at Edmonton Oilers (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNW, ESPN)
Over 6.5 total goals: -142
Under 6.5 total goals: +120
The Oilers are on a seven-game winning streak and have outscored their opponents 34-12 in the span. Edmonton is 9-3-0 in 12 games since Kris Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft as coach, scoring three or more goals in all of those games. Center Connor McDavid leads the NHL in points (26 in 12 games) since the coaching change Nov. 12, and Evander Kane leads the League in goals (nine) over that span.
This will be the first matchup between McDavid and Chicago forward Connor Bedard, who leads NHL rookies in goals (11), points (23 in 27 games), shots on goal (84) and is also tied for the most assists (12) in his class. Goalie Petr Mrazek, despite the Blackhawks being tied with the San Jose Sharks for the fewest standings points in the NHL (19), has had seven of their nine wins this season with a .912 save percentage and one shutout.
3. Tampa Bay Lightning at Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET; SNP, BSSUN)
TBL puckline (+1.5 goals): -238
VAN puckline (-1.5 goals): +195
The Canucks lead the NHL in goals per game (3.82) and host the Lightning, who rank 12th (3.28). This matchup features two of the five best power plays in the NHL; Tampa Bay ranks third (29.9) and Vancouver is fifth (26.0). The Lightning have five wins in 15 road games (5-8-2), while the Canucks are 10-3-1 at home with eight of those wins coming by multiple goals.
Tampa Bay had a 4-3 home win against the Canucks on Oct. 19. Four players had multiple points in that game: Kucherov (two goals) and Nicholas Paul (one goal, one assist) of the Lightning and Elias Pettersson (two assists) and J.T. Miller (one goal, one assist) of the Canucks.
Kucherov leads the NHL in points (47 in 28 games) and shots on goal (137) this season, and Miller ranks second in points (40 in 28 games). Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (undisclosed) will be a game-time decision after leaving their game Saturday.
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