The Nashville Predators and the Vegas Golden Knights collide at Bridgestone Arena in a Western Conference showdown. It’s the third time these teams have met in the regular season. The match will get underway at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 16 and it’s being televised live on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
Vegas Golden Knights at Nashville Predators Odds
Nashville heads into the contest as the obvious favorite with a moneyline of -145. The line for Vegas sits at +125 and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at 6 goals (-125 for the over, +105 for the under).
Vegas is 29-13 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 19.8 units this year. Through 42 regular season outings, 23 of its games have gone over the total, while 17 have gone under and just two have pushed. This 2017-18 Golden Knights team is 11-9 SU on the road.
Vegas has converted on 18.1 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is ranked 10th overall, and it has successfully killed off 82.5 percent of all penalties.
The Knights, as a collective unit, have been sent to the penalty box just 3.3 times per game overall in the 2017-18 season, and 2.4 per game over its last five road outings. The teams been forced to kill penalties just 6.2 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Boasting a .942 save percentage and 30.1 saves per game, Marc-Andre Fleury (9-4-2) has been the primary option in goal for Vegas this season. If Vegas chooses to rest him, however, the team may turn to Malcolm Subban (12-2 record, .918 save percentage, 2.38 goals against average).
Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson will both lead the way for the visiting Golden Knights. Marchessault has 41 points via 16 goals and 25 assists, and has recorded multiple points 12 times. Karlsson has 23 goals and 14 assists to his creditand has registered a point in 24 games.
Nashville is 25-17 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 5.0 units this year. 21 of its contests have gone over the total, while another 21 have gone under and none have pushed. It’s 13-6 SU as the home team this season.
The Predators have converted on 24.2 percent of their power play opportunities this year, a figure that’s good enough for fourth-best in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 11th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 82.1 percent of all opponent power plays.
Nashville players have been penalized 5.1 times per game in total this season, and 3.8 per game over their last ten match ups. The teams been forced to stave off opponent power plays just 4.8 minutes per game over their last five outings.
Pekka Rinne (29.1 saves per game) has been the primary selection in goal for the Predators. Rinne has 21 wins, 11 losses, and three OT losses to his credit and has recorded a 2.43 goals against average and a .925 save percentage this year.
The home team will be led on offense by Filip Forsberg (15 goals, 19 assists).
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Nashville Predators Free Picks
Predictions: SU Winner – Golden Knights, O/U – Under
Betting Notes
- Over Nashville’s last ten outings, five of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 1-4 in those games).
- Power plays and penalty kills could play a key role in this matchup. The Golden Knights are 11-5 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 21-9 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Predators are 11-2 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 12-6 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
- Vegas is 2-2 in games decided by a shootout this season while Nashville is 3-4 in shootouts.
- The total has gone under in four of Nashville’s last five games.
- Nashville is ranked 12th this season with 9.0 giveaways per game. That figure has improved lately, however, as the teams averaged 6.4 giveaways over its last 10 games and 7.2 giveaways over its last five.
- Vegas skaters have averaged 6.2 giveaways over its last five home games, an improvement from its season average of 10.0 giveaways per game (ranked 20th).
