NHL Betting Preview for Golden Knights vs. Penguins on Tuesday Night

NHL Betting Preview for Golden Knights vs. Penguins on Tuesday Night

Written by on February 6, 2018

The slight betting favorite Pittsburgh Penguins have heated up nicely over the last couple of weeks, but they’ll have their hands full when they take on former goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and the impressive expansion Vegas Golden Knights in their intriguing showdown on Tuesday night. Now, let’s find out which one of these Stanley Cup hopefuls is offering the best NHL betting value in this contest.

Las Vegas at Pittsburgh NHL Betting Preview & Expert Pick

  • When: Tuesday, February 6, 2018, 7:00 PM ET
  • Where: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
  • TV: TVA
  • Radio: 101.1 FM (Las Vegas) / 105.9 FM (Pittsburgh)
  • Live Streaming: NHL.tv
  • NHL Betting Odds: Pittsburgh Penguins -139 / Vegas Golden Knights +126

Team Records

  • All: Vegas Golden Knights 35-13-4 / Pittsburgh Penguins 29-22-3
  • Home: Vegas Golden Knights 19-3-2 / Pittsburgh Penguins 19-7-1
  • Away: Vegas Golden Knights 16-10-2 / Pittsburgh Penguins 10-15-2
  • ATS: Vegas Golden Knights 37-15 / Pittsburgh Penguins 24-30
  • Over/Under: Vegas Golden Knights 29-21-2 / Pittsburgh Penguins 27-25-2

Why Consider Betting on the Vegas Golden Knights?

Why should you bet on the stunning Vegas Knights? Well, because they’re the better team at both ends of the ice, that’s why! The Vegas Golden Knights have been nothing short of phenomenal in their inaugural NHL season and have broken every conceivable notion of what an expansion team is ‘supposed’ to look like. Vegas has won three of their last four games and come into this Tuesday night Inter-Conference clash off a thrilling 4-3 road win over Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Reilly Smith scored two goals and Alex Tuch scored the go-ahead goal with 5:12 remaining as Vegas came back three times from one-goal deficits to beat Washington for the second time this season. Vegas received two assists each from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Jonathan Marchessault while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 20 shots. “We never gave up. I thought we played our best game in two weeks, I really did, even though we were behind most of the (day),” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “It was only a one-goal lead every time, so we kept battling and we worked hard and that’s something our team has done all year long.” The Knights rank a stellar second in scoring (3.4 GPG) and equally impressive eighth in goals allowed (2.7 GPG). Former Penguins goalie Fleury has been absolutely stunning while compiling 1.84 goals against average this season that made him an all-star after Pittsburgh exposed in the expansion draft.

Team Statistics

Offense
  • Goals: 3.40
  • Shots: 32.94
  • PP/PK Percentage: 21.34
Defense 
  • Goals: 2.69
  • Shots: 30.21
  • PP/PK Percentage: 17.76

Why Consider betting on the Pittsburgh Penguins?

Why bet on the Penguins in this contest? Well, because they’re starting to play like the two-time defending champions they are!Pittsburgh has picked up the pace by winning seven of its last 10, but they come into this Tuesday night matchup off a humbling 3-1 road loss against New Jersey on Saturday. Evgeni Malkin, the NHL Player of the Month in January, scored the lone goal in the third period. Goalie Casey DeSmith allowed three goals on 38 shots to get the loss for the Penguins. Despite playing at home, the Penguins shouldn't be your NHL Betting Pick against the Golden Knights. “When you don’t play committed, you don’t play hard, you get outplayed, you are not going to win,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We got outplayed. It’s pretty simple. They wanted it more. They won every loose puck battle. They were quicker with their second man to the puck battles. For whatever reason, we didn’t have any jump tonight. We didn’t seem to have our legs. We certainly got outplayed. We deserved to lose.” Pittsburgh ranks a solid 11th in scoring (3.0 GPG) but an uninspiring 22nd in goals allowed by giving up an identical 3.0 goals per game.

Team Statistics

Offense
  • Goals: 3.04
  • Shots: 34.28
  • PP/PK Percentage: 27.57
Defense 
  • Goals: 3.00
  • Shots: 30.85
  • PP/PK Percentage: 17.20

Latest NHL Betting Trends

  • Golden Knights are 17-4 ATS in their last 21 games
  • Golden Knights are 16-6 SU in their last 22 games
  • The total has gone OVER in 6 of Vegas’s last 8 games
  • Penguins are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games
  • Penguins are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games
  • The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh’s last 5 games at home

Expert Analysis and Prediction

I’m going to advise you to go with the impressive, expansion Vegas Golden Knights as your NHL Betting Pick this Tuesday night for one main reason. The Knights have been fantastic at home and have a winning road record as well, but that’s not why I like them on Tuesday night. The main reason I like the Knights is that I think they’re going all out to get the win and that former Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury wants nothing more than to show his former team they made a huge mistake by exposing him to the NHL expansion draft, which they did. This one should be a one-goal thriller! The Golden Knights are 7-0 in their last seven games in the fourth game of a 4-in-6 situation. The Golden Knights are also a near-perfect 6-1 in their last 7 vs. Metropolitan teams and a blistering 10-2 in their last 12 vs. Eastern Conference teams. Pittsburgh is 4-9 in their last 13 games against teams from the Western Conference. Pick: Vegas Golden Knights 3 – Pittsburgh Penguins 2