Top Betting For Week 16 NHL Season 2023

The Vegas Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final in their expansion season but haven’t been back since. Following a Jan. 5 win over Pittsburgh, the Knights were 27-12-2 and among the favorites to hoist the Cup this summer. However, they have since lost eight of 10 and are now +1600 on the NHL futures odds to win the Stanley Cup entering their week off.

Odds After Week 16: Break At Good Time For Struggling Vegas

The NHL All-Star Game is this weekend and some teams get this full week off from games while others will get a break afterward. Vegas closed its first half with a 2-1 OT loss at the Islanders on Saturday and finding the net has been a problem of late. William Carrier had the lone goal. He tallied at 16:08 of the second period, and that was all the Golden Knights could muster despite putting 45 shots on target versus Semyon Varlamov. Carrier has two goals and two assists over his last four outings, with a five-game absence in the middle of that due to an upper-body injury.

Logan Thompson made 35 saves in the tough-luck loss. Anders Lee picked up a loose puck and put it past Thompson’s glove to open the scoring early in the second. And Mathew Barzal won it with 32 seconds left in OT when he faked a one-timer, skated to the top of the right circle, and fired blocker side. Thompson has a 1-4-2 record in his last seven games. But the Golden Knights have only given him eight goals in those six defeats.

The Knights have scored just four first-period goals in their last nine games, which leaves them chasing down games in the second and third periods. Chandler Stephenson has no goals in his last nine games, Reilly Smith none in his last eleven, and Jack Eichel none in his last six. The stars aren’t producing. The Knights finished their January schedule ranked 28th in the NHL in goals per game this month (2.42).

“It’s tough,” Carrier said. “Especially at the beginning of the year, we got on the road there, we were winning every (game). I don’t think we were playing as well as we are now and we were winning. Now, we’re playing solid hockey and just can’t find the back of the net.”

Injuries have certainly played a role. Top-line forward Mark Stone has been out of the lineup since suffering an upper-body injury Jan. 12 against Florida. He is dealing with a back injury after missing two months of action last year and had lumbar discectomy surgery — a procedure that repairs a disc in the lower back — in the offseason. This issue is apparently not related to that and Stone might return after the break. He has registered 17 goals, 38 points, 113 shots on net and 31 hits in 43 contests this campaign. Vegas is next in action at Nashville on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

The three-time Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning are starting to play their best hockey and are +1200 to win a third Cup in four seasons. No. 1 goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves in a 5-2 win over the Kings on Saturday. Vasilevskiy has won three straight games, seven of his last nine and 13 of his last 17. January 28, 2023

Brayden Point scored a goal and added an assist Saturday. Point has 29 goals and sits tied with Mark Scheifele for ninth in the NHL. He opened the scoring early in the first when he scored from in front on a quick Nikita Kucherov pass from behind the net. Point has five points (two goals, three assists) in his last two games.

The Bolts are 32-15-1 through 48 games this season with a .677 points percentage, good for sixth-best in the NHL. They have won 12 straight at home. In that streak, the Bolts have scored four or more goals 10 times and allowed two or less goals nine times. Through 48 games, Coach Jon Cooper has been pleased with the consistent growth of the group.

“If you’re going to judge where we are in the standings, you’d say [it’s been] a heck of a job that these guys have done, especially when you start the season 1-3,” said Cooper. “There’s been a lot of growth with our team. “We’re a much better team today than we were on day one. We’re starting to find some consistency in our game and that’s what you want as you’re trying to make a push for the playoffs, but we’ve put ourselves in the spot we want to be in.”

Tampa Bay is next in action on Feb. 6 at Florida and looks to win a 13^th straight at home on Feb. 7 vs. San Jose.

Expert Stanley Cup Prediction

Boston over Colorado – Bruins are +500 favorites