Two teams that’ve combined to serve nearly 29 penalty minutes a game, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators meet at Bridgestone Arena for an East-West matchup. AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh will showcase the action, which gets going at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 11.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Nashville Predators Odds
Pittsburgh is 9-8 straight up (SU) and has lost 0.1 units for moneyline bettors thus far. Nine of its games have gone over the total, while eight have gone under and none have pushed. The Pens are 4-7 SU on the road in 2017-18.
Pittsburgh currently has the third-strongest power-play unit in the NHL, as it’s scored on 27.7 percent of its extra-man advantages this year. Additionally, its penalty kill is ranked 14th overall, and the team’s successfully killed off 81.5 percent of its penalties.
The Pens, as a collective unit, have been sent to the penalty box 4.8 times per game this season, and 3.8 per game over its last ten games. The team’s had to defend opponent power plays 10.4 minutes per contest over their last five road games.
With a .906 save percentage and 26.1 saves per game, Matt Murray (9-5-1) has been the best option in goal for Pittsburgh this year. If head coach Mike Sullivan decides to rest him, however, Pittsburgh could turn to Antti Niemi (0-3 record, .797 save percentage, 7.49 goals against average).
Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin will both lead the way for the visiting Penguins. Kessel (19 points) is up to five goals and 14 assists, and has recorded two or more points in four different games. Malkin has seven goals and 11 assists to his creditand has notched at least one point in 11 games.
Nashville is 8-7 straight up (SU) and has earned 0.6 units for moneyline bettors this season. Through 15 regular season outings, nine of its games have gone under the total, while six have gone over and none have pushed. It’s 3-2 SU at home so far this year.
The Predators have converted on just 20.6 percent of their power play chances this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked seventh overall, and it’s successfully killed off 83.6 percent of all opponent power plays.
Nashville players have been called for penalties 6.3 times per game this season, a number that’s risen noticeably from the 4.0 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 10.6 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has been forced to kill penalties for a taxing 16.3 minutes per matchup this year.
Pekka Rinne (29.6 saves per game) has been the primary selection in goal for the Predators. Rinne has seven wins, four losses, and two overtime losses to his name and has maintained a .934 save percentage and a solid 2.08 goals against average this year.
The Preds will be led on offense by Filip Forsberg (eight goals, six assists).
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Nashville Predators Betting Picks
Predictions: SU Winner – Predators, O/U – Over
Betting Notes:
- Over Pittsburgh’s last ten games, four of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 1-3 in those games).
- The Penguins are 3-4 SU when they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Predators are 3-5 SU in games where they serve more minutes than the opposition.
- After going 2-4 in games decided by a shootout last year, the Predators are off to a 0-1 start in shootouts this season. Pittsburgh was 4-5 in shootouts last year and has yet to participate in one this time around.
- The over has hit in three of Nashville’s last five outings.
- Nashville has averaged 2.7 goals per game overall this season, but has raised it up to 4.0 per contest over its three-game winning streak.
- Pittsburgh has averaged 7.6 giveaways over its last five home games, its season average of 7.1 giveaways per game (ranked fifth).
- This game features two of the more physical teams in the league. Pittsburgh skaters have dished out the league’s 11th-most hits per game (21.8) while the Predators have registered the 10th-most (22.3).
