This is like Christmas morning for hockey fans. Even though our offseasons have been shorter the last 2 years, I still get giddy like a kid awaiting to see what Santa brought him on opening night.
Tonight, we start slow with what will be two mediocre games to kick off the regular season. First, you have Pittsburgh in Tampa followed by the Kraken visiting Vegas for the late game.
Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay
The Lightning will be raising their 2nd Stanley Cup banner in 2 years and looking to go for a three-peat, something that has not happened in the NHL’s salary cap era.
While Tampa Bay still has some serious skill with players like Hedman, Kucherov, Stamkos, and Vasilevskiy; they did lose quite a bit of depth which is what truly won their Cups the past few years. Their entire third line consisting of Coleman, Gourde, and Goodrow have all moved on either through the expansion draft, trades, or free agent signings. The Bolts would have loved to keep these guys together; however, this is when the tough decisions are made, especially without an increase in the salary cap coming any time soon.
The Lightning did try to replace some of that grit with a guy they knew well from their last two Cup appearances, Corey Perry. The Worm was added for his grit and heaviness and he has already made an impact in the pre-season. You can only imagine what a pain-in-the-ass he will be to play against if partnered up with Phat Pat Maroon. Rumors circulated Cooper was considering a 3rd line consisting of Maroon – Perry – Stamkos.
With Malkin, Crosby, and Geuntzel out of the lineup for tonight’s game; the team will have to rely heavy on veterans like Carter and Letang to carry the weight for the Penguins. Crosby is coming off of wrist surgery and expected to be back in the next 1-2 weeks. Malkin on the other hand is a little more questionable.
On top of that, Tristan Jarry’s playoff meltdown last year left the Pens fans, management, and coaching staff scratching their heads. The Penguins were up in the series and leading the Isles; however, Jarry fell apart after a botched pass in his own zone resulted in a goal and he never bounced back in that series. For the Pens to survive the first part of their season without Crosby and Malkin, Jarry will need to step up and play better.
Gambling Tip: I think Tampa runs Pitt out of the building tonight. Emotions will be high with the banner being raised in front of their home crowd. Pitt is missing too much to make this competitive. I expect a 4-1 type thumping by Tampa.
Seattle at Vegas
The good news is that the Seattle Kraken will be making their inaugural NHL debut this evening. The bad news is that they are probably going to get throttled in their first ever game.
If you have been following me, you already know that I think Ronny Francis blew it in the expansion draft and besides getting Grubauer, did not have a great free agency.
Looking up and down the Kraken lineup, I do not see any guys who could have their “breakout” season like Karlsson, Smith, and Marchessault had for Vegas in the Knight’s first season.
Also, while Grubauer was a Vezina finalist last year, he was sitting behind a Stanley Cup favorite and one of the best teams in the NHL on both sides of the puck. It will be interesting to see if he still lives up to that contract when he is no longer on the powerhouse out of Colorado.
On top of that, the Kraken will be missing Marcus Johansson, Jared McCann, Jamie Oleksiak, Calle Jarnkrok and Joonas Donskoi all to Covid-19 protocols. Johansson, McCann, and Oleksiak will be the critical guys out of the already thin lineup for the Kraken. I do not see how they can win with those guys out. What does make this strange is that by the start of training camp, the team had acknowledged the fact that all of their players were vaccinated.
After losing in the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals to Washington, Vegas has proven that they are a powerhouse in the Western Conference. Although, this year will be the first time they are doing it without the face of their franchise, Marc-Andre Fleury. Pete DeBoer and the Golden Knights management staff have decided that Robin Lehner was the future for the organization and ended up trading Flower to Chicago.
Not to take away anything from Lehner as he had a great year last season posting a 13-4-2 record with a .913 SV%. I think he is a good goalie, but he isn’t as battle tested and proven as Flower.
On top of that, Vegas has been known as a great defensive team with the likes of Pietrangelo and Theodore guarding their blue line. I foresee this being a lower scoring game and I do not think the new kids get their first W against a perennial Cup contender.
Gambling Tip: I think Vegas definitely wins this game in a lower scoring affair. I foresee a 3-1 type game where Vegas controls the puck and game. There is no real value in either Tampa or Vegas on the money line. My bet is to take both independently on the puck line and also throw a little action in a Vegas & Tampa parlay ML.