It was inevitable – a mass elimination. We had a rough weekend in the survivor pool that saw all but 5 people eliminated. A slew of injuries that came about Friday had Iain second-guessing his picks on game day. Be sure to check your team’s injury reports Saturday mornings to make sure all their stars will be in the lineup. Fortunately for me, I had already used the Pittsburgh Penguins and they weren’t available for me, otherwise I’d have taken a week 4 exit with many of you.
On the bright side, we have some safer matchups this week. The Washington Capitals against the Florida Panthers seems like an obvious safe pick (taking the Caps of course), but there are no guarantees that Alexander Ovechkin will play (the Capitals are 1-4 without Ovechkin over his 5 year career), and the Panthers are currently riding a 3 game winning streak. The Philadelphia Flyers might also seem like a safe bet matching up against the St. Louis Blues, but groin injuries will keep both Daniel Briere and Simon Gagne from suiting up, so steer clear of this one as well. Here are the picks I’m favouring:
Nashville Predators at Los Angeles Kings (Saturday at 4:00pm) – The Kings have been an offensively dominant team so far this year averaging 3.36 goals per game (5th in the NHL), while the Preds have struggled with just 2.06 goals per game (29th). Nashville have been a solid team defensively this year, but will be without All-Star blueliner Shea Weber who is nursing a sore foot. The Kings will launch 40 shots at the Preds, and though poor Pekka Rinne will perform admirably, the onslaught of offense will be just too much. Anze Kopitar and Alexander Frolov will both find the net in this rout.
Prediction: Los Angeles wins 5-1
Carolina Hurricanes at Columbus Blue Jackets (Saturday at 7:00pm) – Congrats Leafs’ fans – the Hurricanes are the NHL’s new basement dwellers! Nothing’s going right for the Hurricanes right now. The losers of 10 straight just lost their most dangerous weapon, Eric Staal, for two to four weeks with what’s being called an upper-body injury. Rick Nash and the Blue Jackets on the other hand, have been on a tear. Nash has 6 goals in his last 7 games and should keep the blazing pace going against a struggling Cam Ward. The Blue Jackets will strengthen their division lead with two more points in a regulation victory over the Canes.
Prediction: Columbus wins 4-2
Detroit Red Wings at Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday at 7:00pm) – With former Wings Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, and Luc Robitaille all in town for their Hall of Fame Induction this weekend, there’ll be no lack of inspiration for the current Red Wings to hand the Maple Leafs yet another defeat. Phil Kessel will find the net for the first time in the blue and white, but penalty trouble will be the Leafs downfall once again. The Leafs might beat the Hurricanes tonight, but their consecutive-games-with-a-point streak ends Saturday at the hands of Pavel Datsyuk and the storied Detroit Red Wings.
Prediction: Detroit wins 3-2