Friday's edition of the "Morning Skate" recaps a busy Thursday that saw 11 games occur across the league, including five road wins, one that saw the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers fall to 1-0-1 at home this season.
Heading into Friday, we still have three unbeaten teams: Calgary (4-0-0), Tampa Bay (3-0-0) and Winnipeg (3-0-0). Only one was in action last night, as the Lightning took down the visiting Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3, after two late goals inside the final 2:22 of the third period.
Let's take a look at some of the highlights from Thursday:
- Artemi Panarin (3 goals, 1 assists) notched the league's fourth hat trick of the season to lead the New York Rangers to a 5-2 road in in Detroit. He became the first player in franchise history to start a season on a four-game multi-point streak. The Rangers (3-0-1), meanwhile, pushed their season-opening point streak to four games and are off to their best start to a campaign since 2008-09.
- Nikita Kucherov (2 goals) capped Tampa Bay's late comeback against Vegas. He leads the league with six goals this season. Kucherov scored the go-ahead marker with just 54.1 seconds remaining in regulation to help the Lightning start a season with three straight wins for the first time since 2020-21
- Connor Bedard (2 assists) and Adam Fantilli (1 goal) hit the score sheet to lead the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets past the San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres, respectively. The victories were both teams' first home win of the season.
- After a dismal 0-3-0 start to the season, the Edmonton Oilers have found their footing, as they scored a 4-2 road win in Nashville, their second straight victory. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl connected on the game-winner as McDavid recorded his first goal of the season while extending his point streak against the Predators to 14 games.
Through the first nine nights:
- Favorites are 42-26, including a 17-7 run since Tuesday.
- Overs are 32-31-5.
Tonight's FEATURED GAME (lines courtesy DraftKings):
San Jose at WINNIPEG (-325, 5.5o, -120)
As mentioned, the Jets are one of three teams in the league that haven't lost a game. This is a very big number, and I would never advise laying this much money. But Winnipeg has won three of the last four meetings. The Jets have also won four of the last five meetings in Winnipeg with a scoring margin of +7 goals.
This used to be a series the Sharks owned in Winnipeg, as they won 12 of the first 17 meetings, including a tie way back in 2003. But the Jets have improved over the years, and they're a much better team than the Sharks.
San Jose arrives for its third-straight road game, after losses in Dallas and Chicago, spanning four days. The Sharks, who lost last night in Chicago, will be playing their fifth game in nine days, and they're still looking for their first win.
PREDICTION: Again, I would never tell anyone to play a $3 favorite. But I would advise a $1.30 favorite, and that's what we can bring the number down to by laying the puck line with the Jets. While the resurrection of the Fly Boys in the NFL remains to be seen with Davante Adams now wearing green, we can count on Mark Scheifele and company to continue their unbeaten run with a puck-line win.