Premium NHL Picks: January 9th

NY Islanders @ Chicago Blackhawks: 

With a long list of injured players, one would have expected Islanders to skid but they have been getting better and better with new and young NHL players. Hawks on the other side have had their own difficulties losing three of their last five games. They were able to edge past the Senators on Friday evening with a 3-2 victory.

This is the only meeting between these clubs. 

4 wins in last 5 will boost the confidence of the Islanders team tonight when they face the defending champions. They were able to hold off the Avalanche on Saturday thanks to Tavares's overtime winner after blowing a late lead in the third period. Their powerplay was at their best of the season, scoring three on four chances and not allowing the Colorado Avalanche score on three powerplays. Isles have been excellent in penalty killing as of late, killing off 13 powerplays in a row in last 5 games.

Hawks have scored 9 goals in last three games and they won two of these, only losing on home ice against the Dallas Stars. 

Corey Crawfors is expected to start tonight in Chicago goal and Kevin Poulin is likely to start for the Islanders as Rick Di Pietro is out with an injury.

I will go with OVER in this one. Islanders games on road have been high scoring games and when we look at the games between Islanders and Hawks, we see that the total has gone OVER in 7 of the last 10 games.

PICK: OVER 5.5 GOALS [loss] [score: 0-5]

3 units @ 1.77

Dallas Stars @ Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Wild will try to win their fifth straight tonight when they take on the Dallas Stars who also have won four in a row on road.

Stars lost against the Rangers on Friday at home after completing a two game road trip in which they won two in a row. They have been winning on road and losing at home in recent games. 

The last time the Wild lost was the last day of 2010 when they played against the Nashville Predators at Xccel Energy Center, they were swept aside 4-1 by the Predators. Since then, they won four in a row. 

Theodore was excellent in Pittsburgh on Saturday night when he stopped all 26 shots he faced. He will be starting in goal for the Wild once again tonight. 

Lehtonen is expected to be in goal for the visiting Stars.

As good as the Wild have been in recent games beating Phoenix, New Jersey, Boston and Pittsburgh, I see the Stars winning tonight. Stars have won four in a row on road, beating Blues and Blackhawks in their last two road games. They have also been very dominant over the Wild in recent seasons, going 9-2 SU in last 11 games.

PICK: DALLAS STARS TO WIN [Moneyline] [win] [score: 4-0]

2 units @ 1.97