There’s a lot of puck-slinging on tap for tonight as we look at our picks for Nov 7, and all the teams know what’s at stake.  There’s no more time to try to figure out strategies – that period has passed.  It’s time to buckle down and start to make a difference and more than one team hopes to do that in a big way.

Sports Intel Daily Picks Nov 7

The New York Islanders have been on an awesome run, winning ten games in a row in the NHL.  They now sit at 11-3 on the season, but the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-6-1, are going to come out swinging as they try to bring that run to an end.  That’s going to be a little tougher since it was announced that Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was not going to be suiting up due to an undisclosed injury.

Even without Letang, there is a feeling that the Penguins have a good chance at winning the game.  They have been scoring an average of 3.4 goals per game and have only allowed 2.6 a game.  They have also been able to block 86.5% of opponents’ power plays.  It’s going to be a tight race, but for the game on Nov 7, our pick is that the Islanders are going to hang on and take the victory as time expires.

The Washington Capitals are on top of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference and it’s easy to see why.  They’ve been playing consistent all season, getting off to a strong 11-2-3 start.  As they face the Florida Panthers tonight, they’ll be more than ready.

The Caps have averaged 4.4 goals per game and have only given up 3.1 in their last ten games.  The panthers average 3.9 goals and give up 3.2 over the same number of contests.  John Carlson has gotten better in each of his seasons and is going to prove vital to the Capitals’ success.  This one easily goes to the Capitals, so we’ll be backing them.

The New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes are going to have to face each other four times this season, with the first showdown taking place tonight at Carolina.  Meeting four times last year, they each won a pair of games, and the rivalry will pick up where it left off.  Adam Fox, who had been a prospect for the Hurricanes will be on the opposite side of the puck and he’s going to show the team what they missed by not bringing him in.

Henrik Lundqvist is going to be a force Carolina has a difficult time figuring out.  His career record of 52-23-8 in the tail end of back-to-back games, like the one tonight, is going to find him getting even better.  However, the ‘Canes have been performing exceptionally well at home – 6-2 on the year – and has an awesome blueline corps.  They’re just ahead of the Rangers in goals per game with 3.27 (the Rangers are at 3.23) and they only allow an average of 2.80 goals per game.  Our pick for Nov 7 is that we expect them to bring all their energy and talent tonight and walk away with another entry in the Win column.

The Philadelphia Flyers host the Montreal Canadiens tonight and, although they’ve had some difficult at times, the Flyers continue to show some surprises and are going to be a tough opponent tonight.

Carter Hart is going to help boost the Flyers, just like he did against the Hurricanes.  He has developed a consistent rhythm that he hopes will convert into his fourth consecutive win.  However, seeing what the Canadiens did to the Boston Bruins, winning 5-4 in a surprise upset, is enough to make anyone stop and reconsider who could win.  Perhaps the Bruins just had an off night, but that’s doubtful.  They have found their speed and that is going to translate into another win against the Canadiens.

That’s it for the Sports Intel daily picks for Nov 7 in the NHL, good luck with you wagers!