Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – January 23rd, 2023

There has been another head coaching change in the NHL as the massively disappointing Vancouver Canucks fired Bruce Boudreau over the weekend and replaced him with Rick Tocchet. The Canucks have lost 10 of their past 12 games and are sixth in the Pacific Division, 14 points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They are 31st in the NHL in goals against per game (3.96) and last on the penalty kill (65.9 percent). Vancouver is next in action Tuesday at home vs. Chicago. Here’s a look at two other intriguing early-week NHL matchups.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week (January 23rd, 2023)

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Florida Panthers vs. New York Rangers

• When: Monday, January 23, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• TV: TVAS, MSG, BSFLX
• Radio: 560 Sports WQAM (Panthers) // WFAN Sports Radio 101.9 FM (Rangers)
• Live Stream: NHL Live
• NHL Betting Odds: TBA

The Panthers could be rather short-handed for this one. No. 1 netminder is unlikely to play in the Panthers’ next few games due to a lower-body injury, according to head coach Paul Maurice. Bobrovsky, 34, left Thursday’s 6-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens after just over two minutes of play. The Russian has a 12-13-2 record with an .897 save percentage and 3.24 goals-against average this season.

Backup Spencer Knight was on injured reserve but was activated over the weekend. However, he might need another game in the NHL for conditioning purposes and it’s possible he plays here. Most likely, it’s journeyman Alex Lyon in net. He Lyon made 29 saves Saturday in a 5-3 win over Minnesota in his first start of the season after relieving Bobrovsky last Thursday. The 30-year-old Lyon has just 17 NHL starts and 25 appearances over six seasons.

The Panthers gutted out that win 5-3 win over the visiting Wild on Saturday without the services of Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett for large chunks of it. The Panthers gutted out a 5-3 win over the visiting Wild on Saturday night, doing so without the services of Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett for large chunks of it.

Bennett was limited to 9:14 of ice time before leaving with an upper-body injury. He has 11 goals and 30 points in 48 games this season. If he ends up being unavailable Monday, then Colin White, who last played Jan. 14, might draw back into the lineup. Ekblad also is dealing with an upper-body issue. Both might play Monday but may be game-time calls.

New York is healthy and rested, last playing Thursday and losing 3-1 at home to Boston. Star Chris Kreider played after missing the previous three games injured. He had 19 goals and 11 assists this season.

The Rangers have played the Panthers once this season, winning 5-3 in Florida on New Year’s Day. Mika Zibanejad scored twice, and Kreider, Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin also scored for New York. Nick Cousins, Sam Bennett and Eric Staal scored for the Panthers.

NHL Betting Pick: New York Rangers

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

• When: Tuesday, January 10, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: Centre Bell, Montreal, QB
• TV: TSN2, RDS, NESN
• Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub (Bruins) // TSN 690 (Canadiens)
• Live Stream: NHL Live
• NHL Betting Odds: TBA

It’s an Original Six matchup and it probably won’t be close as the Bruins are the NHL’s best team and the Canadiens one of the worst, but you may want to fade the Habs even more going forward as one of their best players and one of the best young forwards in the league is done for the year.

That would be Cole Caufield due to a shoulder injury that will require surgery. The swift-skating winger had 26 goals and 10 assists this season. After an underwhelming start to his NHL career, Caufield has blossomed into the Canadiens’ leading goal-scorer over the past two seasons under the tutelage of coach Martin St. Louis.

What’s interesting is that the Caufield was a full participant in Friday’s practice before this news dropped. The team said Caufield had been playing through the injury for “a while.” Why did the Montreal medical staff allow that?

“It’s been a progressive injury the past few weeks,” said Caufield’s agent Pat Brisson, “and every time he steps on the ice, there’s a chance it could get worse, and then it could get more complicated in surgery. We collectively decided it was best for Cole and Montreal to let him have the surgery and make sure that he’s back at 100 per cent for camp next year, which he will be. He could’ve played another 10, 15, 20 games with potentially no issues, but, at the same time, if he falls on the wrong side or the wrong way, it could create some more complications.”

The Canadiens led the NHL in man games lost to injury last season by a fair margin, and with Caufield gone, they are likely to do it again this season. Winger Juraj Slafkovsky, the top pick in last year’s NHL draft, is sidelined for three months with a left knee injury. Forward Brendan Gallagher is out through at least the middle of February.

Somehow, this is the first meeting of the season between the teams. The Bruins will be without forward Tomas Nosek. He suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left foot during the team’s 3-1 win at the New York Rangers last Thursday will be reevaluated in approximately four weeks. Nosek, 30, has appeared in 42 games with the Bruins this season, posting three goals and five assists for eight points with a plus-four rating.

NHL Betting Pick: Boston Bruins

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READ MORE: Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – January 30th, 2023