The New York Islanders will be without a key piece for a while as defenseman Adam Pelech was placed on long-term injured reserve over the weekend. He sustained an upper-body injury in a game against the Ottawa Senators on Friday. He will be required to miss at least 10 games and 24 calendar days. The 29-year-old has three assists, 28 blocked shots and a plus-6 rating in 16 games this season. Here are two intriguing early-week games around the league.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week (November 27th, 2023)

Florida Panthers vs. Ottawa Senators

• When: Monday, November 27th, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, FL
• TV: NHLPP, ESPN+
• Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM (Panthers) // TSN 1200 AM (Senators)
• Live Stream: ESPN+
• NHL Betting Odds: Panthers (-1.5) // Senators (+1.5)

It’s the All-Tkachuk game as Matthew Tkachuk and his Panthers visit Brady Tkachuk and the Senators at the Canadian Tire Center. They have played against one another 18 times in the NHL and each has won nine games. Each forward has scored six goals, including one on the power play. Brady has 25 penalty minutes, Matthew 23. Brady 62 shots on goal, one more than Matthew. Brady has a decided advantage in hits (64-31), but Matthew has 20 points to Brady’s 11.

“We are each other’s biggest fan,” Matthew said. “When we play against each other now, especially [being] in the same division, we have to beat each other, our teams have to win. It creates that healthy competition. It’s a very good relationship the two of us have.”

The Panthers have lost two in a row and are six points behind the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division. They are off a 3-0 home defeat to Winnipeg on Friday. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 31 shots as the third goal was an empty-netter. For the fourth time in the last five games, the Panthers were held under three goals. Bobrovsky has lost all three of his outings where that’s been true in that span. The 35-year-old has gone seven straight starts without allowing more than three goals, but it’s tough to win without scoring support. He’s now at a 9-6-1 record with a 2.65 GAA and a .906 save percentage through 16 contests.

“This is like a playoff week here,” Florida head coach Paul Maurice said following Sunday’s practice. “Whether this week happens now or happens in March, it’s the same thing. We’ve liked most of our hockey in the first 20, but we still have a lot to get better at.”

The Senators are eighth in the Atlantic Division with just 16 points, but have played in just 16 games – and only three since Nov. 12 — due to playing two games in Sweden for the NHL’s Global Series. Ottawa comes off a 5-3 home loss to the Islanders on Friday. Drake Batherson scored two goals in the loss. Batherson opened the scoring at 10:25 of the first period with a power-play marker, and he added an even-strength goal in the third period. He took four shots on goal while adding a blocked shot and a hit. Batherson has managed five goals and eight points across his past seven contests.

Tim Stutzle had a goal and assist. Stutzle scored his fifth goal of the season at 10:56 of the second period to cut the lead to 4-2. He also had the primary assist on Batherson’s goal just 47 seconds later, but the Senators’ comeback bid came up short. Stutzle has been on fire in November, tallying three goals and 12 points in his past seven games.

It’s the first meeting of the season between the teams. Florida won two of three last year.

NHL Betting Pick: Panthers

Seattle kraken vs. Chicago Blackhawks

• When: Tuesday, November 28th, 2023, 8:30 PM ET
• Where: United Center, Chicago, IL
• TV: TNT
• Radio: 93.3 KJR FM (Kraken) // WGN Radio 720 (Blackhawks)
• Live Stream: ESPN+
• NHL Betting Odds: TBA

The Blackhawks are struggling as expected even with stellar rookie Connor Bedard playing well. And now Chicago will be without a key veteran for a while and maybe for good in Corey Perry.

“He’s away from the team and will remain so for the foreseeable future,” GM Kyle Davidson said Saturday. “We’re unable to provide any update on that front.”

The decision to send Perry away from the team was made by management, Davidson said. But Perry’s agent, Pat Morris, said in a statement Saturday that it was the player’s decision to leave the Blackhawks. Perry signed with the Blackhawks as a free agent after spending the past two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He has four goals and five assists in 16 games, skating to a minus-6. He skated 14:43 on Sunday in Chicago’s loss to Buffalo.

“He’s a big part of what we’re doing here, so it’s unfortunate,” teammate Nick Foligno said. “We don’t know more than that, so I’m not going to comment further, but as far as this room, he’s a big part of it. He’s well loved and we’ll miss him.”

Perry is a former Hart Trophy winner with Anaheim. The Blackhawks are without another former Hart Trophy winner, too: Winger Taylor Hall is expected to miss the rest of the season because of an ACL injury and surgery. Davidson said he isn’t looking to add a veteran to the lineup right now in the absence of Hall and Perry. Asked about the possibility of a trade, Davidson responded: “To start ruling anything out I think is irresponsible, so I’m just going to not comment on any possible outcome of this.”

Davidson said he isn’t worried about what the young team could lose in the absence of veteran players.

“There’s been a significant growth in the group as a collective,” he said. “We did bring some players in, but we had some strong leaders already here. It’s just a collective leadership group that’s going to continue in the future. I’ve been really happy with how the collective (group) has been led so far, and I trust that they will do so moving forward. You look to some of the older veterans that have been around and have been added that are in that locker room right now, and I have no fear that there’s enough quality leadership to carry this forward.”

Seattle has been off since a 5-1 home loss to Vancouver on Friday. In his post-game comments, Dave Hakstol said Friday’s outcome was a “readiness issue.” “They were the more ready team at the drop of the puck. You saw that in our execution in the first five minutes of the hockey game. Once you start that way, it’s really hard to catch up in terms of your overall performance.”

After enduring a late-first-period hit from Vancouver forward Nils Hoglander at center ice, Kraken forward Brandon Tanev’s stick went flying as Hoglander came full-speed from the opposite direction. Tanev did not see the hit coming and was clearly shaken up at center ice, getting up with a noticeable limp and struggling to reach the bench. The veteran forward came out for the second period, skating shortly to test himself. By the third period, the Kraken announced that Tanev would not return due to a lower-body injury. It’s not clear if he will miss time. Tanev missed 14 games early in the season after suffering an upper-body injury Opening Night.

It’s the first meeting of the season between the teams. Seattle won two of three last year.

NHL Betting Pick: Kraken

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