The New Jersey Devils could be without former No. 1 overall pick and superstar Jack Hughes for a while. He left Friday’s game against St. Louis after awkwardly crashing into the boards after being slightly hooked by Blues defenseman Torey Krug. No penalty was called on the play. Hughes missed Sunday’s game in Chicago but has avoided a major injury. He has five goals and 15 assists. Here are two intriguing early-week matchups with picks.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week (November 6th, 2023)

Weekend NHL rankings: West Coast positivity, plus 5 teams that should be panicking https://t.co/b2qvAbGo2i pic.twitter.com/uKjZ6uzqFv

— Ron Bohning (@RonBohning) November 6, 2023

Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks

• When: Monday, November 6th, 2023, 10:00 PM ET
• Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada
• TV: NHLPP, ESPN+
• Radio: 630 CHED AM (Oilers) // Sportsnet 650 (Canucks)
• Live Stream: ESPN+
• NHL Betting Odds: Oilers (-1.5) // Canucks (+1.5)

What is wrong with the Oilers? Despite having the best player in the sport in Connor McDavid, they are 2-7-1 entering this one off a 5-2 home loss Saturday to a Nashville team that simply isn’t as good. McDavid notched a power-play assist, three shots on goal, four hits and a minus-2 rating. It’s been five appearances without a goal for McDavid, but he has five assists in that span. For the season, the superstar is at two goals, eight assists, 23 shots on net, 16 hits and a minus-4 rating through eight contests.

Darnell Nurse recorded his 114th home point (27-87—114 in 286 GP) in the loss and tied Steve Smith (114) for the fourth most home points by an Oilers defenseman. The list is topped by Paul Coffey (354), Kevin Lowe (207) and Charlie Huddy (200).

The Oilers have yet to win a game at Rogers Place this season (0-4-1). Their only home victory was in the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic played outdoors at Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 29, 5-2 against the Calgary Flames. The Oilers are struggling defensively, giving up an average of 4.10 goals per game (third most in the NHL) and scoring at a rate of 2.70 goals per game (tied for 23rd). Last season, Edmonton was the highest-scoring team in the NHL with 325 goals, an average of 3.96 per game.

“It is just death by a thousand cuts, that is what it feels like,” McDavid said. “One mistake and it costs us, and another little mistake and it just snowballs. It is tough to chase games. .. Our struggles are all over the rink,” McDavid said after the loss. “That is what you get when you are 2-7-1. There seem to be struggles all over the ice.”

Vancouver enters on a three-game winning streak following a 2-0 win over Dallas on Saturday. Thatcher Demko posted a 27-save shutout. Demko is up to two shutouts this season, and they’ve both come during his five-game winning streak. He’s allowed a total of five goals on 127 shots in that impressive span, and the Canucks are showing the ability to win in a variety of ways this season. Demko is up to 6-2-0 with a 1.56 GAA and a .947 save percentage.

Forward Elias Pettersson (11 games ) became the third player in Canucks history to reach 20-point mark in a season in 11 or fewer games, joining Tony Tanti (10 GP) and Patrik Sundstrom (11 GP). Vancouver is 7-0-0 when scoring first in 2023-24.

Vancouver is 2-0 vs. Edmonton this season, winning 8-1 at home in the season opener and then 4-3 in Edmonton on Oct. 14.

NHL Betting Pick: Canucks

Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers

• When: Tuesday, November 7th, 2023, 7:30 PM ET
• Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• TV: TNT
• Radio: WSGW 790 AM (Red Wings) // WFAN Sports Radio 101.9 FM (Rangers)
• Live Stream: ESPN+
• NHL Betting Odds: TBA

Original Six matchup. The New York Rangers are without two key players in defenseman Adam Fox (lower-body injury) on long-term injured reserve and forward Filip Chytil (upper-body injury) on standard injured reserve. Both were hurt last Thursday.

As a result of being on LTIR, Fox must miss a minimum of 10 games or 24 days. The former Norris Trophy winner for best defenseman in the NHL has three goals and eight assists through his 10 games. By placing Fox on LTIR, the Rangers freed up the value of his contract in LTIR pool funds at $9.5 million. It is unclear if the Rangers plan to make a major move to use this cap space. If Fox returns at any point this season, that LTIR space is no longer there.

Chytil has six assists through 10 games to start the season. He will be unable to play for a minimum of seven days after the date of the injury. The earliest the center can return is Nov. 12 against the Blue Jackets.

New York’s Artemi Panarin has at least one point in all 11 games this year, tying Darren Turcotte (11 GP in 1990-91) for the second-longest run in Rangers history to open a season behind only Rod Gilbert (14 GP in 1972-73). Panarin has six multi-point games this season with only Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson (7) having more. Chris Kreider scored his 273rd career goal on Saturday, surpassing Andy Bathgate for sole possession of fourth most in Rangers history.

Detroit comes off a 5-4 home upset of Boston on Saturday. Pavel Zacha collected an assist on James van Riemsdyk’s opening goal to extend his point streak to six games (4-5—7), marking the longest run by a Bruins player this season. His personal best is 10 games, established in 2020-21 (4-8—12). Lucas Raymond (1-0—1) improved his totals to 4-5—9 in 12 games and is on pace to establish a new career high in points, surpassing his totals set in his rookie season (23-34—57 in 82 GP).

Goalie Ville Husso made 26 saves for Detroit, which improved to 7-4-1 (15 points) overall and snapped Boston’s season-opening 10-game point streak.

“It’s big for sure,” David Perron said about Saturday’s come-from-behind victory. “Now we head into New York and can start changing the narrative of the last few games here for us. We got to show we can do it every night.”

This is the first meeting of the season between the teams. Detroit won two of three last season but the Rangers are so tough to beat at home.

NHL Betting Pick: Rangers

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READ MORE: Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – November 13th, 2023