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Utah vs. Florida: NHL Match Prediction
On January 9, the first meeting in the history of the NHL between Utah and Florida will take place in Salt Lake. The debutants do not lose hope of getting into the playoffs, but now they are only in 11th place in the conference table. Florida is closing the group of leaders in the East and cannot find stability. Both teams are not in the best shape, but the guests are considered the favorites of the match. Will they be able to justify their status? This is in the betting tip for the meeting
Command Analysis
Utah Hockey Club
USACurrent form
Utah is in 11th place in the West and is gradually moving away from the eight best teams in the conference. Andre Tourigny's charges have scored only 41 points in 39 starts, four points behind Vancouver, who occupy the last slot in the playoff zone. The hosts have not shown strong results at this stage of the season and have lost six games out of seven. In the away series of games, they lost to Seattle (2:5) and Edmonton (1:4), barely beat Calgary (5:3), and before returning to Salt Lake, they could not finish Dallas (2:3, OT). The newcomers twice came back in Texas during the second 20 minutes, but ultimately still lost at the end of overtime.
Connor Ingram is still in the club's infirmary, so Jackson Stauber was recently called up from the farm team. He appeared on the ice a few times, but Karel Vejmelka plays mainly, and he was unable to help his teammates win in Dallas. The Czech goalie has stopped 91.40% of shots this season and has not had a single shutout in the regular season.
Clayton Keller has regained his status as the hosts' leader in points. The American has scored 39 times (14+25) and is four points ahead of Dylan Gunther (16+18), who was recently the top scorer on the rookie team.
Disqualifications and injuries
Robert Bortuzzo, Sean Durzi, Connor Ingram and John Marino will not be able to take part in the upcoming fight.
Interesting trends for betting
- Utah is averaging 2.9 goals per game this season.
Rookies don't always play badly on offense, but their numbers only get worse over time.
- The Salt Lake club averages 27 shots per game
The debutants don't have many shots on goal, but they managed to convert 10.6% of their chances.
Florida Panthers
USACurrent form
The Panthers are fifth in the East and could well move up if they win more often. The team from the state of the same name has earned 50 points in 41 games, lagging behind third place by only three points. The visitors have two games in hand, so they should overtake New Jersey, which has not been demonstrating a strong level of hockey lately. Florida did not play at its best at the end of last year and after two losses on home ice, it was not without difficulty that they beat the Rangers (5:3). Aleksander Barkov's team was unable to extend its winning streak and immediately lost to Carolina (1:3), won against Pittsburgh (3:2, B), and in the first away game they could not cope with Colorado (1:3).
Florida has had big problems converting chances this season. The Panthers have scored only nine goals in their last six games and failed to score at all twice. Sam Reinhart remains the Cats' best hope up front. The forward scores a lot and has made 35 effective actions (22+24) during the current regular season.
Sergei Bobrovsky is unlikely to become the team's second goalie, but his lackluster performances have seen Spencer Knight appear more often on the ice. The Russian has managed only 90.11% of shots and has only had one shutout this season. He played well against Carolina and Colorado, but it did not help Paul Maurice's men take two points.
Disqualifications and injuries
All of the visiting team's top players will be in Utah on Thursday, with Johan Gadjovich, Aaron Ekblad and Nikko Mikkola questionable.
Interesting trends for betting
- Florida gets 10.2 penalty minutes per game.
On average, Americans are sent off at least five times per game.
- Florida has an 89.5% power play neutralization rate
The Panthers have a decent penalty kill and rank first in the league in that regard.
Trends
Bet 2nd period: total over 1.5 goals
In Utah's last three games, the second period has been productive.
1.55Bet 3rd period: Florida will score
The Cats have scored in the third period in two of four games.
1.40Tip and bets
The newcomers continue to lose and drop points. The Utah club has six defeats in seven previous matches and they are not showing a strong level of play at this stage of the season. Florida plays well on the road, but it failed to start its away tour with a victory. Paul Maurice's team is fighting for the leading positions in the East and should not lose points in matches against the league outsiders. We think that the history of confrontations between the teams will begin with a victory for the Panthers. We suggest that the bet on the zero handicap of the second will play.
Our prediction is Florida win with Asian handicap (0) for 1.68
Bet on individual total
Florida is not very strong in attack at home, but scores 3.25 goals on average on the road. Utah played well in defense on its court, but recently Andre Tourigny's charges have generally shown weak results. We believe that the visiting leaders will finally wake up and throw at least three goals into the goal of the not very reliable Karel Vejmelka.
Prediction - Florida individual total over 2.5 goals for 1.57
Bet on total
The teams have never met each other, but they know who plays and how. Florida hasn't played effectively in recent games, but the Cats need to improve in terms of implementation if Alexander Barkov's team intends to fight for leadership in the East. Utah has been missing a lot of goals lately, but it will have the opportunity to take advantage of the guests' mistakes. Let's play a bet on the total over goals.
Betting Tip - total over 5.5 goals for 1.75
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