The Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators will meet for the first time since their opening-round matchup last postseason, which Vancouver won in six games.

Nashville enters this matchup in the midst of a three-game losing streak and has been the least profitable betting side in the NHL thus far. This will be their third game in four nights and the fourth of a five-game Western road swing. Vancouver is playing night two of a back-to-back and earned a 3-1 victory with its solid performance versus Chicago on Saturday.

I’ll detail the relevant game notes, as well as outline my favourite betting angle below.

After his side authored an excellent 98-point season last year, general manager Barry Trotz opted to get aggressive and handed out a trio of hefty contracts last offseason to Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei. At ages 34, 33 and 30, respectively, all three are on the wrong side of the age curve and were not overly dominant last season.

That trio has combined to play to a -2.5 expected Goals Above Replacement (xGAR) this season and a -33 rating this season.

With Tommy Novak sidelined, the Predators hold a clear weakness at the centre ice position, as after Ryan O’Reilly, they are skating Colton Sissons, Juuso Parssinen and Michael McCarron down the middle.

Still, there is a good chance that this current stretch of results will be the low point in Nashville’s season. The Predators have played a very difficult schedule over the last 10 games, which has featured some tough travelling spots versus rested teams and nine games against teams favoured to make the playoffs.

In those 10 games, the Predators have played to a 46.53% expected goal share and have been out-shot by 4.99 shots per 60. They hold the league’s second-lowest shooting percentage in that span of 7.62%, and if that mark rises closer to the league average, it should help the Predators stabilize.

Juuse Saros has not been confirmed but is expected to get this start. He has been true to form in playing to a .915 save percentage and +7.4 GSAx in 14 appearances this season.

The first period of Saturday night’s matchup was far from pretty from a Canucks perspective, but they tightened things up in the final two periods and will look to build on that in this matchup. The Canucks generated 12 high-danger chances to the Canucks nine in the game and allowed 29 shots against in the game.

Elias Pettersson tallied his fifth goal of the year, and has stabilized offensively with three goals and five points over the last four games.

It’s a point that might be getting a little stale, but one that will continue to be relevant when considering how the Canucks deserve to be power-rated from a betting perspective. Vancouver has played a very soft schedule, which has helped to boost its record to 9-4-3. Versus teams that are currently holding a playoff spot, the Canucks hold a record of 3-4-2 and a -13 goal differential.

Kevin Lankinen is expected to face off against his former side after resting yesterday. He holds a .907 save percentage and -1.4 GSAx in 12 games played this season.

The Predators have been the NHL’s greatest disappointment, and it’s not that surprising as all of their big-name acquisitions were overvalued entering the year. In all of my season preview content, I outlined Predators under 99.5 points and was very low on them entering the year.

With that said, this actually sets up as a good spot to buy on them at a price of +105 as they catch the Canucks in night two of a back-to-back. The Canucks have had concerning results in tougher matchups this season and could be a little overvalued for the time being.

The Preds have had a nightmare schedule of late, which has certainly made their level look even worse than it is. They have played respectably over the last four matchups in particular, despite a 1-1-2 record. Shooting 7.62% has hidden a reasonable process in those matchups, as has dropping two of those matchups in three-on-three.

At +100 or better, I see value in backing a desperate Preds’ side to find a way to earn two points from this matchup.