Arizona Coyotes vs Pittsburgh Penguins 1/8/23 NHL Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Arizona Coyotes meet in NHL action from the Mullett Arena on Sunday.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to snap a six-game losing streak after a 5-2 loss to Vegas in their last game. Sidney Crosby has a team-high 45 points with 20 goals and 25 assists while Evgeni Malkin has 34 points split between 12 goals and 22 assists. Jake Guentzel has also chipped in 35 points with 15 goals and 20 assists this season. Tristan Jarry has gone 15-5-4 with a 2.78 GAA and a .917 save percentage while Casey DeSmith is 4-8-2 with a 3.14 GAA and a .917 save percentage in goal for Pittsburgh this season.

The Arizona Coyotes will be out to snap a four-game losing streak after a 2-0 loss to Chicago last time out. Clayton Keller leads the Coyotes with 36 points including 14 goals and a team-high 22 assists while Shayne Gostisbehere has 26 points with 9 goals and 17 assists. JJ Moser has 18 points with 13 assists while Matias Maccelli has 22 points with 19 assists and Lawson Crouse has a team-high 14 goals on the year. Karel Vejmelka has gone 11-12-4 with a 3.33 GAA and a .903 save percentage while Connor Ingram has gone 2-8-1 with a 3.92 GAA and an .886 save percentage between the pipes for Arizona this season.

Pittsburgh is 0-6 in their last 6 games overall and 0-4 in their last 4 road games while the over is 3-0-1 in their last 4 games after allowing 5 goals or more in the previous game. Arizona is 1-5 in their last 6 games against the Eastern Conference and 1-5 in their last 6 games of a fourth game in a four in six night situation while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 games overall.

I get the case to be made for either side here, but even with their struggles, I have to side with Pittsburgh here. The Pens are just heads and shoulders the better team when put side-by-side with Arizona and I just don’t see a path to success for Arizona here. Give me the Penguins -1.5.