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New Jersey Devils v. Washington Capitals
New Jersey is playing their best hockey of the year right now. The Devils have won 2 in a row and 4 of their past 5. Mackenzie Blackwood has anchored this good stretch for NJ as he has allowed 3 goals or less in each of the past 5 games and he will start again tonight. Washington has had a few days off since their last game on Saturday, a loss to the Rangers. The Capitals mostly used those days as maintenance days as guys like Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie did not skate but both are expected to play tonight. Washington will be without the services of 2-way center Lars Eller once again and that is a sneaky big loss for the Caps.
The Bet: Devils Moneyline
Prediction: Devils 3-2 Capitals
Carolina Hurricanes v. Columbus Blue Jackets
Tonight marks the 4th and final game of this long series between these two Central Division squads. Carolina won the last game 3-0 as rookie goaltender Alex Nedjelkovic earned a shutout, he will play again tonight. Columbus won the first 2 games of this series, each by a score of 3-2, and each requiring extra hockey in both overtime and the shootout. All 3 games in this series have hit the under so tonight I will follow the trends and bank on solid defense and good goaltending.
The Bet: Under 5.5 Total Goals
Prediction: Hurricanes 3-2 Blue Jackets
Toronto Maple Leafs v. Ottawa Senators
Toronto has had a few days off here to reset after their 2-0 win over Calgary on Saturday. The time off, however, has not helped goalie Frederick Andersen get healthy, and backup Jack Campbell will start again tonight. Ottawa has tallied 2 straight wins, both against the reeling Flames, and will look to keep their strong play going. The Senators did play last night but their goalie situation is unknown at the moment due to multiple injured guys possibly returning to the lineup. This game was always going to be hard for Ottawa, but coming off a game last night is only going to make it harder.
The Bet: Maple Leafs Puckline
Prediction: Maple Leafs 5-1 Senators
New York Islanders v. Boston Bruins
Speaking of multiple days off, both of these teams have been resting for several days now due to Covid-19 issues. The Islanders last played Monday and are coming off back-to-back wins over the Flyers. Boston last played a week ago today and are also coming off back-to-back wins against the Penguins and Sabres, respectively. Boston is getting back its regular starter, Tuuka Rask, tonight in the cage, but their injury problems still run deep, especially on defense. Rask’s return will not be enough tonight as the fresher Islanders will take the 2 points.
The Bet: Islanders Moneyline
Prediction: Islanders 3-1 Bruins
New York Rangers v. Philadelphia Flyers
The Rangers have won 3 of their past 4 and are coming into tonight on the backs of a 5-3 win over Buffalo on Monday. New York will welcome back Igor Shesterkin in goal as he returns from an absence due to injury. Philadelphia is hurting hard right now as they have lost 3 in a row and 6 of the past 8. On Tuesday the Flyers once again gave up more than 3 goals in a tight 4-3 loss to the Devils. Carter Hart will start tonight, once again looking to turn his season around. I do not think the Flyers have fixed their problems, but I am a little wary of Shesterkin, who will play tonight for the first time since March 4th.
The Bet: Flyers Moneyline
Prediction: Rangers 2-4 Flyers
Buffalo Sabres v. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Sabres suffered their 15th consecutive loss last night as the Penguins beat them 5-2 in Pittsburgh. Dustin Tokarski made his first start since 2015, and it did not go well. Tonight he will either retake the net or 28 year old Michael Houser (who?) will make his first career NHL start...yikes. Pittsburgh will turn to backup Casey DeSmith in net, but that will do little to hurt their chances of pushing the Sabres losing streak to 16 straight.
The Bet: Over 5.5 Total Goals
Prediction: Sabres 3-5 Penguins
Florida Panthers v. Chicago Blackhawks
These two teams met on Tuesday and it was Chicago who got the last laugh in a 3-2 win. The Panthers tried to ride the hot hand of Chris Dreidger that night but will turn back to their normal starter Sergei Bobrovsky today. Chicago’s chances of making the playoff have gone from possible to highly unlikely, but their elite top-line skill and surprisingly good goal tending means they can play spoiler any night. The Panthers were -170 favorites in this exact game on Tuesday, but tonight are at -125, that upgrade in odds is too juicy to pass up on.
The Bet: Panthers Moneyline
Prediction: Panthers 4-2 Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings v. Nashville Predators
Detroit had rattled off a couple wins in a row before getting shutout in each of their past 2 games. The Red Wings severely lack high quality scoring threats outside of their captain, Dylan Larkin, and are not sound proof enough defensively to eek out low scoring wins. Nashville is kind of a similar team in that aspect, as their offense is currently 4th worst in the NHL, on average. The Predators won the last encounter between these two by keeping the puck out of their net rather than filling the opponents, I expect the same tonight.
The Bet: Under 5.5 Total Goals
Prediction: Red Wings 1-3 Predators
St. Louis Blues v. Minnesota Wild
St. Louis has underachieved this year, and their 5-1 loss to Vegas on Monday is indicative of that. The Blues are only 5 games above .500 despite being 2 years removed from winning the Stanley Cup. Minnesota has been better than St. Louis this year, and the well balanced performances from all 4 forward lines has a lot to do with it. The Wild played yesterday and had to battle with the Ducks to secure the two points. If this game were any other day, I’d back the Wild, but the Blues have the advantage of a few extra days off and I think Craig Berube will have his boys ready to roll tonight.
The Bet: Blues Moneyline
Prediction: Blues 4-3 Wild
Tampa Bay Lightning v. Dallas Stars
At this point we seriously have to start talking about the Lightning’s chances at repeating as Cup champions. About halfway through the season Tampa has shown 0 signs of slowing down and their first place, 24-6-2 record is proof. The Lightning are winners of 5 in a row and tonight will again toss their top goalie out in Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has firmly dethroned Marc-Andre Fleury as the top Vezina Trophy candidate. On the other hand of last year's Stanley Cup Final, are the Dallas Stars, who have yet to make up ground in their hunt for the playoffs. Dallas is one game below .500 at the moment and just can not find the right combination to string together multiple wins. Something tells me that Dallas will put up a good fight in this one, but in no way am I going to actively bet against Tampa right now.
The Bet: See My Parlay
Prediction: Lightning 3-2 Stars
Vegas Golden Knights v. Colorado Avalanche
The last game on tonight's slate features the two best teams in the Pacific Division going toe-to-toe. Although, at the moment, both these teams are trending in different directions. Vegas has started to get a few injury problems, most notably to defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and forward Max Pacioretty, while Colorado has recently gotten healthy and welcomed dynamic defenseman Cale Makar back to the lineup. Recent play definitely favors the Avalanche, and Las Vegas agrees with an almost absurd -180 tag on Colorado. In a normal setting this game would have no clear favorite, so every inclination tells me to take Vegas, but after watching Colorado’s top-line of Landeskog-Mackinnon-Rantanen recently, I am afraid of betting against them.
The Bet: See My Parlay
Prediction: Vegas 3-4 Avalanche
Fancy a Parlay?
Dallas and Vegas to Cover +1.5 Goals
Bonus Parlay:
Penguins and Maple Leafs to Win
Daily Fantasy (DFS) Plays of the Day:
Center: Auston Matthews-The matchup tonight against Ottawa is a prime opportunity for him to score at least 1 goal, and the Senators lack of discipline should set him up for multiple power play opportunities as well.
Wing: Jake Guentzel-This is another prime matchup for a goal-scoring forward who gets great exposure playing with the Penguins superstar, Sidney Crosby.
Defense: Mattias Ekholm-With the injury to Roman Josi still lurking, Ekholm has become the Predators top defenseman. Ekholm has played over 25 minutes in 2 of the last 3 games and should continue to eat up minutes against a poor Red Wings team tonight.
Goalie: Jack Campbell-Don’t look now but there may be a goalie controversy in Toronto. With Freddy Andersen injured, Campbell has stepped up and he has 4 straight wins and back-to-back shutouts. He is the no-brainer goalie on tonight's slate.
Utility: Tom Wilson-He only recently returned from his suspension last game and with several practice days in between he must have skating legs under him now. Wilson notched an assist on Saturday and played 16 minutes, I am predicting he scores a goal tonight and sniffs 20 minutes of time-on-ice.
