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Boston Bruins v. Washington Capitals
Projected Goalies: Jeremy Swayman v. Ilya Samsonov
Boston put 4 goals past Carter Hart on Tuesday and secured a much needed win for a team that sits just above the cut line in the East Division. The Bruins strong play gave their rookie goalie, Swayman, his first career win in his first career start. Tonight he has the much tougher task of going up against generational goal scoring talent Alex Ovechkin. The Capitals are in a little rough patch, relatively speaking since they are still first in the East Division. Washington has given up 4 or more goals in 4 of their past 6 games and despite only giving up 1 on Tuesday they still lost to the Islanders. With the offensive firepower of both teams we could see goals tonight although I doubt, for Boston, that Swayman can play at a high level again against a more challenging opponent.
The Bet: Capitals Moneyline, Over 5.5 Total Goals
Prediction: Bruins 3-4 Capitals
Tampa Bay Lightning v. Columbus Blue Jackets
Projected Goalies: Andrei Vasilevskiy v. Joonas Korpisalo
Tampa has had a tough time recently as well, although, like Washington, their tough time is relative. The Lightning are still 1st in the Central Division and remain among the NHL’s elite. One of their biggest issues has been their opponent tonight, the Lightning have lost 2 straight to the Blue Jackets. Columbus sits below .500 for the year and a big reason is the failure of the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade. The haul they received for their franchise centerman has resulted in only 4 goals since March 1st. Tonight I believe Columbus’s luck against Tampa runs out in embarrassing fashion.
The Bet: See My Parlay
Prediction: Lightning 4-0 Blue Jackets
Philadelphia Flyers v. New York Islanders
Projected Goalies: Carter Hart v. Semyon Varlamov
Philadelphia’s poor season continued on Tuesday when they lost to the Bruins. The Flyers were a lot of peoples preseason favorites to win the East Division this year and now it looks like they will miss the playoffs. Tonight they have to travel to Long Island where the Islanders have a fantastic home record and just welcomed in some reinforcements. Yesterday New York completed a steal of a trade with New Jersey for Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac, both of whom will play tonight. The Islanders would be favorites without those two but now they have even more offensive depth and firepower. Anytime you see the Flyers at a 5.5 total and Hart is in net you take the over and count your coins.
The Bet: Over 5.5 Total Goals
Prediction: Flyers 2-4 Islanders
Winnipeg Jets v. Montreal Canadiens
Projected Goalies: Connor Hellebuyck v. Carey Price
Winnipeg has only played twice in the past week due to games against Vancouver being postponed. The Jets went 1-0-1 in those games but the time off did not allow them to get healthy. Blake Wheeler was left at home for this road trip as he is dealing with concussion-like symptoms. Similarly for Montreal they will be without Brendan Gallagher for a significant amount of time after he fractured his thumb two games ago. The Canadiens played last night and lost 3-2 to Toronto. Playing back-to-back in the middle of the week without a top player and leader like Gallagher is going to hurt the Canadiens chances tonight.
The Bet: Jets Moneyline, Under 6.5 Total Goals
Prediction: Jets 3-1 Canadiens
Florida Panthers v. Carolina Hurricanes
Projected Goalies: Chris Drediger v. Alex Nedeljkovic
These two teams met on Tuesday and it was Carolina who walked away with a 5-2 win. That scoreline is a little deceiving, however, as Carolina scored 2 empty net goals late in the game. Both teams will turn to different goalies tonight but that won’t affect either squads chances as these two goalies are among the better backups in the league, statistically speaking. The player to watch tonight is Vincent Trocheck as the former Panther has tormented his old club with 5 goals in 5 games against them so far this year. I expect Panthers head coach John Quennville to try to put the clamps on his former centerman tonight.
The Bet: Panthers Moneyline, Under 6.5 Total Goals
Prediction: Panthers 3-2 Hurricanes
New Jersey Devils v. Buffalo Sabres
Projected Goalies: Aaron Dell v. Linus Ullmark
The battle for who gets the better lottery odds at this year's draft is on in Western New York tonight. Both New Jersey and Buffalo are squarely out of the playoff race and now it is just about getting younger players ice time to help develop their skills. The best way to preview any Sabres game is to look at their starting goalie. If you see Linus Ullmark then take Buffalo and don’t look back. Ullmark is by far and away the Sabres MVP this season. In games where Ullmark starts the Sabres are 8-5-3 and allow under 2.5 goals per game. When any other goalie starts they are 1-18-3 and allow over 3 goals per game. Tonight I am riding with my guy Linus.
The Bet: Sabres Moneyline
Prediction: Devils 1-3 Sabres
Pittsburgh Penguins v. New York Rangers
Projected Goalies: Tristan Jarry v. Igor Shesterkin
These two met on Tuesday and the Rangers ran away with a 8-4 victory. It was the second straight game Pittsburgh had allowed 7 or more goals. Their defense was a question mark coming into the season and for the most part it has held up well until recently. New York has played their way back into the playoff conversation and a lot of that has to do with their offense. The Rangers are tied for 7th in the NHL in goals per game despite being ranked just 5th in their own division. One note about tonight's game, the Rangers canceled practice yesterday to receive vaccine shots for Covid-19. Most studies show a side effect of tiredness and soreness for a few days after the jab. Be mindful of a slow New York team tonight reeling from the effects of public health and safety.
The Bet: Penguins Moneyline
Prediction: Penguins 5-3 Rangers
Edmonton Oilers v. Ottawa Senators
Projected Goalies: Mike Smith v. Matt Murray
This exact match up went down yesterday at a 5:00 startime in Ontario and it was the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl show. Those two factored in on every single Oilers goal as they walked away with a 4-2 victory. In 8 games against Ottawa this season the two former MVPs have combined for 41 points, that's insane. Tonight they will be shooting on the human sieve Matt Murray and I need no further evidence to take the Oilers with confidence again.
The Bet: See My Parlay
Prediction: Oilers 4-1 Senators
Nashville Predators v. Detroit Red Wings
Projected Goalies: Juuse Saros v. Jonathan Bernier
The Predators have quietly amassed a very strong run of games. Nashville is 10-2 in their last 12 and have skyrocketed up the Central Division standings. They defeated this same Red Wings team in the shootout on Tuesday and Detroit will offer them good value for win again today. One thing to keep in mind is that Jonathan Bernier is back in goal tonight for Detroit. Bernier last started on March 16th before getting injured. Much like the Ullmark and Buffalo stat, Detroit is 8-6 and gives up less than 3 goals per game when Bernier plays but they are 5-16-6 and give up over 3 goals per game when anyone else starts in net.
The Bet: Predators Moneyline
Prediction: Predators 3-1 Red Wings
Dallas Stars v. Chicago Blackhawks
Projected Goalies: Anton Khudobin v. Kevin Lankinen
The Blackhawks won the first iteration of this game on Tuesday by a score of 4-2. Dallas has had a downright awful season but at least today they have caught a break. Head Coach Rick Bowness will return behind the bench tonight after he was held out for precautionary Covid-19 reasons the other game. Hopefully for Dallas fans that mean the team in front of him will play better than they did last time out. Chicago used a strong game from its first line to propel them to victory the other day. Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, and Kirby Dach all scored in the win. When those 3 are humming Chicago stands a chance versus anyone but tonight I will have to roll with a more motivated Dallas side who desperately needs the points.
The Bet: Stars Moneyline
Prediction: Stars 3-2 Blackhawks
Fancy a Parlay?
Lightning & Oilers to Win
