NHL Picks

It has been a long time since the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry had some playoff juice, and the Bell Centre will give both teams an extra boost on Tuesday night for a playoff feel. The Bruins can close the gap in the playoff race by stealing a win on the road, but an important game on Monday night against the New Jersey Devils stood in their way before this matchup. Meanwhile, the Canadiens lost 2 tough home games on Saturday and Sunday and should be highly motivated to earn 2 points with the extra rest.

The goaltending situation will be an interesting one to watch, as Bruins head coach Marco Sturm took a risk by starting Joonas Korpisalo on Monday night to save Jeremy Swayman for the matchup with their rivals. Korpisalo managed to secure a point for the Bruins against the Devils, which leaves Swayman to clean up the mess on Tuesday and attempt to surpass the Canadiens in the standings. The Canadiens’ projected starter is Jacob Fowler, who stole the show in Montreal’s win on Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators but suffered a tough loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

The Bruins are 4-0 on the second night of a back-to-back this season, and they will get a rested Swayman between the pipes following a disappointing loss to the Devils on Monday night. The Canadiens’ ugly defense has been popping back up recently, and their recent struggles could see them fall down the wild-card standings.

Bruins vs Canadiens prediction: Boston ML (+145) available at time of publishing. Playable at that price.

The Hurricanes and Blue Jackets meet for the first of 3 matchups over the next 2 weeks, which is unfortunate for a Columbus team that is chasing a playoff spot. The Hurricanes won the first meeting 4-1 and are currently first in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets have recorded points in 9 consecutive games, albeit with 4 of those coming in overtime losses. While they have been rolling under new head coach Rick Bowness, there’s reason to believe their luck is starting to change.

The Blue Jackets’ offense leaves something to be desired, and they are starting to fizzle out over the last 2 games — with just a single goal in regulation time in both. The Hurricanes and Brandon Bussi went through a rough defensive stretch but rebounded over the past 2 games, allowing just 2 goals in each. It could be a close contest, but the Hurricanes are primed to prove that the Blue Jackets still have some growing to do before competing with the Metropolitan Division’s best. The Hurricanes haven’t been in their best form lately, alternating wins and losses over the past 7 games. It’s time for them to put together a winning streak as the playoffs approach.

Hurricanes vs Blue Jackets prediction: Carolina ML (-135) available at time of publishing. Playable at that price.

The New York Islanders will be in Toronto on Tuesday night to take on the Maple Leafs. The Islanders come into this game playing some good hockey of late. They are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. They are hanging onto the third wild-card playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division — and in such a tight playoff race, every point is crucial. The key to the success of the Islanders this season has been their defensive play and goaltending. Netminder Ilya Sorokin has been lights out with a 2.51 GAA and .913 SVP. He also has an impressive 6 shutouts to go with this. As a team the Islanders are allowing the fourth-fewest goals per game in the league, averaging 2.78.

They will be going up against a Leafs team that is out of the playoff race and will be without captain Auston Matthews for the remainder of the season. The Islanders will be playing desperate and hungry, and I expect them to win this game. Give me the Islanders on the money line.

Islanders vs Maple Leafs prediction: New York ML (-130) available at time of publishing. Playable at that price.

The Jets handled the Predators rather easily in 2 games early in the season, winning 4-1 at home and 5-2 on the road. The Jets had not been playing their best hockey at that point, but it was clear that they were outmatching the Predators. Since then, Winnipeg has been in the middle of a bit of a resurgence and is quietly just 5 points back of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, the Predators had a glimpse of momentum before the Olympic break but came out of the intermission flat.

The Jets received a great performance from backup goalie Eric Comrie in their win on Sunday, meaning the Predators will have the misfortune of facing a fully-rested Connor Hellebuyck on Tuesday night. The gold medal winner had been struggling after the Olympic break but bounced back with a 28-save performance against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday — which the Jets won 3-1. Meanwhile, Juuse Saros has lost 4 of 6 games since the break and allowed 3 goals in 5 of those 6 starts.

The Jets and Predators are 2 teams on completely different wavelengths at this point in the season. The Jets can smell a late push for the playoffs, while the Predators are counting down the days to get to their summer vacation. With Hellebuyck rested and ready and the Jets having the Predators’ number this season, Winnipeg is a good bet to win big.

Predators vs Jets prediction: Winnipeg -1.5 (+185) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The San Jose Sharks face the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. The Sharks are currently ranked 10th in the Western Conference, only 1 point back in the playoff race. The issue for the Sharks is that they have given up 19 goals over their last 5 games. This has been a common theme for them this season, as they allow 3.51 goals per game — second most in the NHL. The Sharks also rank 30th in shots this season, averaging only 25.8 per game. These struggles on both sides of the puck could be a problem today against the Oilers.

Edmonton currently ranks seventh in the Western Conference. It has won 3 of its last 5 games overall. On the season the Oilers rank second in goals per game with a 3.50 average. They are also fourth in total shots with 29.8 per game. The Oilers’ offense is incredible, and this is shown in their powerplay. On the season they rank first league wide with 60 powerplay goals and a 31.91% powerplay percentage. Overall, the Oilers should dominate the offensive side of the ice in this one.

Sharks vs Oilers prediction: Edmonton -1.5 (+135) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Buffalo Sabres continue to maintain a lead in the Atlantic Division, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning by 4 points — although the Lightning do have 2 games in hand. Still, Buffalo has surged into first place with 9 victories in the past 10 games since returning from the Olympic break on Feb. 25. That includes a wild 8-7 victory over Tampa Bay filled with a ton of offense and fighting in Buffalo on March 8 and a 3-2 victory over the Golden Knights at KeyBank Center on March 3 as moderate favorites (-140) as the Under (6) cashed.

The Sabres fired out to a 3-0 lead with goals for Jason Zucker, Owen Power and Tage Thompson. However, the Golden Knights answered back with goals from Ivan Barbashev and Pavel Dorofeyev within a 97-second span in the second period. However, we had scoreless hockey for the final 31:33 of the game and Buffalo held on to prevail. Vegas has picked up back-to-back wins on home ice, outscoring the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins by a combined 10-2 margin following a 1-5-0 run from Feb. 27 through March 10. Can we trust the Golden Knights again? Well, as long as VGK is at home we can. But go lightly.

Sabres vs Golden Knights prediction: Vegas ML (-130) available at time of publishing. Playable at that price.

The 2-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers make the second stop on a 4-game road trip against the Vancouver Canucks. The Panthers are in a lot of trouble, 12 points out of the final wild-card spot with just 16 games remaining — so every game is important. Even with a huge finish, the hole might be too deep to dig out of as far as making the postseason. Still, the Panthers should easily be able to steer their way to 2 points in Vancouver since the Canucks have been horrific this season — especially lately.

Florida is just 15-16-0 on the road this season and it has a minus-21 goal differential. It has been long-term injuries, and not a lack of hunger that will derail the Panthers from a 3-peat. The Canucks are just 7-21-5 at home this season, and they have a minus-75 goal differential — which is easily the worst mark in the NHL. Vancouver is actually a respectable 2-2-1 in the past 5 games but just 2-7-3 in the past 12 outings, picking up 7 out of an available 24 points. The Panthers won 8-5 in the first meeting back on Nov. 17, as the Over (5.5) easily cashed. That halted a surprising 4-game winning streak for Vancouver, which means that it swept the regular-season series in both of Florida’s Stanley Cup-winning seasons. The winning team has posted victory by 2 or more goals in 4 of the past 5 in this series. Let’s back Florida on the puck line and go rather aggressively.

Panthers vs Canucks prediction: Florida -1.5 (+165) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Tampa Bay Lightning make the first stop on a 4-game road trip against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night at Climate Pledge Arena. The Lightning are pursuing the Buffalo Sabres, 4 points back in the Atlantic Division — although Tampa Bay has 2 games in hand. The Lightning have been scuffling a bit, going 1-3-0 in the past 4 and 2-7-0 across the past 9 outings. The Sabres are 9-1-0 in the past 10 games. It’s not too late for Tampa Bat, but it needs to get going. That could happen in a potentially high-scoring game against the Kraken, who have struggled to stop the puck lately.

Tampa Bay has averaged 4.0 goals per game in the past 5 while allowing 4.0 gpg in the same span. The Over is 3-1-1 in the past 5 games and 8-2-3 in the past 13 outings. Seattle has won back-to-back games, averaging 5.5 gpg in the 2 wins over the Florida Panthers and Vancouver Canucks. The Over is 3-1-1 in the past 5 games for the Kraken, with Seattle averaging 3.4 gpg in the past 8 outings while allowing 4.0 gpg in the past 5. Let’s go Over on the total and feel rather confident in doing so.

Lightning vs Kraken prediction: Over 6 (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable to -130.