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 two tough home games on Saturday and Sunday and should be highly motivated to earn two 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 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’ll get a rested Swayman between the pipes after a disappointing loss to the Devils on Monday night. The Canadiens’ ugly defense has been popping back up recently, and their struggles as of late could see them fall down to the wild card with a win from the Bruins.

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 three matchups over the next two weeks, which is unfortunate for a Columbus team that is chasing a playoff spot. The Hurricanes won the first matchup of the season 4-1, and are currently first in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets have points in nine consecutive games, albeit with four of those coming on an overtime loss. 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 two 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 two games, allowing just two goals in each game. It could be a close game, 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 as good form lately, alternating wins and losses over the past seven games. It’s time for them to put together a winning streak as the playoffs approach.

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

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 as of late. They are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. They are hanging onto the third wildcard 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 six shutouts to go with this. As a team, the Islanders are allowing the fourth fewest goals against per game in the league, averaging 2.78 per game.

They will be going up against a Leafs team that is out of the playoff race and will be without their 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 two games early in the season, winning 4-1 at home and 5-2 on the road. The Jets hadn’t 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 five 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 break 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 four of six games since the break and allowed three goals in five of those six starts.

The Jets and Predators are two 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, the Jets are a good bet to win big.

Predators vs Jets prediction: Jets -1.5 (+185) 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 four points, although the Lightning do have two games in hand. Still, Buffalo has surged into first place with nine victories in the past 10 games since returning from the Olympic break on Feb. 25. That includes a wild 8-7 win filled with a ton of offense and fighting in Buffalo on March 8. That also includes 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 to 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, as Buffalo held on for the 3-2 victory. Vegas has picked up back-to-back wins on home ice, outscoring the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins by a 10-2 margin after a 1-5-0 run from Feb. 27-March 10. Can we trust the Golden Knights again? Well, as long as VGK is at home, you can. But, go lightly.

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

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers make the second stop on a four-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 two points in Vancouver, as 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, which will derail the Panthers from a three-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 five games, but just 2-7-3 in the past 12 outings, picking up seven 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 four-game win 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 two or more goals in four of the past five in this series. Let’s back Florida on the puck line, and go rather aggressively.

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

The Tampa Bay Lightning make the first stop on a four-game road trip against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night at Climate Pledge Arena. The Lightning are pursuing the Buffalo Sabres, back four points in the Atlantic Division, although Tampa Bay has two games in hand. The Lightning have been scuffling a bit, going 1-3-0 in the past four games, and 2-7-0 across the past nine outings, while the Sabres are 9-1-0 in the past 10 games. It’s not too late for Tampa, 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 (GPG) in the past five games, while allowing 4.0 GPG in the same span. The Over is 3-1-1 in the past five games, and 8-2-3 in the past 13 outings. For Seattle, it has won back-to-back games, averaging 5.5 GPG in the two wins over the Florida Panthers and Vancouver Canucks. The Over is 3-1-1 in the past five games for the Kraken, with Seattle averaging 3.4 GPG in the past eight outings, while allowing 4.0 GPG in the past five contests. 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.