NHL Best Bets And Expert Picks
I hope everyone had a great three-day weekend, and I apologize to those who rode the Lazzy Lay yesterday. We were hot for a couple of weeks, so it was only a matter of time, but we’re back with a great Tuesday night of NHL action featuring eight different games in the NHL.
I’m not a massive fan of some of these matchups tonight, but there are a couple of teams in the league that are playing in a very tough spot, like the New York Islanders and the Seattle Kraken, who are both on back-to-backs.
Seattle at NY Rangers (-205, 6)
In their last three games, the New York Rangers have had a hard time finishing on their scoring chances. They aren’t struggling to create, but the scoring touch just doesn’t seem to be there. New York has only scored two goals in each of those last three games. Tonight, they welcome in a Seattle Kraken team that’s been defending very well since Christmas. The Kraken are only allowing 1.63 goals against and 89.5% on the penalty kill.
In this same span, the Rangers power play, which has been at the top of the league all season, has only been converting at 17.9%. They’re 0/8 in their last two games combined, so this unit might struggle against an aggressive Kraken penalty kill.
Seattle played yesterday against the Pittsburgh Penguins and were shut out 3-0 on the road, so they will be playing the back end of a back-to-back. Chris Driedger will be getting his second start of the season, his first one since December 27th against the Calgary Flames. Driedger boasted a .974 save percentage and a 1.00 goals against average in that game.
The Rangers haven’t confirmed a starter yet tonight, but it looks like it should be Igor Shesterkin, who is coming off of a very strong performance against the Washington Capitals. Shesterkin stopped 24 of the 25 shots that he faced.
I have a strong instinct that this will be another low-scoring affair as they have been between these two teams in their history. The Under has hit in four of those five contests.
I think both teams will play defensively in the opening 20 minutes to set the tone for the rest of the game. I love the Under in the first period.
Bet: Under 1.5 1P -105 (play to -120)
NY Islanders at Winnipeg (-192, 6)
The Winnipeg Jets have been consistently the best defensive team in the NHL all season, and that is largely due to the play of Connor Hellebuyck. As a team, the Jets are only allowing 2.29 goals against per game, and Hellebuyck is boasting a 21-7-3 record with a .924 save percentage along with a 2.19 goals against average. He also has the league’s best +19.8 goals saved above expected.
The New York Islanders have been struggling offensively in their last two games, as they have only scored one goal in both contests combined. The Islanders didn’t have their legs last night in Minnesota, and tonight will be their third game in four nights, so you’d have to think they might not have their legs again.
Ilya Sorokin should be getting the nod for the Islanders in goal, and even if this hasn’t been his best season, he is still to be trusted in the blue paint. Sorokin was pulled in last night’s game against the Wild, so to me, he is the perfect bounce-back candidate.
Back-to-back games haven’t been good for the Islanders this season. They’re 0-2-3 on the year in this spot, which is a good sign for the Winnipeg Jets, who were shut out in their latest game, which was against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Five of the last six Jets games have stayed Under, and I see that being the trend again tonight.
Bet: Under 6 -115 (play to -130)
