NHL Best Bets
Tonight will be one of if not the most exciting nights in the NHL this season. There are 12 games, most of which have some serious playoff implications. The race for the President’s Trophy as the league’s best regular season team is tight. There is just one point separating the top seven teams in the NHL. A lot of these games will have a playoff feel, but none will have more than the Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings matchup. Those two teams, along with the Philadelphia Flyers, are all in a battle to secure a playoff spot in the East. But let’s take a closer look at the games that are my NHL best bets.
New Jersey at Toronto (-148, 6.5)
The Toronto Maple Leafs are four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for third place in the Atlantic Division. Tonight, they take on a New Jersey Devils team that isn’t mathematically out of the race yet, but with how their season has gone, there isn’t much hope for them.
One player in this game to watch is Auston Matthews, who is only two goals away from scoring 60 this season. The Leafs have been one of the best offensive teams in the league this season, and of course, a large part of that is thanks to Matthews, but as a group, they’re scoring 3.61 goals per game with a power play that’s clicking at a 25.6% rate.
The Devils have been one of the weaker defensive teams this year, allowing the seventh most goals against per game (3.38). Their goaltending has certainly been better since acquiring Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen at the deadline.
The Devils have won three of their last four games. The Leafs have won two of their last three. Both groups haven’t had any issues filling the back of the net.
There’s a ton of offensive firepower between these two teams, like Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander for the Leafs. The Devils aren’t slacking in the offensive department, either. Timo Meier has been the NHL’s best goal scorer in March, scoring 12 goals in 13 games.
I expect this game to be very back-and-forth with a good amount of goal-scoring.
NHL Best Bet: Over 6.5 -118 (play to -130)
Edmonton at Winnipeg (+100, 6)
The Edmonton Oilers have had rough back-to-back losses, and if things continue to trend this way, they could be in trouble for having home ice in the first round. The Los Angeles Kings are only one point behind them now in the Pacific Division, so they desperately need to get back in the win column.
Their opponent tonight, the Winnipeg Jets, have also been on a skid. They have lost three straight games to finish off their five-game road trip. While they’ll be excited to get back on home ice tonight, they’ll have a tough task against the Oilers tonight.
After the last game off, Stuart Skinner is expected to get back in between the pipes for the Oilers tonight. Skinner has had an unbelievable second half of the season, going 17-5-3 since the New Year while boasting a .917 save percentage and a 2.45 goals against average.
As everyone knows by now, the Oilers’ conversation is always around Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but after Zach Hyman reached the 50-goal plateau in their most recent game, this team has more than just two threats offensively.
Winnipeg has some scoring threats as well, like Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, but something about this Oilers group tells me that they’re going to be extra fired up tonight after letting a 3-1 third-period lead slip away in their last outing.
Winnipeg has only scored four goals in their last three games, so I’m not quite sure they’ll be able to keep up with the firepower of Edmonton tonight.
NHL Best Bet: Edmonton Oilers ML -120 (play to -130)
March Record: 23-17 (+2.99 units)
2023-24 record: 123–128 (-29.97 units)
