NHL Hockey Best Bets for March 14, 2016
Only six games on the NHL board for Monday but there’s plenty of playoff implications. The Winnipeg/Vancouver game is the only one of the bunch that is essentially meaningless. Here are our best bets:
FLORIDA PANTHERS AT NEW YORK ISLANDERS:
Very high stakes game that both teams could really use. The Islanders likely need it more than Florida. The Panthers enter play tonight tied with Tampa Bay for second place in the Atlantic Division one point behind Boston. Obviously they’d *like* to catch the Bruins and win the division (and Boston has a tough West Coast trip on deck) but they’re in pretty good shape to hold on to at least the third place slot and a guaranteed playoff berth. The Islanders aren’t that lucky–they’re just three points behind the New York Rangers (who have a tough game Wednesday at Anaheim) but they’ve got a ton of teams lined up behind them–Pittsburgh is two points back, Philadelphia is six points back plus Carolina or New Jersey could be pesky if they start to string some wins together. Don’t forget that there are only two guaranteed playoff spots still up for grabs in the Metropolitan Division since Washington has run away with the top spot in the division, conference and league. The Islanders have been playing good hockey (7-2-1 in their last 10 games) but they’re under a lot of pressure to keep that up just to maintain the status quo.
Scheduling looks to favor the Panthers here. Florida has a game tomorrow night at Montreal and play on Thursday at Toronto–as close to an automatic ‘W’ as there is in the NHL. The Islanders play the closest challenger in the rear view mirror–Pittsburgh–on the road tomorrow night followed by a nasty pair of Western Conference road games at Nashville and Dallas. Islanders have more injury issues and the Panthers have dominated head to head play winning six of the last eight overall and 3 of 4 in Brooklyn/Long Island. They’ve also won both games this season–one at home, one on the road.
BET FLORIDA +125 OVER NEW YORK ISLANDERS
LOS ANGELES KINGS AT CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS:
The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to tread water in the Central Division. They’re now three points back of St. Louis and Dallas (who are tied for first) and have lost two straight. The Kings aren’t the team you want to see when you’re trying to break a losing streak. Los Angeles has been known as a good home team/bad road team for many years but that’s no longer the case. They’re not quite as unbeatable at home as in recent years (21-11-2) but they’ve significantly upgraded their play on the road (19-11-3). They’re currently in first place in the Pacific Division but have to deal with Anaheim (2 points back) and San Jose (three points back). Worth noting that the Blackhawks are an impressive 11-4 after allowing more than four goals and they’ve had a couple of days off to stew about a non-competitive 5-3 loss to Dallas. Blackhawks are 6-2 in the last 8 matchups at the United Center including a 4-2 win back on November 2. All in all, a pretty even matchup but the Kings are in better form and have the #1 team defense in the NHL. They’re also the underdog.
BET LOS ANGELES KINGS +120 OVER CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
NASHVILLE PREDATORS AT EDMONTON OILERS:
I watch this Nashville team closer than any team in the NHL. And this game scares me. The Predators have been so erratic this year and I’m not wagering -170 to cross my fingers that they show up for this one. If Nashville plays like they’re capable of playing they’ll rout the Oilers like they did on January 23 (4-1). If they don’t, this could be the biggest upset of the night. The Predators have won both games so far this year but Edmonton has split the last four games at home. They’re also coming off an ugly home loss to Arizona. The last time they laid an egg like that they came out and beat Minnesota on the road in their next game. Preds do have a huge advantage in net. Pekka Rinne is expected to start but Nashville will still have a huge advantage in net even if they go with backup Carter Hutton. You’ll recall that Edmonton sent goaltender Anders Nilsson packing after handing the keys to former Rangers backup Cam Talbot. Nilsson is now the backup to Jake Allen in St. Louis, at least while Brian Elliott is ‘sidelined indefinitely’ with a groin injury. Edmonton’s backup is now 22 year old prospect Laurent Brossoit who’ll be making his third career start tonight. If Nashville plays up to their ability this game will be a laugher but they’ve done that so seldom this year.
PASS
ST. LOUIS BLUES AT CALGARY FLAMES:
Calgary and Edmonton are neck and neck for the worst record in the Western Conference and if the Flames had any pride remaining they’d show up strong here. Of course if they had any kind of pride at all they wouldn’t be 11-20 in the second half of the season and 2-6-2 in their last ten games. They’ve got a mediocre offense (ranked #15 at 2.6 goals per game) and they’re dead last or close to it in every other statistical category. They’ve got the worst goals against average (3.10) and penalty kill in the NHL. They’ve got the #29 power play. Flames’ goaltender Joni Ortio wasn’t good enough to be a backup earlier in the season. Now with former starter Kari Ramo out for the season he’s the starter. His numbers are pretty ugly–2-7-3, 2.94 goals against average and 0.898 save percentage. St. Louis is a grown man team–they’ve won six straight and are trying to beat out Dallas for the top spot in the Central. Even if Calgary does ‘show up’ it probably won’t matter.
BET ST. LOUIS BLUES -155 OVER CALGARY FLAMES