There are less than two weeks of regular season games to play in this already epic year of NHL! With 9 games on the agenda today, we have handpicked the 5 which we feel are the most exciting, or the most likely to line your pockets! Have a read below for all our NHL picks.
New York Islanders @ Boston Bruins – 7.00 PM EDT
The Islanders got back to winning ways with an emphatic 5-1 win over their New Jersey rivals on Saturday, ending a painful 3 game losing streak in the process.
After losing to the Devils 2-1 on Thursday the Islanders were not going to allow their final home game of the season to be a clean sweep to their rivals, coming out far more clinical despite taking less shots than they did in the first game.
The score was tied up at 1-1 midway through the second term when Brock Nelson converted with the man advantage to reclaim the lead. Minutes later, Nelson popped up with another goal to give the Islanders a 2 goal cushion.
After a shaky run of form for the former division leaders, the Islanders now sit in fourth place with their final game of the season to be played today against the fifth place Bruins.
Following their 4-0 dismantling of the Rangers on Thursday, the Bruins were unable to back up their shutout win on Saturday, losing 5-4 to the New York side.
David Pastrnak (24 years, 348 days) became the third active player to score 200 regular-season goals and 20 playoff goals before age 25. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/BxaBCWQCng
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 8, 2021
It was an interesting game, with the scores tied up at 1-1 entering the final period, it took just 20 seconds for the Bruins to take the lead for the first time of the game, however, it didn’t last as the Rangers went on to score the next 3 unanswered, leading 4-2 with 10 minutes to go.
The Bruins got some hope when Brad Marchand converted a power play goal, but 4 minutes later the Rangers restored their two goal cushion.
NHL Pick – Boston Bruins (-172)
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Tampa Bay Lightning @ Florida Panthers – 7.00 PM EDT
As we predicted, the Panthers got the job done over the fatigued Lightning, now the question is can they do it again today with both teams now having the same amount of time off since their last game.
With the win, the Panthers extended their win streak to 5 straight games, and continued their elite goalscoring ways, putting 5 goals past the Lightning, bringing their total to 26 goals over their 5 wins.
Both Gustav Forsling and Jonathan Huberdeau picked up a goal and an assist for the Panthers, but the match was highlighted by a hat trick from Alexander Wennberg, the second of his career, both of which have been scored this season.
This two game series serves as a precursor for the playoff battle that is slated to take place at the end of the regular season, and it added a lot of fuel to the fire between the already bitter Florida rivals.
The match finished with 74 hits between the teams, and a whopping 154 penalty minutes in total, not only did the win see the Panthers claim second place from the Lightning, but also broke them away to 4-3 on the head to head this season.
Following that convincing defeat in the first game, it would be in true Tampa Bay Lightning fashion to come out and claim the win in today’s game, however, with Victor Hedman out and the Panthers in such strong goalscoring form we are expecting another Panthers’ dub.
NHL Pick – Florida Panthers (-118)
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Edmonton Oilers @ Montreal Canadiens – 7.00 PM EDT
The Oilers wrapped up their 4 game set against the Canucks on a high, beating them by a tight 4-3 on Saturday to claim their third win of the series, and their 6th from 9 against the Vancouver side this season.
They averaged 4 goals over the 4 games against the Canucks, with Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid unsurprisingly responsible for scoring/assisting the majority of them.
From the 5 games played this month alone Draisaitl has scored 6, and assisted 6 goals, while McDavid has scored 4, and assisted a ridiculous 12 times, with his 4 point haul on Saturday bringing his season total to 100 points.
The freakishly talented McDavid is now just 16 points off his season best total of 116 back in 2018/19, however, he has remarkably played 25 less games this season.
There. It. Is. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/Q82nFxTSiO
— x – Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 9, 2021
The Canadiens are coming into this game having suffered their third straight defeat, the most recent of which came at the hands of the Maple Leafs, a match which the Habs were in a great position to win.
After a dominant first period the Canadiens started the second with a 1-0 lead, and just 30 seconds they added another, however, from there on in they played like a different team, conceding the next 3 unanswered goals within 11 minutes to throw away their hard work.
With the loss, the Canadiens see the Flames draw to within 8 points of them, luckily a single point is all that is needed for the Habs to clinch playoff contention, while the Flames would have to win their next 4 straight.
NHL Pick – Montreal Canadiens (-108)
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St Louis Blues @ Los Angeles Kings – 10.00 PM EDT
The Golden Knights got the better of the Blues on Saturday, with the 4-1 defeat putting an end to the St Louis’ sides 8 game long point streak and marked their third straight loss.
After blowing a 3-1 lead in the first game, the Blues never even got to lead in the second, the Golden Knights were more efficient with the man advantage, and looked much stronger on the defense.
With the defeat the Golden Knights convincingly take the head to head bragging rights at 6-2, the Blues now travel to L.A for their final game of the season with the Kings, who they currently trail 5-2.
Today’s game marks the final home match for the Kings this season, and they are in need of a win having lost back to back games to the Avalanche over the weekend.
The two games played out nearly identically, with the Kings attempting a fraction of the shots of the Avs, and entering the final term down 3-1 where they would score again to make it 3-2, but ultimately fail to complete the comeback.
Considering how low scoring and tight both the Kings and Blues past few games have been, we are expecting a very similar affair today with the Blues narrowly edging out the Los Angeles’ side.
NHL Pick – St. Louis Blues (-142)
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Colorado Avalanche @ Vegas Golden Knights – 10.00 PM EDT
The Avalanche went back to back over the Kings, picking up their second straight 3-2 win over the Los Angeles side, the fourth straight time they have won by just a goal.
The Avs’ scoresheet looked very similar in both games, with Cale Makar registering a goal and assist, and Andre Burakovsky bagging double assists in each game. Devon Toews notched 2 goals in the most recent game, the first multi goal performance of his career.
Our humble King 👑#AllHailCale #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/g0WVuGiZGx
— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 9, 2021
Now sitting in second place in the West, the Avalanche now travel to Vegas for their final head to head game against the first place Golden Knights, the Vegas side currently lead 4-3 with bragging rights on the line today.
The Knights picked up their third straight win on Saturday, beating the Blues 4-1 for a 2 game sweep, 8-4 on aggregate score over the series.
The goals were shared around the team for the first game, but Reilly Smith had other ideas on Saturday, bagging 3 of the Knights’ 4 goals for the first hat trick of the 30 year olds NHL career.
With a record of 8-2-0 over the last 10 games the Knights are the joint best performing side in the league at the moment, sitting atop the West Division table, and are the bookies second most favourite to win the Stanley Cup, bettered only by today’s opponent, the Avs.
NHL Pick – Vegas Golden Knight (-108)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
