There are only a few days of NHL left in the regular season, and with just 3 games on the Thursday agenda, we have spent the day researching them all to bring you the very best NHL picks.
Minnesota Wild @ St Louis Blues – 8.00 PM EDT
The Blues got the job done in St Louis against the Wild yesterday, and the two will run it up again today for their final game of the regular season before embarking on their own separate playoff series.
With just 1 more game left to play, the 4-0 win marked the first shutout of the season for the Blues, which have kept their opponent to just 1 goal on 10 occasions, but never managed to keep a clean sheet until yesterday.
However, with both teams’ position on the table determined prior to the match, there was no pressure on either to get the result, nonetheless it was a solid performance from the Blues on home soil.
“The little details weren’t quite there… and it cost us tonight.” -Marcus Johansson
Hear more from Johansson, Talbot and Dumba after tonight’s game. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/cyCij5N5lU
— x – Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) May 13, 2021
Torey Krug bagged his first goal since January, and added an assist to his total for his eight point from his last 6 games for the Musicians. David Perron also stood out with a goal and 2 assists, marking his 55th point of the campaign.
With just a day of rest under the belt, the Blues and the Wild go again today, and considering the playoffs are around the corner, neither coach will want to overwork their players in case of injury.
NHL Pick – St. Louis Blues (-104)
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Vancouver Canucks @ Calgary Flames – 9.00 PM EDT
The Canucks and the Flames begin the first of 4 head to head games set to be played over the next week, the congested schedule is the result of the Canucks’ COVID outbreak earlier in the year.
The Vancouver side are coming into this game following a 5-0 shutout defeat at the hands of the Jets on Tuesday, the defeat coming just 24 hours after the Canucks beat them 3-1, which is in keeping with their struggle to perform in back to back games this season.
With a record of 2-8-0 over the last 10 games, no team in the NHL is finishing their season worse than the Canucks, and with 5 to play, they appear set to finish on the bottom of the table unless they can turn things around against the Flames.
However, the Flames have been far from convincing in their own right, after consecutive bad beats to the Oilers and the Jets, the Flames most recently faced the Senators, but the 6-1 win was heavily affected by the Senators playing in back to back games.
Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau both buried a goal, and had a hand in 2 more for a 3 point haul, the two are ranked third and second respectively for total points, with 37 and 42.
The Flames’ 4 game series with the Canucks will be their final games of the season, already sporting a 4-2 lead on the head to head, they will be expecting to take the majority of the points against the struggling side and secure a 5th place finish.
NHL Pick – Calgary Flames (-180)
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Los Angeles Kings @ Colorado Avalanche – 9.00 PM EDT
The Kings and the Avalanche wrap up their regular seasons with another match in Colorado today, and after the Avs 6-0 dismantling yesterday, the Kings will be eager to wrap this one up.
It was a sorry final performance from the Los Angeles side, attempting a measly 18 shots against the dominant Avalanche, while facing an onslaught of shots at the other end, of which Cal Peterson could only prevent 31.
The Kings have now lost 4 straight games, hardly the way they would have liked to see their season end, but given how strong the Avs looked it is likely we will see that extend to 5 by the end of the day.
Even in the absence of Nathan MacKinnon the Avalanche rolled over the Kings, with J.T Compher filling in on goalscoring duties, netting his first career hat trick. Avs’ leading goal scorer, Mikko Rantanen, took a break from burying goals, instead providing a hat trick of assists.
An obvious choice for the Goal of the Game:
JT’s hatty 🧢#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/9sqO9QQOTE
— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 13, 2021
Phillip Grubaeur was in net for the Avs, and while he didn’t have much to do he was still there to save all 18 shots that came his way, marking his 30th win this season, and his NHL joint leading, 7th shutout of the campaign.
Had the Knights not beaten the Sharks 6-0 in their final game of the season, the Avs’ 6 goal margin would have done plenty to narrow the goal differential gap between themselves and the first place side. With 1 game to play today, the division title is still up for grabs, however, the Avs would have to win by a margin of 7 goals or greater.
NHL Pick – Colorado Avalanche (-405)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
