There is less than a month of regular season games to play in this already epic year of NHL! With just 5 games on the agenda today we didn’t have to carefully choose the best of the bunch, we’ve got them all covered in detail below! Have a read through for all of our NHL picks.
Boston Bruins @ Buffalo Sabres – 7.00 PM EDT
The Bruins and the Sabres wrap up their three match series in Buffalo today, and after a convincing Bruins’ win yesterday, the Sabres are going to have to do something differently to avoid a clean sweep.
Yesterday’s match ended up a blowout, but it was a fairly tight affair for the majority of the game, with the Bruins leading 2-1 at the end of the second term.
After assisting in the goal that put the Bruins in front, David Pastrnak opened the scoring 5 minutes into the final term, and Nick Ritchie added another a minute later to give them a comfortable 2 goal cushion.
The win marks a season high 6 straight for the Bruins, the second longest active streak in the NHL, and pulls them another 2 points away from the Rangers in 5th place.
🎥 Coach Cassidy reacts following the #NHLBruins sixth straight win: “Not a lot of poor stretches, I think that shows in our goals against. We don’t have these lulls where you have pockets of poor puck management shift after shift.” pic.twitter.com/Qxd6pLFdFV
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 23, 2021
It was the Sabres’ 5th defeat to the Boston side from 5 games this season, and while they at least managed to put one past the Bruins this time, they conceded an additional 3 goals.
The two sides fitness levels will now be put to the test as they go back to back for the final game, the Bruins have a losing record in these matches (3-4), while no team in the league has more experience in these matches than the Sabres, however they have only won 2 of 12.
NHL Pick – Boston Bruins (-330)
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Philadelphia Flyers @ New York Rangers – 7.00 PM EDT
The Flyers snapped their losing streak with a tight 3-2 win over the Rangers yesterday, and with the win, claimed temporary bragging rights over the head to head record (4-3), but the two will run it up again today for the final match of the series.
The Rangers came out the better side with Brandon Smith burying the only goal of the first period, but they gave away 12 penalty minutes to the Flyers who were there to capitalize on their chances, scoring back to back power play goals to grab the lead in the final period.
4 minutes later Jakub Voracek popped up with another for the Flyers, and despite a late goal from Artemi Panarin, the Rangers were unable to find the equaliser, picking up their second loss in 3 days.
James Van Riemsdyk scored both of the powerplay goals for a 2 point haul, and Ivan Provorov played a part in each, also picking up 2 points. Both sides were letting the shots fly, luckily Brian Elliot was up for the challenge, saving 33 of 35 attempts to keep the Flyers in front.
The Rangers and Flyers are sitting in a similar position on the table, both trying to make a push for the playoffs, but it isn’t looking too good as they are mired by inconsistent performances.
NHL Pick – New York Rangers (-168)
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Nashville Predators @ Chicago Blackhawks – 8.00 PM EDT
Currently sitting on 1 game a piece, the Preds and the Blackhawks take it to game three today to decide who comes out the winner of their 3 game series.
After the Predators dismantled the Blackhawks apart 5-2 in Nashville, the two sides took to Chicago to play the second.
Comfortably winning 4-1 halfway through the final period, it looked like the Preds were coasting home to another victory, but the Blackhawks had other plans, mounting a legendary 3 goal comeback to send the game to overtime where Brandon Hagel would score the decisive goal to complete the comeback.
The spectacular win was just the Blackhawks’ first over the Preds from 7 games this season and keeps them within 3 points of the Predators in a playoff position.
NOT a vibe @koorsenfire | #NSHvsCHI pic.twitter.com/WTWb0wzS5F
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) April 22, 2021
Hagel finished the game with 3 points, firing home the winning goal on top of assisting in the Blackhawks’ first and second goal. It couldn’t have happened without a strong performance in net from Malcolm Subban, finishing the game with 36 saves and redeeming himself for letting 4 goals in early with some clutch stops.
Mikael Grunlund was the only Predator to finish the game with double points, scoring in the final minute of the second period before assisting another less than a minute into the third.
With an extra 10 shots made for the game, the Preds will be kicking themselves for throwing away what should have been an easy win at 4-1 up, but they get another chance today, and if they find themselves in a similar situation it is hard to see them choking again.
NHL Pick – Nashville Predators (-138)
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Montreal Canadiens @ Calgary Flames – 9.00 PM EDT
The Canadiens found their feet again on Wednesday, snapping their 2 game losing streak by beating the Oilers 4-3 away from home after losing to them 4-1 on Monday.
The Montreal side opened the scoring late in the first, and when the Oilers pulled one back the Canadiens replied with 3 more of their own. They looked to be sailing home when the Oilers made them sweat by scoring 2 goals with just a minute left to play, fortunately the Canadiens held on to claim their 5th win over the streaking Oilers.
Tomas Tatar and Jeff Petry both bagged double assists in the win, but Josh Anderson stole the show with a brace, scoring the goal to restore the Canadiens’ lead in the second, and another late in third which would become the decisive goal.
It was a well needed win for the Canadiens, with a record of 4-6-0 over the last 10 games, they were the joint worst performing side in the North, matched only by today’s opponents, the Flames.
The Flames picked up their second straight defeat on Monday, losing 4-2 to the Senators on home soil. They looked to be at their best not too long ago, but a home defeat to the North Divisions’ bottom place side is reminiscent of the same inconsistency that has plagued them all season.
The majority of the game was quite even, with the Flames outshooting their opponents, however, some very questionable defending led to some costly goals being conceded.
The Flames will be looking to return to form over this 3 game series with the Canadiens, the two sides have met 6 times this season, with the Flames currently leading the head to head 4-2.
NHL Pick – Calgary Flames (-118)
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Minnesota Wild @ Los Angeles Kings – 10.00 PM EDT
The streaking Minnesota Wild tee off against the Kings for a single game in Los Angeles today. The Wild have been going just as their name suggests recently, wild, picking up their 5th straight victory with a 4-1 win over the Coyotes on Wednesday.
They have so far made the most of an ideal run of fixtures, picking up their third win over the Coyotes in just 5 games, with an aggregate score of 14-5 across the 3 matches.
The 4 goals in the most recent game came from 4 different sources, with Nico Sturm the only player to register double points.
Despite what the scoreline suggests, the Wild attempted nearly half the shots of the Coyotes (23-40). A stellar performance from Cam Talbot in net was to thank for the victory, making 39/40 saves and narrowly missing out on his 3rd shutout of the season.
Cam 🤝 Kaapo
Lots of savesWe love to see so many meals headed to @FeedingAmerica, courtesy of @Walmart. pic.twitter.com/36bXQrfeQg
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 22, 2021
Just like the majority of the teams in the West Division, the Kings haven’t had a great run of it lately, but they bounced back from tandem defeats to the Knights with a solid 4-1 win over the Ducks on Tuesday.
Andreas Athanasiou and Blake Lizotte both notched a goal and 2 assists for their first 3 points hauls of the season, while Drew Doughty was a brick wall in defense and made the Ducks’ lives hard.
The Kings are currently sitting in second last place in the West, however, on 40 points, they only sit 5 points away from the Coyotes in a playoff position, and the race to claim the spot is on.
NHL Pick – Minnesota Wild (-176)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
