Our experts went 20/30 over a massive day of NHL yesterday, and it’s got them hyped to go again today. With only 5 games on we’ve had plenty of time to research each game in depth, have a read below to see all of our NHL picks.
Arizona Coyotes @ Minnesota Wild – 8.00 PM EST
The Coyotes travel to Minnesota to face the Wild in the first game of a 3 match road trip, the two sides played 2 games in Arizona just last week, both winning a game a piece.
The Coyotes are coming off the back of a 2-1 overtime defeat to the Avalanche, narrowly failing to make it two wins in a row over the Colorado based team.
They have had an up and down season, often winning two in a row before losing the next two, and ultimately failing to keep their form consistent.
Sitting in 6th place on the East Division table with 28 points, the Coyotes are tied with the Kings in 5th on points, and only 3 points separates them from todays’ opponent, the Wild, in 3rd.
See you soon, @mnwild. 👋 pic.twitter.com/D5ASVzc0QI
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) March 11, 2021
The Wild took revenge on the 1st place Golden Knights, having lost 2 games in Vegas earlier in the season, the Wild pulled off an impressive 2 game home series sweep, winning 6-3 on aggregate.
Joel Eriksson was the main man for the Wild, opening his account just 19 seconds into the game with an unassisted goal, and adding another in the third term to put them 3-1 up.
The Wild will be quite confident going into this series, they are currently 7-3-0 from home games this series and have won their last 5 straight.
NHL Pick – Minnesota Wild (-161)
Spread Pick – Minnesota Wild -1.5 (+150)
Total Goals Pick – Over 5.5 (+105)
Vegas Golden Knights @ St Louis Blues – 8.00 PM EST
The Golden Knights and the St Louis Blues meet for just the second time all season today, with their previous outing requiring a shootout to determine the winner following a thrilling 4-4 regulation time result.
Both sides head into this match on a 2 loss streak, the Knights went down over 2 games to the aforementioned Minnesota Wild, where a hat trick from first time NHL goal scorer, Dylan Coghlan, wasn’t enough to secure the win.
Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone will be hoping to repeat their heroics from the last meeting between the two sides, Pacioretty scored a hat trick and Stone provided 3 assists.
The Blues went to overtime for a third straight game, losing their 2nd consecutive match, this time to the San Jose Sharks, who sit in last place on the table.
Ryan O’Reilly had a hand in both goals for the Blues as they outshot the Sharks 26-20 and looked the better team for most of the night.
Todays’ meeting sees the divisions best defense go up against one of the strongest offenses, with the Knights conceding just 2.17 goals per game to the Blues 3.15 goals scored per game.
NHL Pick – Vegas Golden Knights (-116)
Spread Pick – Vegas Golden Knights -1.5 (+200)
Total Goals Pick – Over 4.5 (-370)
Los Angeles Kings @ Colorado Avalanche – 9.00 PM EST
The Kings defeated the Ducks with a convincing 5-1 performance on Wednesday, redeeming themselves for their Monday night defeat to salvage a game from the 2 match series.
Adrian Kempe scored in his third straight game, scoring 2 goals to bring his total to 6 over the last 3 games, and the skipper, Anze Kopitar kept his point streak going, registering a point for the 6th consecutive game.
Kempe is just the Kings’ 4th leading point scorer, in a season where they have not struggled to score, they are yet to be kept goalless for the entirety of the season.
Off to Colorado for a two games 🛫 pic.twitter.com/tEphznOWKv
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 11, 2021
The Avalanche got up over the Coyotes in overtime on Wednesday, their third overtime in just 4 games, bringing their overtime record to 3-2 for the season.
The Avs outshot the Coyotes by a ridiculous 46-14, finding the net just once in regulation time, with Gabriel Landeskog scoring the decisive goal deep into overtime to give them the well deserved win.
The two sides have already played games in Los Angeles earlier in the season, both teams won a game each, this time around the Avs will host, although that hasn’t meant much this season as they boast the exact same home and away record (7-4-1).
NHL Pick – Colorado Avalanche (-222)
Spread Pick – Colorado Avalanche -1.5 (+115)
Total Goals Pick – Over 5.5 (-116)
Ottawa Senators @ Edmonton Oilers – 9.00 PM EST
The Senators and the Oilers gear up for the final game in their 3 match series in Edmonton, of which the Oilers are so far undefeated in, winning with a narrow 3-2 followed by a blowout 7-1 victory on Wednesday.
The Senators remained competitive in the first game, but returned to their ways in the second game, with the 7 goals conceded bringing their season total to 115 goals against, that is a whopping 3.97 goals per game on average, comfortably the worst in the league.
The Oilers flexed their muscles over the Senators on Wednesday with a performance that looked like them at their best, Connor McDavid picked up a goal and 2 assists, while his right hand man Leon Draisaitl stole the show, bagging himself a hat trick and 2 assists.
The two are once again the perfect center partnership, and are well on their way to achieving a 100 point season, leading the league for points with McDavids’ 48, followed by Draisaitls’ 42.
NHL Pick – Edmonton Oilers (-243)
Spread Pick – Edmonton Oilers -1.5 (-105)
Total Goals Pick – Over 5.5 (-192)
San Jose Sharks @ Anaheim Ducks – 10.00 PM EST
Evander Kane scored in overtime to end the Sharks’ 3 loss streak with a win over the St. Louis Blues on Monday, the game was the final fixture of a 7 game Sharks home stand, of which they only came away with 2 wins.
The Sharks played well considering the quality of the Blues, fighting hard and forcing the overtime thanks to a captain’s goal from Logan Couture in the third term.
Ensuring we got the two points 😏
📺 | @GEICO Insuring Game Moment pic.twitter.com/OmE1HdWYaT
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 11, 2021
Currently sitting in dead last on the West Division table, the Sharks are experiencing another lacklustre season, they only sit 1 point behind the Ducks though, and will be looking at todays’ game as a real chance to get some points before facing the divisions’ two best teams.
The Ducks appeared to have found some form following their back to back wins over the Avs and Kings earlier in the week, however, they slipped back to their losing ways in the second leg of their 2 game series with the Kings.
The 5-1 defeat didn’t occur through a lack of trying by the Ducks, who sent 34 shots the Kings way but were only able to find the back of the net more than once.
The Ducks have hosted the Sharks on two occasions this season, with both games going to a shootout, winning 1 each. The seasons’ prospects of either team are not looking too promising, but to be swept across these two games would surely put a nail in the coffin of the other team.
NHL Pick – San Jose Sharks (-111)
Spread Pick – Anaheim Ducks +1.5 (-250)
Total Goals Pick – Over 5.5 (-111)
The 2021 NHL is well underway now! If you want to catch up with all the latest information, make sure you visit our NHL hub page.
*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of Bet365.
