We are loving the action throughout this impressive NHL season so far. As we move into the final stretch of the season, each division’s ladder has already become well formed. This means that every single win or loss can have a significant impact on the position each team will finish in when the regular season draws to a close, so it is important that you don’t miss any of the action!
Here at SportsTips, we are just as keen on the NHL as you are! We spend each and every day going through the best games and previewing them for you. Our experts offer up their free NHL picks, which means that you not only get enjoyment out of watching some intriguing games, but also make extra cash while doing so!
Look below to find our free NHL picks, as we preview the best five games on today’s schedule.
Toronto Maple Leafs @ Montreal Canadiens – 7.00PM ET
Two Canadian teams from the Atlantic Division will clash on Saturday night in the NHL when the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Montreal Canadiens. The Maple Leafs have won three of their last four games, and this takes their record to 40-18-5. The Canadiens have lost four of their last five games, including last time out, where they were defeated by the Panthers, 3-4.
Marko Nadin
The Montreal Canadiens are locked to the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 17-37-10 record. The Canadiens have lost 4 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 3-4 loss to the Florida Panthers. Montreal allows a league-high 3.8 goals per game while they are also ranked the worst in the league with 2.5 goals per game. Montreal has won 4 of the last 5 games against Toronto. The Canadiens have lost 25 of the last 35 games against Eastern Conference rivals and 20 of the last 27 home games.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 40-18-5 record. They have won 3 of the last 4 games and are coming off a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. The Maple Leafs are the best team in the league when it comes to power play conversion with 28.3% and are ranked third in the league with 3.7 goals per game. Toronto have won 20 of the last 27 games against Eastern Conference rivals and 17 of the last 25 games as a favorite playing on the road.
Marko’s NHL Pick: Toronto Maple Leafs (-275)
Tony Battalio
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been one of the best teams in the National Hockey League this season. They come into this game with a record of 40-18-5 through their first 63 games of the season. They are on a bit of a hot streak at the moment having won three of their last four games on the year. They are really starting to establish themselves as a serious Stanley Cup trophy contender. Toronto is currently sitting in second place of the Atlantic Division, 7 points behind the Florida Panthers for the lead.
Happy Friday, Leafs Nation 🎉😁 pic.twitter.com/XQaN6iQn5T
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 25, 2022
The Montreal Canadiens have had a rough season this year, as they come into this game with a record of 17-37-10 through their first 64 games of the season. They are in last place in the Atlantic Division and all but officially eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It is looking like a multi-year rebuild is on the table for the Canadiens after a run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season. As for the result of this game, I have the Toronto Maple Leafs picking up the victory.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Toronto Maple Leafs (-275)
Jeffery Thomas
Two Canadian Atlantic Division teams face off on Saturday when the 2nd place Maple Leafs travel to Montreal to play the 8th place Canadiens. Toronto is coming into this game off a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday so they will be coming in well-rested and on a high. Erik Kallgren is the confirmed starting goaltender for this matchup and only has one road start under his belt this year. In that game against the Predators, Kallgren gave up five goals in a 3-6 loss. He’ll need to perform much better to get this win over the Canadiens who gave the Panthers all they could handle on Thursday night. It was a 3-4 loss, so Montreal once again covered the spread which has been a theme for them lately.
They are 10-2 against the spread in their last 12 games and 4-0 ATS with projected goaltender Jake Allen starting ever since his return from injury. Could Montreal keep this one close against the high-powered Maple Leafs? These two teams have met twice before this year, with the Canadiens covering the spread in both, one being an outright victory. Usually I could ignore a trend like that but given how well they’ve been covering coming into this game, I think here’s another good spot to back the underdogs. Toronto hasn’t been too convincing with their play lately so I’m pretty confident Montreal can once again keep this within a goal.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Montreal Canadiens +1.5 (-118)
Florida Panthers @ Ottawa Senators – 7.00PM ET
Another Atlantic Division clash, but this time we see the Florida Panthers face off against the Ottawa Senators. The Panthers have only dropped two games so far in March, and last time out they were victorious over the Canadiens, 4-3. The Senators have lost five of their last seven games, but last time out they did get the win over the Jets, 5-2.
Marko Nadin
The Ottawa Senators are 14th in the Eastern Conference with a 23-36-5 record. They have won 2 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets. Ottawa scores only 2.6 goals per game which puts them 28th in the league, while they are 23rd with 3.3 goals allowed per game. The Senators have lost 10 of the last 14 games overall and 9 of the last 12 home games. They have also lost 4 of the last 5 games against opponents with a winning record over 60% and 5 of the last 6 games as home underdog.
The Florida Panthers are on the top of the Eastern Conference with a 43-14-6 record. They have won 3 of the last 5 games and the visit to Ottawa will be their sixth consecutive road game. The Panthers are coming off a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Florida is the best team in the league scoring 4.1 goals per game on league-high 36.8 shots on goal per game. Florida has won 4 of the last 5 games against Ottawa and 8 of the last 10 games as road favorites. The Panthers have also won the last 6 games when their opponent scores 5 goals or more in their previous game.
Marko’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers (-310)
Tony Battalio
The Florida Panthers have been one of the top teams in the National Hockey League this season. They are my current favorites to win the Eastern Conference and make the Stanley Cup Finals. They come into this game with a decent seven point lead built up over the rest of the Atlantic Division at the moment. They also come into this game with a record of 43-14-6 through their first 63 games of the season. The Panthers will look to continue their winning ways and lock the Atlantic Division as soon as possible.
Three Thoughts: The #Sens took control of the third period against the Jets Thursday as Travis Hamonic made his Ottawa debut! #GoSensGo
📝 https://t.co/QflFaCdM1h pic.twitter.com/BiuDdEmysq
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 25, 2022
The Ottawa Senators are having a rough year this season as they have been one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League. They come into this game with a record of 23-36-5 through their first 64 games of the season. They are all but officially eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs at this point. It looks to be a multi year rebuild ahead of the Senators. As for the result of this game I have the Florida Panthers getting the win.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers (-310)
Jeffery Thomas
The Florida Panthers are rounding into form at the right time and now have claimed victories in eight of their ten games in the month of March. It was a 4-3 win over the Canadiens last time out for the Cats, to push their record to 3-1-1 on this current seven game road trip. This run has helped push Florida’s lead in the Atlantic Division out to 7 points over the Toronto Maple Leafs and Saturday will be a chance to build upon that in a game against a struggling Senators squad. Prior to a win over Winnipeg on Thursday, the Sens had lost five of their last six games, and all by 2+ goals.
Their record sits at 23-36-5 which is good for 7th place in the Atlantic. Two teams coming off victories but there’s just a vast difference in talent and motivation in this one, both heavily pointing to Florida. The Ottawa Senators are looking like they are just running out of gas and resigned to their fate that this season is a wash. Expect the Panthers to come into this road arena and silence the crowd with a 2+ goal victory.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers -1.5 (-115)
Carolina Hurricanes @ St. Louis Blues – 8.00PM ET
The Carolina Hurricanes kick off a three game road trip on Saturday night when they travel to St. Louis to face off against the Blues. The Hurricanes are in desperate need of a win, as they have lost five of their last six games, with their only win in this span against the Lightning, 3-2. The Blues are in a similar position, only winning one of their last four games, and this takes their record on the season to 35-19-9.
Marko Nadin
The St. Louis Blues are fourth in the Western Conference with a 35-19-9 record. They have lost 4 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 2-5 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Blues are the fifth best offensive team in the league scoring 3.5 goals per game and are ranked third-best in the league with 26.4% scoring on power plays. The Blues have won 5 of the last 7 games against Carolina. They have also won 6 of the last 7 games following a loss of 3 or more goals and 5 of the last 6 games after allowing 5 goals or more in their previous game.
The Carolina Hurricanes are second in the Eastern Conference with a 42-15-7 record. They have lost 5 of the last 6 games and are coming off a 3-4 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars. The Hurricanes are the best defensive team in the league allowing only 2.4 goals per game and defending the league-best 89.4% of the power play situations. Carolina has won 15 of the last 20 games coming in after 1 day break and 4 of the last 5 games when their opponent scores 2 goals or less in their previous game.
Marko’s NHL Pick: Under 6 (-110)
Tony Battalio
The Carolina Hurricanes have been one of the best teams in the National Hockey League this season. As they come into this matchup as one of the top favorites in the Eastern Conference. They currently have a record of 42-15-7 through their first 64 games of the season. They are currently in first place in the Metropolitan Division as they hold a lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers. They lost their last game to the Dallas Stars in overtime.
Friday Night Flights 🎬 pic.twitter.com/bLKLD1wcUb
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 26, 2022
The St. Louis Blues are coming into this game with a record of 35-19-9 through their first 63 games of the season. The Blues are currently in third place in the Central Division at the moment. That is likely the highest they will go since the Colorado Avalanche are running away with the division, having built up a double digit lead over the rest of the pack. St. Louis is currently on a one game losing streak and have lost four out of their last five. As for the result of this game, I have Carolina getting the win.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes (-128)
Jeffery Thomas
The Carolina Hurricanes will be in search of answers when they travel to St. Louis on Saturday for a game against the Blues. The Canes are losers of five of their last six games after a 3-4 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars. Despite the loss, Carolina still has a 3 point lead in the Metropolitan Division over the Penguins, but will need to start stringing a nice run together to maintain it. St. Louis isn’t in first-place in their division (Central) but they are very much slated to be in postseason play.
They are also in a bit of funk too with losses in four of their last five games including an inexcusable 2-5 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. That win was the Flyers first win on the road in 14 tries so the Blues will try and defend home ice better on Saturday night. Two playoff teams struggling meeting up here and somebody has to get things going. Saturday night should be a playoff atmosphere with high intensity and with that usually comes lower-scoring games. We’ll likely get a 3-2 game either way, so I love the over in this spot with two goalies starting that have GAAs under 2.4 on the season in Andersen and Husso.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Under 6 (-110)
Columbus Blue Jackets @ Minnesota Wild – 8.00PM ET
The Columbus Blue Jackets wrap up their three game road trip on Saturday night when they face off against the Minnesota Wild. The Blue Jackets are playing on back-to-back nights, and in their Friday game they lost in overtime to the Jets, 3-4. The Wild are currently on a four game winning streak, and their wins have come over the Bruins, Blackhawks, Golden Knights and Canucks.
Marko Nadin
The Minnesota Wild are third in the Western Conference with a 38-20-4 record. They have won the last 4 games and are coming off a 3-2 overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks. Minnesota is the fourth-best team in the league with 3.6 goals per game and are ranked 11th with 32.7 shots on goal per game. Minnesota has won 3 of the last 4 games against Columbus. They have also won 10 of the last 11 games against teams from the Metropolitan Division and 19 of the last 26 games following a win.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are ninth in the Eastern Conference with a 32-29-4 record. They have lost 3 of the last 4 games and are coming off a 3-4 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets. The Blue Jackets are allowing the league-high 35.4 shots on goal per game and are the third-worst team in the league allowing 3.7 goals per game. Columbus has won 4 of the last 5 games against teams from the Pacific Division or from the Western Conference but they have lost 4 of the last 5 road games and 4 of the last 5 games playing without a day off.
Marko’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild (-315)
Tony Battalio
The Columbus Blue Jackets are coming into this game with a record of 32-29-4 through their first 65 games of the season. They will be playing the second game of a back to back in this one after losing to the Winnipeg Jets in overtime on Friday night. The Columbus Blue Jackets likely won’t be making the postseason this year but they have shown massive improvement compared to last season. They are in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division at the moment.
Leaving it all on the ice 🥶
📺 @BallySportsCBUS
📻 @971thefan @moomoocarwash | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/R6T3QbMNlJ— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 26, 2022
The Minnesota Wild are coming into this game with a record of 38-20-4 through their first 62 games of the season. They find themselves in second place in the Central Division at the moment. They were the best team in the National Hockey League at one point. They are currently on a four game winning streak and will be looking to avenge their loss to Columbus from March 11th where they lost 2-3 in overtime on the road. As for the result of the game, I have the Minnesota Wild getting the victory over Columbus.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild (-315)
Jeffery Thomas
The Minnesota Wild are starting to find their groove, winning four straight, and will get another good opportunity for 2 points on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday for the Wild after Joel Eriksson Ek netted the game winner 31 seconds into overtime, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Now they’ll get another chance to get a win in front of their home faithful when the Blue Jackets come in on the back-to-back. In that Friday game the Blue Jackets suffered a tough 3-4 overtime loss in Winnipeg to the Jets.
The Blue Jackets found themselves chasing the entire game, going down 0-2 in the first period before tying it at 2 early in the second. Winnipeg took a 2-3 lead into the third period and almost all hope was lost before the CBJ scored a goal with 14 seconds left to force overtime. Now the question is what will they have left in the tank after exerting all of that energy on Friday night. The Minnesota Wild are 21-7-1 on home ice this season and the CBJ are just 1-4 in their last four games on the second leg of a back-to-back. This is a spot where the Wild will take advantage of the tired legs of their opponents and just wear them down and grind out a home victory, securing the two points comfortably.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild -1.5 (-102)
Edmonton Oilers @ Calgary Flames – 10.00PM ET
The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, both from the Pacific Division, will go toe-to-toe on Saturday night in the NHL. The Oilers have won six of their last eight games, and this takes their overall season record to 36-24-5. The Flames are playing on two nights in a row, and in their previous game they beat the Coyotes, 4-2.
Marko Nadin
The Calgary Flames are second in the Western Conference with a 39-17-8 record. They have won 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 4-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes. Calgary is ranked 6th in the league scoring 3.6 goals per game and are ranked second with 35.8 shots on goal per game. The Flames have won the last 7 games played on Saturday and 8 of the last 10 games against teams with a winning record. They have also won 14 of the last 18 games as a home favorite and 16 of the last 21 games against conference rivals.
The Edmonton Oilers are seventh in the Western Conference with a 36-24-5 record. They have won 6 of the last 8 games and are coming off a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. The Oilers are ranked seventh in the league scoring 3.4 goals per game and are fourth in 25.4% of the power play situations. Edmonton has won 6 of the last 10 games against Calgary. They have also won 4 of the last 5 games after scoring 5 goals or more in their previous game and 4 of the last 5 games playing after one day rest.
Marko’s NHL Pick: Calgary Flames (-162)
Tony Battalio
This is going to be the best game of the Saturday evening slate as two of the leagues best and Canada’s best teams are set to face off when the Edmonton Oilers meet the Calgary Flames. The Edmonton Oilers are coming into this game with a record of 36-24-5 through their first 65 games of the season. Edmonton had a slow start to the season but have picked it up after the last few months. They are a serious Stanley Cup threat in my opinion as they are the third best team in the Western Conference behind Colorado and Calgary.
Good night, #Flames fans 🔥 See you tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/bMPPor7nWH
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 26, 2022
The Calgary Flames have been the hottest team in the National Hockey League as of late, as they raced past several teams like Vegas and Los Angeles to claim the first spot in the Pacific Division. The Flames come into this game with a record of 39-17-8 through their first 64 games of the season. They have built up a seven point lead in the division with 18 games remaining in the regular season so they are not out of the woods yet. As for the result of this game however, I have the Flames getting the win.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Calgary Flames (-162)
Jeffery Thomas
The Edmonton Oilers will travel to Calgary for one quick road game on Saturday before returning home to play the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. The Oilers got Friday off after beating San Jose Sharks by a score of 5-2 on Thursday, pushing their record to 6-1-1 in their last eight games overall. A tough test awaits them with the Calgary Flames set to host them Saturday night after a 4-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night.
Johnny Gaudreau got his 30th goal on the season and added two assists, helping push the Flames record out to 16-2-2 in their last 20 home games. This rivalry is always a coin flip when they match up and it was Calgary that got the last victory earlier this month 3-1 on March 7. The other two meetings were dominated by the Oilers who put up 5 goals in both and I just don’t see them going down lightly again. I think this game will be tightly-contested with a possible win for the road Oilers, so I love the play on the Oilers on the spread.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Edmonton Oilers +1.5 (-182)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of writing, courtesy of FanDuel.
