There is less than a month of regular season games to play in this already epic year of NHL. With 8 mouth watering fixtures set to play today, our experts have picked 5 from the bunch that look the most likely to bring in the money! Have a read below for all of our NHL picks.
Boston Bruins @ Buffalo Sabres – 6.30 PM EDT
The Bruins continued their solid run of form on Sunday, picking up their fourth consecutive win against the Capitals, winning by a convincing 6-3 on home ice.
It is their best run of form since all the way back in February when they went 5 games unbeaten.
The recent win wraps up a very successful 5 game homestand, and it couldn’t have come at a better time as the only other team performing as well as the Bruins is the New York Rangers, who sit 4 points behind them on the table, nipping at their heels for a playoff position.
The Bruins’ 6 goals were divided evenly between Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Krejci, but it was Marchand that topped the scoring, contributing 2 assists for his 3rd, 4 point haul of the campaign.
They now head to Buffalo for the reverse fixture of their game last week, which the Bruins narrowly scraped through thanks to a shootout victory.
Catching a bird to Buffalo. ✈️#OnTheRoad | @Enterprise pic.twitter.com/7JxzgPX6Zb
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 19, 2021
With 5 wins from the last 10 games played, and 12 points gained, the Sabres are in the best form of their admittedly disastrous season.
Their improvement was evident when they defeated the Capitals away from home last week, and it was even more apparent on Sunday when they defeated the Penguins 4-2.
The Sabres came out swinging with a goal in the opening 30 seconds of the game, and 8 minutes into the final period, Sam Reinhart had added 2 more to the tally.
The Penguins threw it all at the Sabres, attempting 36 shots for the game, only managing to beat Dustin Tokarski with a goal midway through the third, and a consolation goal with 30 seconds left to play.
NHL Pick – Buffalo Sabres (+260)
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New York Rangers @ New York Islanders – 7.00 PM EDT
The Rangers did it again on Sunday, wrapping up a perfect 4 game series against the Devils with yet another victory, winning 5-3, bringing the aggregate score to 18-6 over the 4 matches.
As a result of the flawless series, the Rangers now boast the best record over the last 10 games in the East Division (7-1-2). Unfortunately for the Rangers, the only other team performing to their level is the Bruins, who sit 4 points above them in a playoff position.
Despite getting the win, Sunday’s match was once again a sweat for the Rangers, with the score all tied up at 3-3 with just 3 minutes left to play. Mika Zibanejad stepped up though, burying a goal on the power play to pull away, and Ryan Strome buried an empty netter 2 minutes later to put the match to bed.
Zibanejad finished the game with a goal, and an assist, his 7th point over the 4 game period, and also notching his 6th straight match with a point.
After playing the last 4 games against one of their biggest rivals in the Devils, the Rangers now head across town for a single game against their all time rivals, the Islanders, who lead the head to head record by 1 win (3-2).
The Islanders haven’t been at their best lately, with just 2 wins from the last 5 played, both of which were decided by a goal in overtime.
The most recent came against the unimpressive, Flyers, in a snoozefest of a game that finished 0-0 in regulation time. As is the case with any 0-0 finish, goaltending plays the main factor, and Ilya Sorokin was up for it, making 30 saves for his 3rd shutout of the campaign.
Nick Leddy was the hero for the Islanders though, breaking the deadlock halfway through overtime with the decisive, and only, goal of the game.
NHL Pick – New York Islanders (-134)
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New Jersey Devils @ Pittsburgh Penguins – 7.00 PM EDT
The Devils’ suffering continued on Sunday, losing their 6th straight game, and their 4th consecutive to the Rangers for a painful 4 game sweep to their rivals.
Such is the Devils’ failures, that their 1-8-1 record over the last 10 games is the joint worst in the entire league, and has seen them drop to just 3 points from the bottom place, Buffalo Sabres.
After being shutout in back to back games against the Rangers, the Devils came out in the third and fourth game looking much better, scoring 3 unanswered goals in each game before lapsing defensively, conceding 2 more.
“Tonight was a missed assignment. We were in the right place we were just a foot away from making the right play.”
Lindy Ruff speaks after today’s 5-3 loss against the Rangers. #NJDevils | @UnibetUS pic.twitter.com/5H3hRkfrNK
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) April 18, 2021
Their prospects of a win don’t look too promising as they head to Pittsburgh for three consecutive games against the Penguins, who, when playing at home, are one of the strongest teams in the league (16-3-2).
With their surprising loss to the Sabres on Sunday, the Penguins missed out on their chance to move to just 1 point from the Capitals in 1st place on the East table.
The game got off to an awful start as the Penguins conceded a goal less than 30 seconds into the first term, and midway through the final period they found themselves down 3-0, and despite taking 36 shots, they could only find the back of the net twice.
Having played 8 of their last 9 games on the road, the Penguins will be more than ready to head back to their fortress in Pittsburgh, and after beating the Devils in back to back games last week, they will be looking at this 3 game set as a chance to move up to 1st place.
NHL Pick – Pittsburgh Penguins (-290)
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Toronto Maple Leafs @ Vancouver Canucks – 9.00 PM EDT
The Maple Leafs and the Canucks go again today following their tense overtime finish on Sunday, the match finished 2-2 in regulation, but the depleted Canucks stunned everybody when they got the 2 points in overtime.
With the defeat, the Maple Leafs recorded their 4th straight loss, their longest losing streak of the season, made more painful by the fact they had 15 more shots than the Canucks, and were treated to an additional 17 penalty minutes, but only managed to score once on the powerplay.
Auston Matthews returned to the lineup for the Leafs, and got straight back to it with his second term goal, giving them a 2 goal cushion over the Canucks.
But they couldn’t maintain their lead, as Bo Horvat put on a masterclass in the second half of the game, the skipper scored the Canucks’ first before assisting the equaliser, and put the cherry on top with his game winning goal less than 2 minutes into overtime.
It was undoubtedly a very important moment for the Canucks, who were severely undermanned, and had just returned from a 4 week playing hiatus due to an internal Covid outbreak.
NHL Pick – Toronto Maple Leafs (-335)
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Anaheim Ducks @ Los Angeles Kings – 10.00 PM EDT
The Ducks will be looking to bounce back after their tandem defeats to the Golden Knights on home soil in Anaheim.
After a miserable showing in the first game which saw the Ducks shutout 4-0, and attempt a measly 16 shots to the Knights’ 51, the Ducks came out much stronger in the second, outshooting the Knights 35-29, and remaining competitive for the majority of the game.
The Knights ultimately pulled away, scoring 2 unanswered goals after Danton Heinen scored his second term goal to bring the score to 3-2.
With their 3-6-1 over the last 10 games, only one team in the West Division has fared worse than the Ducks, and that is today’s opponent, the Kings (3-7-0).
Vegas got the better of us today.
Recap: https://t.co/qDxhY7QdbZ#FlyTogether | #CHOCDay pic.twitter.com/xoWk92un1r
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) April 18, 2021
The Los Angeles side has not been seen since last Wednesday, and just like the Ducks, they are coming off back to back losses at the hands of the Golden Knights on home turf.
Trevor Moore and Adrian Kempe were the only point scorers in the most recent defeat, with Moore burying both goals, and Kempe being the only one who recorded an assist for either goal.
After a near week long break, it will be interesting to see how the Kings return for their 5 match homestand, 3 of the 5 are played against the Ducks, who currently lead the head to head record versus the Kings 2-1 this season.
NHL Pick – LA Kings (-152)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
