We are loving the action throughout this impressive NHL season so far. As we move past the mid way point in the season, each division’s ladder has already become well formed. Despite this, every single win or loss can have a significant impact on where each team will finish at the end of the season, 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.
San Jose Sharks @ Tampa Bay Lightning – 7.00PM ET
The San Jose Sharks wrap up their four game road trip on Tuesday night when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Sharks have lost their last two games in a row, which includes defeats to the Panthers and Hurricanes. The Lightning had their two game winning streak broken last time out, thanks to the Golden Knights, 2-3, in a shootout.
Denis Kirilov
The defending champions from Tampa have been playing really solid throughout the first half of the current campaign. The team sits in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference with 64 points from 45 matches, meaning that they will almost certainly make the Playoffs for yet another year. This will give them the much-needed free space to think and to experiment with their roster in order to come well-prepared for their third consecutive attempt at winning the Stanley Cup. The team has had some troubles in defence, but their clutch performances in the last period offset this issue.
The San Jose Sharks, on the other hand, had to go through a tough opening of the new year as they are coming into this match on a 2-6 run. The team has won only 3 of its last 10 games away from home which is a pretty good approximation of what we can expect today. The Sharks have been struggling in front of goal as they have some really low-scoring levels at the moment. I believe that they won’t be able to outplay the Tampa Bay Lightning, but we can still look for a “tie” here as both teams have been off the radar recently.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Tie (+380)
Tony Battalio
The San Jose Sharks come into this game with a record of 22-20-3 through their first 45 games on the season. The Sharks have had an up and down season and have failed to put together any type of momentum up until this point. Due to the weakness of the Pacific Division the Sharks still find themselves in the playoff hunt as they are currently in fifth place in the division. The Sharks are currently on a two game losing streak after dropping back to back games to Carolina and Florida. Now on the fourth game of this road trip they will be looking to even their record up at 2-2 with a win over the two time defending Stanley Cup champions.
Hoping to see this (new) smile back on the ice soon! #MarioMonday pic.twitter.com/MSXbuCXgug
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) January 31, 2022
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game with a record of 29-10-6 through their first 45 games on the season. They are currently sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay picked up a loss in their last game as they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 2-3 at home. The Lightning will be looking to bounce back with a victory in this one. As for the result of this game, that is exactly what I expect as I have the Tampa Bay Lightning picking up the win over the San Jose Sharks at home on Tuesday night.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning (-310)
Jeffery Thomas
The Sharks come into this one with a record of 22-20-3 after back to back losses to the Panthers and Hurricanes over the weekend. They were on a 3 game winning streak from January 6th-11th, but are 2-4-2 ever since. For the Bolts, it was a 2-3 shootout loss to Vegas in their last time out after erasing a 0-2 deficit in the 3rd period. Despite the loss, they still sit firmly in 2nd place of the Atlantic with 64 points, only 3 points behind the NHL leader in points, Florida.
San Jose has been struggling of late, but they have been battling hard and they won’t make things easy for the Lightning on Tuesday. But when it comes down to it, I don’t see them having enough to pull the victory out. These teams just squared off on January 22, with Tampa Bay coming out 7-1, and while I don’t think they’ll replicate that performance I do see another comfy victory for them here. Give me the Bolts on the spread line.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning -1.5 (-118)
Florida Panthers @ New York Rangers – 7.00PM ET
The road trip continues on for the Florida Panthers, who will take on the New York Rangers on Tuesday night. The Panthers are playing on back-to-back nights, and last time out they won, 8-4, against the Blue Jackets. The Rangers have won three of their last five, including a win last time out, 3-2, against the Kraken.
Denis Kirilov
The Florida Panthers took down yet another team after scoring 8 goals in the match. They defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 8-4, as Sam Reinhart and Mason Marchment led the way for the team in front positions. This victory gave them further lead at the top in the Eastern Conference as they are now 5 points clear of the Carolina Hurricanes who still have to play 4 more matches. The Panthers are almost certain for the Playoffs as the Detroit Red Wings are 23 points behind them in the standings in the Atlantic Division. This makes me think that they will be willing to take as much as possible from this winning momentum and then take a break.
The New York Rangers have been one of the pleasant surprises this season as nobody expected to see them among the best teams in the NHL. They are currently 4th in the East with 62 points from 46 matches as most of their victories came after an outplay in the dying minutes of the games. The Rangers have been quite conservative as they managed to score just 140 goals which is the lowest level in the top 7 of the Eastern Conference. However, the team is known to display a high-level performance at home and I think they might be able to surprise the Panthers here.
Denis’ NHL Pick: New York Rangers (+122)
Tony Battalio
The Florida Panthers are playing in the second game of a back to back in this one. In the first game of their back to back they put on an offensive showcase against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Panthers put up nearly double digit goals on their way to a victory. The win over Columbus gives the Panthers a record of 32-9-5 through their first 46 games on the season. The Panthers are currently on a three game winning streak after picking up victories over San Jose, Vegas, and Winnipeg.
The New York Rangers come into this game with a record of 29-13-4 through their first 46 games of the season. The Rangers are currently in second place of the Metropolitan Division as they are two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes. The Rangers picked up a victory in their last game and they will be looking to extend their winning streak to two games in this one. New York is slowly making their case to be a contender in such a loaded Eastern Conference this season. As for the result of this game, I have the Panthers beating the Rangers on the road.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers (-146)
Jeffery Thomas
It was another explosive offensive performance for the Panthers on Monday night in Columbus, as they put up an 8 spot on the Jackets. That performance capped off a legendary offensive output in the month of January, as the 75 goals they put up in the month were the most by an NHL team in a calendar month in the past 25 seasons. Their record moved to 32-9-5 as they padded on to their league leading points mark of now 69. For the Rangers, they will be happy to be getting this marquee matchup on their home ice, a place where they are 14-4-2. The Cats road record is a modest 9-6-5. New York’s last game out was a 3-2 home victory over the Kraken, where Igor had the team on his back with 40 saves.
This will be a huge game as the Rangers are only 2 points back of the Canes for 1st place in the Metro. This will be the Panthers 4th game in 6 nights so fatigue will definitely be a concern. The Rangers on the other hand, have been resting since Sunday and have surely had this one circled since Florida got the best of them in the last meeting back on December 29th. A key stat for me is that New York has only 1 loss in their last 7 home games, and will have their Vezina candidate in net, who is money at home. I can see them winning this game outright but to be safe I’ll just take them on the underdog spread line but I will sprinkle on the moneyline as well personally.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: New York Rangers +1.5 (-215)
Washington Capitals @ Pittsburgh Penguins – 7.00PM ET
Two teams from the Metropolitan Division, in the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, will go toe-to-toe on Tuesday night in the NHL. The Capitals have won two of their last four, and this includes their win last time out, 5-0, against the Stars. The Penguins have lost their last three games in a row, which includes losses to the Kraken, Red Wings and Kings.
Denis Kirilov
The Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins have been performing quite well from the beginning of the season. However, the Capitals took off quite better than the Penguins, but the latter levelled up their game towards December and January. After a fantastic 6-game winning streak, the Penguins were shaken with three consecutive losses in their most recent meetings. They were outplayed each single time in their PPG Paints Arena by mediocre teams like the Detroit Red Wings and the Seattle Kraken.
The Capitals have been out of rhythm throughout the whole month of January as they are yet to make back-to-back victories in 2022. The team won just 4 out of their last 12 games in the NHL as this run included losses to some of their direct rivals for the Playoffs like the Boston Bruins. The team, however, found a way to do something incredible outclassing the Dallas Stars in their home on Friday night after beating them 5-0. I think they might be able to keep their momentum and that’s why I will trust them to defeat the Penguins.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Washington Capitals (+132)
Tony Battalio
This old rivalry is set to renew to open up the month of February and it is going to be a great game to watch. The Washington Capitals are coming into this game with a record of 24-12-9 through their first 45 games of the season. Alexander Ovechkin is chasing the goal scoring record and when he plays well, so do the Capitals. The Capitals are currently on the outside looking in, as they sit behind the Pittsburgh Penguins in fourth place of the Metropolitan Division. Washington snapped a two game losing streak with a win in their last game as they beat the Dallas Stars in Dallas.
Us watching this save: 🤯
Here’s our Save of the Month for January! pic.twitter.com/Hk9JvJWUak
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 1, 2022
The Pittsburgh Penguins come into this game currently occupying one of the three playoff spots in the Metropolitan Division. They are currently 27-11-7 through their first 45 games on the season as well. They got off to a slow start at the beginning of the year but have turned it up as of late after getting their full team back and healthy. However, the Penguins are currently on a three game losing streak at the moment after losing games to Los Angeles, Detroit, and Seattle, all at home. They will be looking to snap that streak with a big win in this one. As for the result of this game, that is exactly what I expect as I have the Pittsburgh Penguins picking up the victory over Washington at home.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins (-162)
Jeffery Thomas
This rivalry game is a must watch on Tuesday night and there’s a longshot we can also catch some history. Sidney Crosby sits just 2 goals away from 500, and that would make him the 2nd active player to reach that milestone. The other active player? The captain on the other side of the ice for the Caps, Alex Ovechkin. Crosby netted one in their last game, a 3-4 loss to the Kings which was their 3rd straight defeat. They had won 17 of 19 before this most recent slide and are hoping a day off to reset can get them back in winning form. Hopefully the Pens can get off to a fast start because a trend in those losses was falling behind early and having to chase the rest of the game. The Caps should be pretty fresh for this road game, as they haven’t played since Friday, which was a 5-0 victory for them. Before that game, the Caps had only scored 1 goal in the previous two games so it was a nice positive regression spot.
These two teams are coming in with different confidence levels as Washington is feeling better about themselves and their offense, while Pittsburgh is searching for theirs. The recent results in this series however, favor the Pens and I’m sure that is fresh on the Caps minds and they will be looking to change that. Washington actually won the first meeting this season, but that was against a depleted Pittsburgh lineup and then Pittsburgh got their revenge 4-2. Both teams have been slipping in a way lately so it’s hard to trust a side but I do think either way we will see plenty of goals as both meetings so far have combined for 13 goals. I’m going to take the over in what should be another entertaining matchup and hopefully Sid will hit the 500 mark in this one too!
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Over 6 (-104)
Vancouver Canucks @ Nashville Predators – 8.00PM ET
The Vancouver Canucks wrap up their four game road trip on Tuesday night when they travel to Nashville to face off against the Predators. The Canucks are playing two nights in a row, and last time out they went up against the Blackhawks and won 3-1. The Predators had their three game winning streak snapped last time out, thanks to the Oilers, 2-3, in a shootout.
Denis Kirilov
The Vancouver Canucks are trying to survive at the moment as they have a lot of players who have been sidelined. This led to the decline in their performance and after a hesitant month of January, the team is now 12th in the Western Conference, slowly slipping away from the Playoffs spots. However, they still have a decent opportunity to be among the top 4 teams in the Pacific Division, but they will need to deal with teams like the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers, and the Los Angeles Kings.
The Nashville Predators are still far away from being certain for the Playoffs, despite their magnificent run throughout December and January. The Predators took down plenty of top-tier teams, but their inability to finish the attack might take its toll on them towards the end of the season. Their defence was their biggest asset so far and I think they will rely on it until the very final games during this campaign. However, I think that we will see a surprise here as the Canucks will eventually outlast the Nashville Predators on the road in Bridgestone Arena.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Vancouver Canucks (+162)
Tony Battalio
The Vancouver Canucks come into this game after playing the first game of a back to back on Monday evening. In that first game they faced off with the Chicago Blackhawks in the Windy City. Vancouver jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Chicago and ended up going on to pick up the win 3-1 after a late empty net goal in the third to seal the deal. The victory improves their record on the season to 20-19-6 through their first 45 games. Vancouver will be looking to pick up another road in this game on Tuesday as well, although it will be against much tougher competition.
The Nashville Predators are coming into this game with a record of 27-14-4 through their first 45 games on the season. They have been hot as of late and even were on top of the Central Division for a short period of time. Nashville dropped a game to the red hot Edmonton Oilers in their last game which snapped a three game winning streak for the Predators. Now Nashville will be looking to get right back into the winners column against the up and down Vancouver Canucks. As for the result of this game, I have the Predators picking up the victory over Vancouver.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Nashville Predators (-196)
Jeffery Thomas
The Central Division’s second place team will be hosts to the Canucks on Tuesday night after 4 days off. These two teams split the first 2 meetings so far, with the Preds taking the first meeting 3-2 and then Vancouver taking the second 3-1. The Canucks will be on the second half of a back to back after beating the Blackhawks 3-1 on Monday night. Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves in the win and earned second star of the game behind right winger Brock Boeser who scored the goal to make it 2-0. The Preds last outing was a 2-3 loss to Edmonton in a shootout. That was the third straight game of theirs that has seen a goal total of less than 6, and in fact 8 of their last 12 have been that way.
It’s not just bad offensive metrics, but excellent defense and goaltending to account for that of course, spearheaded by Juuse Saros, who is expected to get the start in this one. He has allowed 2 or less goals in 4 straight games and 8 of his last 12 starts. This game will be in Nashville which plays a huge factor in my pick. I don’t like backing struggling teams like the Preds but they are so good at home and the much better team in this matchup. I think this will be a hard hitting defensive battle which plays into what the Preds have been wanting to do recently and with the crowd on their side, I think they squeak out a victory. Give me the Nashville Predators and I also think the under is a great play for this game.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Nashville Predators (-196)
Arizona Coyotes @ Colorado Avalanche – 9.00PM ET
Another game between division rivals for your Tuesday night viewing, as we will see two teams from the Central Division, in the Arizona Coyotes and the Colorado Avalanche, hit the ice. The Coyotes are currently on a five game losing streak, and this takes their season record to 10-29-4. The Avalanche, on the other hand, are currently enjoying a mammoth 10 game winning streak.
Denis Kirilov
The best team in the NHL, the Colorado Avalanche, will host the worst team, the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night. The Avalanche are coming into this match on a 10-game winning streak and on a 20-2 run. On top of that, they haven’t lost a home-game since November 4th when they were defeated by the Columbus Blue Jackets after overtime. To put it into another perspective, we are talking about 18 straight wins in Ball Arena. The team has simply been incredible so far and they are undoubtedly the top favourite to lift the Stanley Cup in the summer. They have been playing quite well on both ends as they have a sheer discipline in defence and a fierce offensive line.
The Arizona Coyotes are dead last in the Western Conference with just 24 points from 43 matches as they managed to get just 10 wins overall this season. The team has been suffering a lot in defence, conceding plenty of goals throughout each single month so far. The Coyotes lost their last five games in the NHL, falling victim to the likes of the Buffalo Sabres, the New York Islanders, and the Boston Bruins. In my honest opinion, I just don’t see how they will be able to compete with the Avalanche, despite the tie they got in their only meeting in the Ball Arena throughout this campaign. I will have to choose Colorado’s spread here as this option has the most value.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Colorado Avalanche -2.5 (-104)
Tony Battalio
The worst team in the National Hockey League will face off with the best team in this one on Tuesday evening. As the Arizona Coyotes head to Denver to play the Colorado Avalanche. The Coyotes come into this game with a record of 10-29-4 through their first 43 games on the season. They are likely headed towards a lengthy rebuild that is going to last multiple years. Arizona comes into this one on a five game losing streak as well, as they sit in last place in the Central Division.
Good morning!
While you’re sipping on your coffee, how about them apples too?#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/LUgHjySG91
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 31, 2022
The Colorado Avalanche were the preseason favorites to win the Stanley Cup, and they are playing like it at the moment. As they come into this game in first place of the Central Division. They currently possess a record of 32-8-3 through their first 43 games of the season. Colorado is currently on a ten game winning streak and have won 15 of their last 16, and 19 straight at home. As for the result of this game, I have the Colorado Avalanche picking up another victory at home over the Arizona Coyotes. I also think Colorado will cover the spread in the process.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Colorado Avalanche -2.5 (-104)
Jeffery Thomas
Five years ago, the Avs were in the Coyotes position. One of the worst teams in the league and due to that they were able to select defenseman Cale Makar with a top 5 pick. Now, in part due to the play of Makar they are now sitting atop the Western Conference as one of the best teams in the league and riding a 10 game winning streak. Their winning streak actually started with home and road games against the Coyotes on January 14-15. Their current home winning streak of 18 is the fifth longest in NHL history and they are 5 away from the Red Wings record set back in 2011-12.
Arizona will look at them as an example that the tough times don’t last forever, as they sit last in the Central Division. When you have a team as hot as Colorado you don’t go away from them in this spot against one of the bottom teams in the league. The Avs have won 3 of their last 4 by more than one goal and that will continue on Tuesday at home. Don’t overthink this and take the Avs to stay hot against a doormat opponent.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Colorado Avalanche -2.5 (-104)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of writing, courtesy of FanDuel.
