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.
Nashville Predators @ Florida Panthers – 7.00PM ET
The Nashville Predators finish up their short two game road trip when they travel to Florida and take on the Panthers. The Predators are on a four game losing streak, after going down to the Stars, Jets, Capitals and Hurricanes. The Panthers are once again on another nice winning streak, this one standing at three in a row, which takes their season record to 35-10-5.
Marko Nadin
The Florida Panthers are having another fantastic season as they are the best team in the Eastern Conference with a 35-10-5 record. Florida has won the last three games and 7 of the last 8. They are coming off a 5-2 win over Chicago. They are coming back home where they have won 23 of 26 games after a five-game road trip. Florida has the best offense in the league with 4.1 goals on 36.2 shots on goal per game. The Panthers have won 7 of the last 10 games against Nashville and will add another one in the winning column on Tuesday.
The Nashville Predators are 5th in the Western Conference with a 29-18-4 record. For the second time this season, the Predators are on a four-game losing streak. The Predators score 3 goals per game while allowing 2.8. They have won 9 of the last 12 games on Tuesday but only one of their last 6 road games. They have also lost the last 5 games against teams with a winning record. Nashville has played over the total goals margin in 7 of their last 8 road games.
Marko’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers (-215)
Tony Battalio
The Nashville Predators come into this game with a record of 28-18-4 through their first 50 games of the season. Nashville is currently towards the top of the Central Division standings as the second half of the season is getting underway. Nashville at one point was on top of the Central Division standings, before they were passed up by Colorado, much like the rest of the teams in the division. They are currently on a four game losing streak that they will be looking to break in this game against the Florida Panthers.
On Jan. 14, 2020 Pekka Rinne set the record for games played by a Finnish-born goalie. https://t.co/60BhqdxBYS pic.twitter.com/nztmHGnpW6
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) February 22, 2022
The previously mentioned Florida Panthers come into this game as one of the best teams in the National Hockey League this season. Their record on the season currently sits at 35-10-5 through their first 50 games. They are currently sitting in first place in the Atlantic Division at the moment. Florida is on a three game winning streak and have won four of their last five games on the season. Led by potential Most Valuable Player Johnathon Huberdeau, the Panthers are looking more and more like the favorites in the Eastern Conference. As for the result of this game, I have Florida getting the victory.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers (-215)
Jeffery Thomas
The league’s best home team will welcome in the visiting Nashville Predators in this Tuesday night matchup. Their home record is 23-3-0 and the Preds have a road record of 14-9-4. Florida, who leads the Eastern Conference points, relies on its depth as its main calling card, and is spearheaded by the league’s highest scoring offense (4.16 a game). Nashville will be coming in on a four-game losing streak, which tied their season high. Last game for them was a 3-5 loss to Carolina on the road.
Florida has been rolling, just as they have all season winning nine straight at home and scoring 4 or more in six of their last eight games. Defensively, it’s been a struggle for Nashville, giving up at least 4 goals in four straight games and that’s not a good sign coming into this one against a lethal offense like Florida. Florida should get goals early and often, so I like them to exceed their team total in this one.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers Total Goals – Over 3.5 (-142)
Toronto Maple Leafs @ Columbus Blue Jackets – 7.00PM ET
The Toronto Maple Leafs wrap up their short two game road trip on Tuesday night when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Maple Leafs are playing on back-to-back nights after their game against the Canadiens last night, where they lost 2-5. The Blue Jackets have won five of their last six games, and their last two in a row, against the Blackhawks and Sabres.
Marko Nadin
The Columbus Blue Jackets are 10th in the Eastern Conference with a 25-23-1 record. They are coming off back-to-back wins over Chicago and Buffalo scoring 7 goals in each of those games. Columbus allows 3.7 goals per game which is second-worst in the league and they are on the very bottom with 35.2 allowed shots on goal per game. Columbus has won the last 4 games against Eastern Conference teams but has lost 6 of the last 7 games going in as a home underdog.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are 6th in the Eastern Conference with a 32-14-3 record. They are coming off a 2-5 loss to the worst team in the East, the Montreal Canadiens. Toronto scores 3.6 goals per game which ranks them 4th in the league on 34.7 shots on goal per game, good for 7th in the league. They are the best team when it comes to the PP% with 31.1% on the offensive end. Toronto has won 15 of their last 18 games against a conference rival and has won 3 of the last 5 games against Columbus.
Marko’s NHL Pick: Over 7 (+104)
Tony Battalio
The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming into this game on a bit of a slump as of late. This will be the second half of a back to back for the Maple Leafs as well, which brings fatigue into the picture, especially with it being a road trip. Toronto lost the first game of their back to back to the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 2-5 on Monday afternoon. The Maple Leafs have now lost their last two games and four of their last six on the year. They will be looking to recover when they travel to the United States to play the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Z is in a GROOVE 🔥🔥🔥@AtlasButler | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/9HPKsexFuT
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 21, 2022
The previously mentioned Columbus Blue Jackets are coming into this game playing opposite of how Toronto has been playing. They have won their last two games and four of their last five games on the season. They will be looking to pick up a third straight win as they enter a tough stretch of their schedule, as they have games against Florida and Carolina upcoming. As for the result of this game, I have the Blue Jackets picking up the victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at home.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets (+202)
Jeffery Thomas
Very interesting matchup as we get the Blue Jackets who have been surging a bit lately, going against a struggling but still very talented Maple Leafs squad. The CBJ have won their last two games by a combined score of 14-7 and with 33 games left, that 11 point gap between them and the second wild-card shouldn’t be looked at as insurmountable. They’ve actually been an under-the-radar good offense all year, ranking 11th in the NHL with 3.27 goals a game. The Maple Leafs are in another rut, which we’ve seen from them a few times this season and this current one may be the fault of their defense. The last two games, against the Blues and Canadiens, they’ve given up 11 goals and their offense just hasn’t been able to keep up.
The loss to the Canadiens on Monday was a 2-5 score to the worst offensive team in the league and now they’ll try to get the ship righted in the second half of a back to back. The last thing the Leafs want to see right now is one of the best offenses in the league at the moment and that’s exactly what they’ll get in this matchup with Columbus. The CBJ are a respectable 13-10-1 on home ice this season and will have the rest advantage in this matchup so I like the value of the home dog. Columbus has started to gain some momentum and I think it will continue in this one as they look to work on climbing the standings.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets (+202)
Minnesota Wild @ Ottawa Senators – 7.00PM ET
The road trip continues on for the Minnesota Wild when they travel to Ottawa to take on the Senators. The Wild have won three of their last five games, and this takes their season record to 31-13-3. The Senators are currently on a two game losing streak, after two narrow losses to the Bruins and Rangers.
Marko Nadin
The Ottawa Senators are 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 18-26-5 record. They have lost 5 of the last 7 games, most recently 1-2 against the New York Islanders. Ottawa will miss 7 players for the game against Minnesota which additionally decreases their chances in this match. Ottawa has lost the last five games and 16 of the last 21 games as a home underdog. Ottawa has played under the total goals margin in 9 of the last 10 games playing after 1 day rest.
The Minnesota Wild are second in the Western Conference with a 31-13-3 record. They lost two consecutive games against Winnipeg and Florida but have bounced back in the last one with a 7-3 win over Edmonton. Minnesota has won the last 9 games against Ottawa and will make it 10 on Tuesday. The Wild have won 17 of the last 22 games against Eastern Conference opponents and 5 of the last 7 on the road. Minnesota has played over the total goals margin in the last 4 games.
Marko’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild (-230)
Tony Battalio
The Minnesota Wild come into this game with a record of 31-13-3 through their first 47 games of the season. Minnesota at one time had the best record in the National Hockey League but have since dropped back into the middle of the pack in the standings. Minnesota is currently in second place in the Central Division as the second half of the season gets underway. Minnesota has all the tools to make a deep run to the Stanley Cup Finals if they get hot at the right time and as long as Kaprizov continues to play well.
Not one, not two, not…well you get the idea. We scored seven goals last night! #mnwild pic.twitter.com/V5rvRzpMxm
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 21, 2022
The Ottawa Senators have been one of the most disappointing teams in the 2021-22 National Hockey League season thus far. As they come into this game well below the .500 mark with a record of 18-26-5 through their first 49 games of the season. They are currently in sixth place in the Atlantic Division as the second half of the season is getting underway. Ottawa is all but officially eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs at this point, barring some type of miracle. As for the result of this game, I have them losing in this one and I have the Minnesota Wild getting the victory on the road over a terrible Senators squad.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild (-230)
Jeffery Thomas
Due to the amazing season that the Colorado Avalanche are having, the Minnesota Wild are being overlooked as top Stanley Cup contenders, but when it comes playoff time, they will not be an easy out. Sitting at 31-13-4 on the season, they can attribute a lot of their success to emergence of rookie forward Matt Boldy, who came on in January and has compiled 8 goals and 8 assists in 16 games. He’s a great partner alongside obvious leader Kirill Kaprizov, who has an incredible 23 goals and 39 assists in 46 games this season. Their opponents, the Senators, do not have the playoffs to play for, but still give a competitive effort every time out.
Their last two games were one goal losses to very strong opponents in the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. This is a rebuilding roster that is very young, and has been struggling to find offense all season. Over their last seven games they’re averaging less than two goals a game and rank 25th in the NHL in goals per game on the season. Ottawa will only be allowed 50% crowd capacity for this game, so the home ice advantage won’t even be a factor for this one, as the Wild look to carry their momentum along. That is exactly what they will do as the better team in all aspects of the game and I’m even confident enough for the spread line in this game. Give me the Wild to bury the Senators big.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild -1.5 (+114)
St. Louis Blues @ Philadelphia Flyers – 7.00PM ET
The St. Louis Blues wrap up their four game road trip on Tuesday night when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers. The Blues have won three of their last four games, with their only loss in this period coming against the Canadiens, 2-3, in overtime. The Flyers are playing on back-to-back nights, and will be desperate to snap their losing streak, which currently stands at five, after going down to the Hurricanes yesterday, 3-4, in overtime.
Marko Nadin
The Philadelphia Flyers are continuing their downfall as they have lost their fifth straight game. They put on a good fight against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday but failed 3-4 in overtime. The Flyers are 13th in the Eastern Conference with a 15-25-10 record. The Flyers are among the six worst teams in the league with 2.6 goals per game, 3.4 allowed goals per game and 14.4 PP% offensively. Philadelphia has lost 8 of their last 10 home games and the same will happen when St. Louis is in town.
The St. Louis Blues are 4th in the Western Conference with a 29-14-6 record. They are finishing a four-game road trip in Philly after winning in Ottawa and Toronto, and losing in Montreal. The Blues are a top 5 team with 3.5 scored goals per game and 26.9 PP%. St. Louis has won 2 of the last 3 games against Philadelphia. The Blues have won the last 6 games on a two-day rest and 17 of the last 25 games overall. They have played over the total goals margin in 4 of the last 5 games against Eastern Conference opponents.
Marko’s NHL Pick: St. Louis Blues (-225)
Tony Battalio
The St. Louis Blues have been one of the better teams in the National Hockey League this season. As they have spent time on top of the Central Division earlier on in the year. Now they come into this game with a record of 29-14-6 through their first 49 games of the season. The Blues are currently sitting in third place in the Central Division, as they are 12 points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the lead in the division. St. Louis is currently on a one game winning streak after picking up a win over the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 6-3 on the road in Canada.
Forwards Patrick Brown and Gerry Mayhew meet with the media following a 4-3 OT loss to Carolina. #CARvsPHI https://t.co/rpv8qeZ921
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 21, 2022
The Philadelphia Flyers are having a very disappointing season, as they have not lived up to the expectations they had before the season began. Now the Flyers come into this game with a record of 15-25-10, as they are a full twenty games below the .500 mark through their first 50 games of the year. Philadelphia is in the basement of the Metropolitan Division and will likely remain there throughout the end of the 2021-22 National Hockey League season unless a miracle occurs. They are also on a four game losing streak that they will be looking to break in this game at home against the St. Louis Blues. As for the result of this game however, I don’t think that is going to happen as I have the Blues getting the win in the city of brotherly love.
Tony’s NHL Pick: St. Louis Blues (-225)
Jeffery Thomas
The St. Louis Blues enter this game in good form, having won their last game 6-3 over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. That win made them winners of three of their last four games overall and four of their last six road games, which is where they will be for this one. The Blues are projected to turn to their stud goalie Ville Husso for this Tuesday matchup, and he’s been one of the hottest goalies in the league, winning 9 of his last 11 starts (all in regulation). The Flyers will be coming in on the back to back after a tough loss to Carolina on Monday afternoon.
That result is nothing new to Philadelphia, who has been one of the worst teams in the league over the past few months, losing five straight and 18 of the last 20 games. Thirteen of those eighteen losses came in regulation. It’s hard to see the hapless Flyers finding a spark on the second half of back to back in this spot. This is the first time these two teams will be meeting this season and all signs are pointing to the road team in this one. The Blues have performed better recently and will have a clear goaltending and rest advantage. I will take St. Louis to get this win in regulation.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Moneyline (3-way) – St. Louis Blues (-145)
San Jose Sharks @ Anaheim Ducks – 10.00PM ET
Late Tuesday night in the NHL we will see the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks, both from the Pacific Division, face off against each other. The free fall continues on for the Sharks, who are currently on a six game losing streak, which takes their season record to 22-22-5. The Ducks managed to snap their four game losing streak last time out, with a win over the Canucks, 7-4.
Marko Nadin
The Anaheim Ducks are 9th in the Western Conference with a 24-19-9 record and are only two points shy from a spot in the playoffs. The Ducks score and allow 3 goals per game. They have won 11 of the last 15 games as favorites and 6 of the last 7 games on Tuesday. On the other hand, the Ducks have lost 10 of the last 11 games against Western Conference opponents. Anaheim has won the last three games against San Jose scoring at least 4 goals and winning by at least three goals.
The San Jose Sharks are 13th in the Western Conference with a 22-22-5 record. They have lost the last 6 and 8 of the last 10 games. The Sharks are coming off a 1-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. They have won 7 of the last 9 games coming off a loss of at least three goals. San Jose has played under the total goals margin in 6 of the last 7 games. A fun fact is that the visiting team has won the last five games between these two opponents but that series will probably come to an end on Tuesday.
Marko’s NHL Pick: Anaheim Ducks (-154)
Tony Battalio
The San Jose Sharks have been down bad as of late. As a recent lengthy losing streak has virtually taken them out of Stanley Cup Playoff contention with half the season to go still. San Jose comes into this game with a record of 22-22-5 through their first 49 games of the season. San Jose played well at the beginning of the year but have tailed off as the season has progressed. They currently sit in seventh place in the Pacific Division. Their losing streak has made its way to six games and they have lost 10 of 12 dating all the way back to the middle of January.
Quick business trip ✈️ pic.twitter.com/h9I6lNmg4C
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) February 21, 2022
The Anaheim Ducks haven’t been much better this season as they too have gone on lengthy winning and losing streaks. They come into this game with a record of 24-19-9 as they are floating below the .500 mark through their first 52 games of the season. Much like San Jose, the Ducks could also use a win in this game to crawl their way back up the standings in the Pacific Division and the West Conference with only around 30 games left in the season for most of the teams in the league. As for the result of this all California matchup, I have the Anaheim Ducks coming out on top at home over San Jose.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Anaheim Ducks (-154)
Jeffery Thomas
This will be just the Sharks’ fourth game since the All-Star break and second road game of February and they will look to kickstart this season series against their California rivals with a big win. It would be a big win because their playoff hopes are fading fast, as they sit 13th in the Western Conference and ten points out of the second wild card spot. They are 2-5-3 in their last ten games and have only collected 1 point in their last three games. They need to turn things around quickly! It’s been a rough stretch for the Anaheim Ducks too, who were losers of four straight coming out the All-Star break, before a dominant 7-4 victory over the Canucks on Saturday night.
They are also on the outside looking in as far the playoff pictures goes, but are starting a six-game homestand with this game, so they’ll look to their fans for the extra motivation to hopefully spark a run. Both teams are struggling and one win for Anaheim doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve turned things around, but they are the team that I see pulling this victory out. They looked determined to keep their playoff hopes alive in that last game against Vancouver, as they took immediate control, scoring twice in the first 3:23 of the game. They’re now about to face a San Jose side that is struggling badly on defense, and that is what I see as a recipe for a Ducks victory on Tuesday.
Jeffery’s NHL Pick: Anaheim Ducks (-154)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of writing, courtesy of FanDuel.
