There are nine NHL games on the schedule tonight. Let’s take a look at the top picks, plays and predictions.
| Islanders vs Flyers ML +115 / -135 O/U 5.5 |
Blue Jackets vs Hurricanes ML -137 / +110 O/U 5.5 |
| Panthers vs Canadiens ML +145 / -170 O/U 5 |
Red Wings vs Lightning ML +175 / -205 O/U 5.5 |
| Stars vs Bruins ML +180 / -225 O/U 6 |
Maple Leafs vs Predators ML Off / Off O/U Off |
| Senators vs Wild ML +145 / -165 O/U 5.5 |
Ducks vs Jets ML Off / Off O/U Off |
| Sharks vs Oilers ML +110 / -130 O/U 5 |
Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.
The Game to Watch: Islanders vs Flyers.
Boston, Carolina and Tampa Bay are all in action tonight. Nights like tonight are a fan’s dream (or nightmare, I suppose). This is what the playoffs are all about. Those who have the ability to do so will be able to flip channel to channel, game to game and have a continuous slew of exciting hockey to keep pace with.
The playoff race is an amazing time of year. It is also, however, incredibly stressful.
Islander fans will be scoreboard watching all night. They desperately need a loss out of the Bruins tonight (more on them in a second), and a loss out of the Lightning certainly wouldn’t hurt either. The bad thing is that both are playing non-playoff teams in Dallas and Detroit, respectively.
Brooklyn is facing a non-playoff opponent as well. The only difference is they are on the road playing a bitter division rival in the Philadelphia Flyers. And wouldn’t the Broad Street Bullies love to play spoiler?
Philly has won three of their last four against Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Ottawa. They are playing teams tightly, led by the terrific play of youngsters like Travis Konecny and Jordan Weal. Weal in particular has been very effective lately, tallying three goals and an assist in his last five games. He has slotted in well on the second line alongside Valtteri Filppula and Wayne Simmonds.
Konecny has not been lighting up the stat sheet lately, largely due to the fact that he is not receiving as much playing time as he deserves languishing on the fourth line. But when he is on the ice, he is a driver of play. He has 11 goals and 17 assists in 64 games this season as a 20-year-old. If developed properly, he can be a very effective middle-line player.
The Islanders had an extra day of rest to lick their wounds after a rough 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators. Nashville’s stingy defense allowed little, and the few chances the Isles had they could not capitalize on. Five of their last seven games are against non-playoff opponents. Philly and Carolina will likely be the toughest of those five, plus two games against the New Jersey Devils.
Though the Isles have won five of their last six road games, the Flyers have won five of their last six home games. The road team has won the last five meetings.
Philadelphia has lost five of their last six following a win, an important footnote.
Thomas Greiss will likely be in net tonight for the Islanders.
Hold on to your butts.
Prediction: Take the Islanders to win. Play the under.
Other Game Notes Around the NHL
Stars vs Bruins: This is a more interesting game to look at than it appears. On the surface, the Dallas Stars are pretty uninteresting having been eliminated from the NHL postseason for some time now. Though they are capable of surprising teams by putting up points and getting wins, they simply refuse to put together multiple impressive performances in a row, as they have all season.
But that’s just it. They are capable of erupting any given night. Such is the case when you have two of the best forwards in the world on your team in Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.
Seguin is 10th in the league in assists with 45, and his 70 points put him just outside the top 10. Jamie Benn has four points in his last four games to give him 67 on the season. Admittedly, this was a down year for Benn, who in recent years has become a consistent 35-plus-goal man. He has only 25 this year. It’s still a very good season, but it’s just not a normal Benn season.
Boston will likely serve as fuel for Tyler Seguin as well, who will surely want to beat his former club. He had a goal and an assist in their first meeting this season, which was a 6-3 win for Boston. In seven career games, he has four goals and three assists facing the Bruins.
Tampa Bay, Brooklyn and Carolina all hold a game in hand on the Bruins. Even if each team picked up a win in that extra game, Boston will still be able to sit comfortably because of their regulation/overtime win category advantage. But to be able to sleep well at night, the Bs need to win their gimme-games. Boston has won consecutive impressive games against Brooklyn and Nashville. Dallas and Florida are the last two non-playoff teams on the schedule.
These are must-win games for the Bruins.
Amazingly, the road team has won the last seven meetings between these two teams. Though Boston has won the last two games by a combined score of 13-6, Dallas took the previous two 10-6.
At this time of year, Boston cannot afford a bad game.
Prediction: Take the Bruins to win. Play the over.
Red Wings vs Lightning: I wrote of the Lightning’s last clash with the Red Wings that a loss to such a lowly team would effectively kill their season. At this time of year, teams simply cannot lose to bad opponents.
All this remains true tonight. A loss ends the Lightning’s season, period. It is a home game against the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference. Make your free throws.
It took until extra time last week in Detroit, but the Bolts did come through. Counting last year’s postseason, the Lightning have won nine of their last 10 against the Red Wings. They will be going for the five-game season series sweep tonight.
Andreas Athanasiou is questionable tonight for the Red Wings. He was absent from the Wings’ last game against Carolina and his status remains unknown. This would help the Bolts, obviously, as Athanasiou is one of the Red Wings’ most talented young scorers.
Ondrej Palat has eight points over his five-game point streak. Nikita Kucherov has been doing Nikita Kucherov things.
Since Feb 1st Nikita Kucherov leads the NHL in goals (tied), power play goals and total points. He has 10 PPG in his last 24 games.
— Mike Murphy (@DigDeepBSB) March 29, 2017
He’s not just on a five-game point streak. He’s on a five-game multi-point streak. Kucherov has 11 points in five games, including a hat trick. He has 17 goals in his last 17 games. The kid is unreal.
Prediction: Take the Lightning to win tonight. Play the under.
Sharks vs Oilers: The Eastern Conference playoff race may be crazy, but there’s plenty of action to discuss in the West as well. San Jose snapped a six-game losing streak against the New York Rangers on Tuesday night, and are now turning their attention to their potential first-round opponent in the Edmonton Oilers.
With the ROW tiebreaker, the Sharks hold the home-ice advantage for a potential playoff series in the event they stay tied in points. If San Jose can make up two points on the Ducks between now and the end of the season, they would reclaim the Pacific Division title.
To slow the Oilers’ roll will be a challenge. Edmonton has won three in a row, including their last six home games. San Jose has lost four straight road games. Remember when they were the best road team in the NHL last season? My how times change.
The season series favors the Sharks 2-1.
Logan Couture remains out for the Sharks with a face injury.
Prediction: Take the Oilers to win. Play the over.
Senators vs Wild: Alex Stalock will make his season debut tonight for the Minnesota Wild. The St. Paul native has not seen any NHL time this year after a rocky season in San Jose in 2015-2016.
It’s a desperation move. Devan Dubnyk has faltered in the penultimate month of the regular season, and the wheels have come off in Darcy Kuemper’s last three starts. Since the Wild have only won three of their 15 games this month, they are turning to Stalock for spot duty in the hopes that a night off will right the ship for their usual goaltender tandem.
The last vivid memory I have of Stalock was his recurring role in the 2013-2014 playoffs. He made three appearances, one being a start, in the Sharks’ epic collapse against the Los Angeles Kings the opening round of the playoffs.
As much as I don’t think Stalock is much of an NHL-caliber goaltender, I think the Minnesota homecoming will be an exciting thing for him. Plus, I have a hard time believing that the Wild will lose five games in a row. They will want to play well for the new guy.
Prediction: Take the Wild to win. Play the under.
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