NHL picks: 4 best bets for Thursday
Chris Peters makes four money line picks for Thursday night's NHL action.
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Maple Leafs to beat Jets
The Jets narrowly eked out a road victory over the Buffalo Sabres in a shootout Wednesday night and now have to turn right around and play the Maple Leafs on the road. Winnipeg has won three straight games, all of which have come against non-playoff teams and all of which went to overtime. They’ve played a lot of extra hockey.
Toronto, meanwhile, will be rested and ready. The Leafs are coming off of two big wins in the last week as they beat Florida and Boston while scoring 11 goals over those two games. They have some key injuries, but the top players are healthy and surging of late. Auston Matthews continues to score at an MVP rate and is on the cusp of his first 50-goal season.
Winnipeg, meanwhile, could be without leading scorer Kyle Connor as he missed Wednesday’s game while in league COVID protocol. Potentially missing Connor, and playing in the second half of a back-to-back on the road where the first game went to a shootout seems like a potential schedule loss for the Jets.
Hurricanes to beat Canadiens
The Canadiens players are probably is enjoying an early spring to the sunny, warm Southern United States, but the games are going to be a different story. So far they’ve lost two straight games on their four-game road swing and have to take on one of the league’s top teams in Carolina, which is coming off a narrow defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Hurricanes have only won three of their last nine games, so they kind of need to get themselves back on track as well. A depleted opponent coming into their building should be a situation where they’re licking their chops at the chance at two points. Carolina won the two prior meetings with the Habs, outscoring the opposition 8-1 over those two games.
Montreal keeps competing despite losing some key pieces at the trade deadline, but it’s going to be awfully difficult for them to pull off a win on the road in Carolina.
Flames to beat Kings
Calgary just barely lost to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday in a battle of Western Conference titans. The Flames are 8-4-2 in March and will look to close out the month strong against an opponent that will be a road team on the second half of a back-to-back. Opportunity is knocking for Calgary to get back in the win column on home ice and keep pushing to the top of the league.
The Los Angeles Kings suffered a defeat at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night in a shootout and will have to go into one of the toughest buildings to play in this year. The Kings, however, are firmly in playoff position and will be battling to keep themselves comfortable in the Pacific Division standings.
Calgary won the only other previous meeting between the two sides, way back in early December. That was a 3-2 win for the Flames on the road. Meanwhile, the Kings have lost two straight and five of their last eight games. They’ve got to stabilize to make sure they don’t put themselves in a position to get caught in the standings.
This should be a good battle, but Calgary has been too good at home to expect them to dip against a team on the second half of a back-to-back.
Wild to beat Penguins
Minnesota has been on an absolute tear of late. The Wild have won seven straight games as Cam Talbot has been among the league’s best goaltenders in the month of March. And when he’s not going, they now have Marc-Andre Fleury after acquiring him in the trade with Chicago.
Minnesota is in a position to honestly compete and contend for the Stanley Cup. They’re not going to be anyone’s favorite to win it, but they’ve been excellent this season and just keep winning. Maintaining their winning streak is going to be very challenging against the Pittsburgh Penguins, however.
The Pens have lost three of their last four games including a tough 3-2 home loss to the New York Rangers, but it’s hard to keep them down for long. Still, they’ve got to go into Minnesota where the Wild are 24-7-1, though the Penguins are the league’s second best road team with a 21-8-5 record.
The Wild are just on another level right now. Someone is going to stop their streak at some point, but I don’t believe it will be tonight.
BETWAY BOOST: Toronto, Calgary and Minnesota all to win