068 Boston at Toronto

Neither team is playing well right now, but the Bruins have more concerns than just victories. This is a team that is having major injuries woes with Senyshyn being the latest to miss time. Right now the team is without Senyshyn, DeBrusk, Backes, Kuhlman, Miller, Moore, Krug and Ritchie. You simply cannot be expected to win with that much talent sitting on the sidelines.

While Toronto isn’t fully healthy themselves, the home ice and more depth will be the difference tonight.

PLAY TORONTO

015 Boston at Carolina

The Bruins are on quite a run as they have dominated throughout the playoffs. Carolina on the other hand gave all it had in the last game and came up short. Can’t see how the host has the energy to extend this series knowing it has to win four straight. Teams in that situation have been a very poor bet in hoops and hockey history. We back the road favorite here to end this series and get the rest it needs.

PLAY BOSTON

043 Columbus at Boston

Teams with extended days off do not do well in playoff hockey, and that was Columbus in the opening game. Still the Blue Jackets took Boston to overtime in that contest. The damage was done in the first period and the visitor was the better team thereafter. Now that both teams are on even rest we will side with the road team here. There has been little to no home ice advantage in the playoffs for an extended period of time. We like the nice plus price in this one.

PLAY COLUMBUS

084 San Jose at Las Vegas

As a season ticket holder for the Vegas Golden Knights, we know this team better than any other in the NHL. We’ve either attended or watched the first five games of this series. After taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, the Knights simply went through the motions back in San Jose. Once they fell behind early the team simply bided its time waiting to return to the comforts of home today. 

Vegas has dominated in this building in the playoffs the last two years, and have simply owned the Sharks here regardless of what time of season these two meet. San Jose can easily get blown out here if it doesn’t score the first goal. That’s the key. If the Sharks get on the board first it can be somewhat competitive. If Vegas scores first we expect a blowout victory. Either way we want to back the host here who will give full effort in front of the home crowd. This would be the very first series clinching home win in franchise history. The players want this badly for the home crowd.

PLAY LAS VEGAS

018 Vegas at San Jose

These two will be meeting in the first round of the playoffs, and this game means much more to the host. Vegas has dominated San Jose as of late and the host comes into this game losing seven straight games overall. The Knights are playing in the second game of a back to back, after losing at home yesterday as a -200 favorite over Minnesota. With Vegas locked into this spot in the playoffs the urgency is with the Sharks.

We expect Max Legace to get the start here and when it’s announced we expect this line to rise. Regardless if it’s Subban on a back to back or Legase, we feel the host has extreme value here. Subban is just 2-9 on the road with a poor save percentage of .890. Either way the Sharks are the play.

PLAY SAN JOSE

034 Buffalo at Ottawa

Wrong team favored here by our numbers. Hutton is 5-14-3 on the road with a save percentage of .899. Anderson is 11-10-2 at home with a save percentage of .917. Overall the Sabers are 11-22-5 on the road and playing in a back to back situation. In fact, Buffalo is playing its third game in four days. The Sabers are on an 0-10-2  run on the road, yet this team is a slight favorite here. Ottawa isn’t very good but this line is crazy. 

PLAY OTTAWA

059 St Louis at Buffalo

Both teams should be a bit tired here playing its fourth game in six days. The Blues have been excellent on the road with a 20-12-5 record and Jake Allen has produced a road save percentage of .925. We’ve been looking for a reasonable number to go against these Sabres. This is a team that was a major surprise early in the season. But over the later part of the schedule Buffalo has looked like the bad team it was a year ago.

PLAY ST LOUIS BLUES

005 Montreal at NY Islanders

The Canadiens come into this game in great shape injury wise, and we much prefer Carey Price in goal. He has an outstanding .918 save percentage playing on the road. While the Islanders are 21-11-4 at home this year, the short number tells you all you need to know about who the wise guys like. We agree with the move and love the Canadiens chances at plus money.

PLAY MONTREAL

075 Winnipeg at Carolina

Too much value not to jump on the underdog here. Starting goalie Hellebuyck is out tonight and the line has jumped. But we like Laurent Brossoit in goal as his overall save percentage is actually better than the starter. The 30 cent jump is way more than what we would expect, so we now have solid value on the Jets.

PLAY WINNIPEG

57 Dallas at Chicago

Nice price on the visitor who has a new lease on life after bringing in Zuccarello and Lovejoy via trades. Both players are expected to take the ice today which will be a nice jolt for the Stars. Dallas is playing its fourth game in six days, but the team is a respectable 4-4-1 in that situation. 

Cam Ward is in goal for the Blackhawks and his home save percentage of .899 is worse than either Dallas goalie on the road.

PLAY DALLAS

73 Boston at Las Vegas

We are well aware on the Bruins fourth game in six days, but there is no way we want any part of this fading Knights team as a favorite. Halak has been a hot goaltender as of late stopping .938% of shots the past five games. Cehlarik missed the last game but we expect him back tonight. 

While Halak has been hot the same cannot be said of Fleury who has only stopped .886% of shots the past five games. In fact, things have been so bad that the team started Subban in net each of the last two games. The Knights defense has continued to turn the ball over deep in its zone, which is a major reason why the goaltending hasn’t been as good this year. The Knights had a ton of breakaway chances last season, and that has dried up this year. As a season ticket holder for the host I’m very worried about this team going forward.

PLAY BOSTON

58 Carolina at NY Rangers

Terrible scheduling spot for the visitor who is playing the second game of a back to back after a 6-5 overtime victory last night in Buffalo. This is the fourth game in six nights for the Hurricanes, while the host is well rested. Petr Mrazek is in goal for the Hurricanes and his .894 save percentage leaves much to be desired. The Rangers should get four players back for tonights contest, which should really help out the depth for New York.

PLAY NEW YORK RANGERS

29 NY Islanders at New Jersey

Lehner in net for the visitor tonight. He’s 9-6-2 on the road with a solid .928 save percentage. Overall New York is 15-9-2 on the road and this is the second game of the fathers trip. We really like to back teams when heading on the road with the parents there, as the teams seem to enjoy the rare time with family. 

While the Devils have performed well the visitor has the much higher talent level. Thought this line would be at least 10 cents higher.

PLAY NEW YORK ISLANDERS

035 Nashville at Las Vegas

Nashville has dropped two of three entering the fortress tonight. Ryan Johansen returns from suspension as they look to sweep the season series after a 4-1 home win in Nashville.

The Knights continue to be without Reilly Smith who is known by the players to be their most talented teammate. He has exceptional value at both ends of the ice, and his loss has been hard to overcome. 

Nice price on the underdog here as the Knights have really struggled when stepping up in class.

PLAY NASHVILLE

80 Pittsburgh at Las Vegas

Knights are 15-4-3 at home and are off back to back overall losses. But even in defeat this club continues to put the pressure on the opposition by blowing opponents away with shots on goal. While SOG doesn’t mean everything, these Knights have been getting a great deal of quality looks. The Knights have hit crossbars on a consistent basis as of yet but the back of the net isn’t being touched. Still when handicapping the NHL you have to handicap much deeper than final scores. 

Pittsburgh should be running on fumes tonight in the second of a back to back after winning in overtime last night in Phoenix. This club has played a lot of hockey lately, as opposed to the well rested host.

PLAY LAS VEGAS

16 Las Vegas at Winnipeg

Playoff revenge is major and the Knights face a revenging team for the second straight game. Off a home loss to the physical Sharks, the Knights travel to one of the toughest places to win in the league on Tuesday. 

The Jets had just come off a tough seven game series against the Western Conference favorite Nashville. Then had to turn around and face the rested Knights. Now we get Winnipeg facing the Knights on even ground. Cheap number for the revenging host.

PLAY WINNIPEG

041 Edmonton at Arizona

Two struggling teams go at it in the desert tonight. But we much prefer the visitor here in a current underdog role. After coming up empty on a five game home stand, we expect the Oilers to come out with a renewed confidence tonight in Arizona. 

The Coyotes are a mess right now and are really struggling on the defensive end. Edmonton is the more talented team and get the victory tonight.

PLAY EDMONTON

11 Minnesota at Pittsburgh

Wild have bounced back strong off an embarrassing loss of three or more goals, now on an 18-6 run in that category after losing to the Sharks 4-0 Tuesday. Minnesota is also a solid 7-8 on the road. 

Pittsburgh is playing back to back, and its fifth game in seven nights. Nice payback here for the rested underdog.

PLAY MINNESOTA

3 Detroit at Toronto

One of, if not the biggest spread of the season. But we are going to tackle the total instead of the side. Detroit is playing its third game in four days and fourth in six. When in that 4 in 6 situation the over has hit in 6 of 7 games. The last time these two played eight goals were scored. The Red Wings have scored four or more goals in 4 of 5 games as of late. Toronto has scored 24 goals in its last five games. 

PLAY OVER

065 Las Vegas at Vancouver

As a season ticket holder for the Knights we follow this team very closely. Earlier in the season with Schmidt suspended the team wasn’t gelling defensively and wasn’t using its speed advantage on the offensive end. That’s all change since the defender returned to the lineup. Now the team is back to playing the type of defense it did a year ago and the goaltending has been excellent. Because of that the offense can get a step ahead of the opposition and get easier shots on goal. We look to ride the improvement until the lines catch up to the changes. 

PLAY LAS VEGAS

009 Washington at Vegas

The Caps have won the past three games pretty convincingly. Vegas came out in the first period of the last game throwing everything it had at Washington, and still failed to score. It was by far the best the Knights had played in this series and still they couldn’t penetrate the goal. Once Vegas was called for a penalty the game shifted gears as the Washington power play went to work. That’s been the big difference in this series. The Caps have simply dominated the Knights with a man advantage. The only chance the host has tonight is to play a completely clean game, and that’s just too much to ask. The better team closes it out tonight.

PLAY WASHINGTON

008 Vegas at Washington

Very surprised by the low line here considering how difficult it has been for the Knights to get good quality shots. The Caps are playing the type of defense that Vegas played in the first three rounds of the playoffs. Before the series started we talked about the defensive edge the Knights had in this series. So far we have been completely wrong in that regard. Sure Las Vegas is putting shots on goal, but they aren’t quality shots. The only scored the Knights had in the previous game was a major mistake by the Caps goalie. Washington has been the better team thus far and to get them at home laying such a small number is a bargain. 

PLAY WASHINGTON

002 Washington at Vegas

The last time the Golden Knights entered a series with a major rest advantage it lost to Winnipeg. The Jets scored two goals right off the bat to shock the Knights. After that early explosion the team settled down and played the Jets equal through the remainder of that game. We all know what happened after that as Vegas dominated the rest of the series. Now with that knowledge we really expect the Knights to be fired up here, especially in front of the home crowd. We feel Vegas has a major defensive advantage in this game while all other edges are very slight. Look for the Knights to have a great defensive game and win a low scoring contest.

PLAY VEGAS

021 Vegas at Winnipeg

Can’t wait for this series to start with two cities going bonkers over their professional hockey teams. The Knights have a big edge in the rest department after the Jets had to go seven games to knock off Nashville. That quick turnaround really helps the visitor here. You can expect a bit of a letdown here after Winnipeg knocked off a team that had been to the championship the past two seasons. We rare the Jets as the slightly better team, and with home ice advantage Winnipeg should win this series. But this is a great opportunity for the Knights to get the early upper hand, and the underdog number is very fair.

PLAY VEGAS

053 Winnipeg at Nashville

This has been an extremely close series thus far with expected goal numbers being 15.37 for Winnipeg and 14.28 for Nashville. Since 2005 Game 7 hosts are just 27-25, so home ice hasn’t meant much. In this series the road team has won 4 of 6 games. Nashville has been here before, but that only puts more pressure on the host. We are going to back the Jets in what is a nice underdog price in what we grade as an even matchup.

PLAY WINNIPEG

025 San Jose at Las Vegas

In game one the Sharks never looked ready to play as it was the worst effort by any team I have seen all year at T-Mobile Arena. Since that game it’s been clear that the better team in this series has been San Jose. The Sharks have proven themselves to be just as fast as the Knights, and a more physical group. This is a must win game for Vegas but this team has little experience in that realm. San Jose has far more playoff experience obviously and the price is very favorable.

PLAY SAN JOSE

26 Las Vegas at Los Angeles

The first two games have been defensive struggles with both goalies doing outstanding work. Neither team is able to get off many clean shots as the defenses have been swarming. In almost eight full periods these two have combined for a total of four goals. When playing five on five the offenses have been dominated. No reason to expect anything different here.

PLAY UNDER

56 Los Angeles at Las Vegas

Aware that there has been a Kings suspension today for a violent hit in the first game. But still feel this is going to be another major defensive game. Neither team had many fast break scoring chances in the opener, as both squad played terrific defense. The goalies were also outstanding as we have two of the league’s elite in this series. With LA shutting down the Vegas speed we look for another tight defensive effort.

PLAY UNDER

13 Columbus at Washington

We like the Blue Jackets to win this series as an underdog, therefore of course we like them here at plus money in the opener. The goalie edge in this one for us goes to Bobrovsky, and we can’t trust the Captals. Washington continues to underperform expectations and the noose is getting tighter on this team. Columbus will play free an easy while all the pressure will be on the host.

PLAY COLUMBUS