NHL Betting: Teams Battle For Playoff Spots In Final Weeks
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With only a little more than two weeks left in the regular season, a few playoff spots and divisions titles remain to be settled in the race for the Stanley Cup.
Below are some takeaways on what might happen this week in the NHL.
Schedule Breakdown
Here are the number of hockey games this week.
- Monday: 6
- Tuesday: 10
- Wednesday: 3
- Thursday: 11
The good news for fans and those interested in NHL betting is that there are six games on Monday night, setting up a few promising battles. Seattle and Minnesota will surprise many people, exclusively on Hulu/ESPN+.
More back-to-backs will be upon us this weekend. Watch for teams that have played a lot of hockey lately.
- Arizona (Sunday, Monday)
- Montreal (Monday, Tuesday)
- Edmonton (Monday, Tuesday)
- Washington (Wednesday, Thursday)
Arizona can be expected to give up a lot of goals against Edmonton on Monday. Goals may come in bunches. Edmonton and Vegas figure to see more of the same on Tuesday night. Montreal could provide refuge to teams like Philadelphia and Buffalo.
Rivalry Week Sparks Interest
Fans have clamored for more games against division rivals. Okay, how about this? New Jersey plays on the road Monday against the New York Islanders. After that, the Devils head to Manhattan to take on the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
New Jersey has one of the NHL's best records on the road. It’s not a surprise. The Devils score nearly four goals a game on the road. New Jersey thinks less and puts the puck in the net more. It is a team that can and will test Islanders’ goaltender Ilya Sorokin Monday night.
Both New York teams have excellent Russian backstops and, in other aspects of the game, are good at playing into their strengths.
The Islanders take advantage of mistakes in transition. The Rangers will trade chances more freely and use their top-five caliber power play led by Tarasenko, Kane, Zibanejad, Panarin and Fox.
These teams create drama-filled hockey. Savor them while you can. The playoffs will be here soon.
Bubble Teams Worth Watching
Wednesday gives us Minnesota and Colorado. The game starts a little after 10 p.m ET. These two teams do not like each other. Both are playing their best hockey of the season. The Avalanche are eyeing a possible Central Division title and the top seed in the West. Despite injuries, they are among the league’s best again.
Minnesota is equally red hot right now. The Wild are 6-1-3 in their last 10 matchups and 12-2-3 over their past 17 contests. Minnesota is getting excellent goaltending and timely goal-scoring even without Kirill Kaprizov in the lineup. Expect a hard-fought game and a surprising amount of goals.
Florida and Toronto play, too, and with Florida’s impending urgency to claw back into the playoff race, expect a flurry of goals and a high Over/Under. The specter of seeing a 7.5 is possible again.
Finally, watch the bubble teams. Florida was mentioned, and so were the Islanders. Pittsburgh plays Detroit and entertains Nashville. In the West, Winnipeg plays in San Jose to complete their California trip on Tuesday. Calgary is home against Los Angeles (the Sutter Bowl), which guarantees playoff intensity.
Some Bets To Consider
- An Avalanche, Oilers and Wild parlay pays out at +200 tonight.
- The Devils-Islanders Over 6 is worth a look at -110. Hello, Jack Hughes!
- Three games are at an Over of 7.0 on Monday.
- Calgary and Los Angeles figure to be crazy on Tuesday. Either it’s a 3-2 game, or it goes off the rails.
Good luck, and once again, thanks for reading! We will carry some more plays on social media as conditions warrant.
Thanks to BetMGM Sportsbook for their great early-week lines.
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