Tuesday night's NHL action gives us a short schedule so why not cover all three games? Check out my NHL picks for each of tonight's games, as we try to run the table.
With only three games on today's schedule, lets check out each of them and cover the NHL picks I find to have the best chance of cashing for us as the sportsbooks.
Toronto Maple
Leafs @ Tampa Bay Lightning
NHL Odds boards opened with Tampa Bay at -150. Early NHL betting action has extended the lines, and now list the Lightning at -160.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are reeling right now and there’s
little reason to have faith in them until No. 1 goaltender James Reimer can
make his way back into the lineup. He skated on Friday but is going to be out
for another week or so.
Since starting the year 9-3-1, the Leafs have lost six of
their last eight games. They’ve lost faith in Jonas Gustavsson as a goaltender so
they’ve been giving plenty of action to Ben Scrivens. He’s done OK, allowing
exactly two or three goals in six straight games, but the problem is that the
Leafs scoring has also gone into the tank.
In their last eight games, the Leafs have scored just 21
goals and seven of those came in Saturday’s win over Washington.
The Lightning won all four meetings with Toronto last
season by a combined score of 16-5, including a couple of home shutouts. They
lost their most recent home game, but that was their first loss at the St. Pete
Times Forum in more than a month. On the season, they are 6-2-0 there. The
Lightning are 11-1-3 against Toronto in their last 15 meetings at home.
NHL Picks: Tampa
Bay
Los Angeles Kings
@ St. Louis Blues
NHL Odds: Blues -130
Very quietly, the St. Louis Blues have emerged as one of
the hottest teams in the NHL. They have yet to lose since Ken Hitchcock
replaced Davis Payne as the head coach of the Blues and are 4-0-2 under their
new head coach.
They have been suffocating opponents on the defensive end
– particularly in the second and third periods of games. They allowed a late
game-tying goal to Mikko Koivu on Saturday but that was the first time in six
games that the Blues had allowed a goal in the second or third period of a game.
They’ve allowed just eight goals in those six games after giving up a whopping
35 in their first 13. A big difference has been the performance in net by
Jaroslav Halak, who has allowed just seven goals in his last six outings
compared to 20 in his first six.
The Blues are 7-1-1 at the Scottrade Center this season
and has won three straight there. They have beat the Kings 12 times in their
last 17 home meetings.
-130 is a fair price on the Blues, so they are the pick
in this contest.
NHL Picks: Blues
Edmonton Oilers @
Nashville Predators
NHL Odds: Predators -165
After starting the year with just two wins in their first
six, the Nashville Predators have been quietly consistent the rest of the way.
After every loss since, they’ve bounced back with a win and are 8-2-3 in that
span. They are coming off a 4-3 overtime home loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets
on Saturday and will again look to rebound.
They’ll host the Edmonton Oilers, who are a team that is
tough to gauge right now. The Oilers opened the season 9-3-2 but lost four
straight prior to stomping the Chicago Blackhawks 9-2 on Saturday night. They
appeared to have their confidence back, but that was quickly doused by the
Dallas Stars with a 4-1 loss on Monday.
Now the Oilers have to go back-to-back on the road with
some lingering questions.
The price tag is way too high on the Predators,
especially when you consider that they’ve only won four of nine home games this
year. Edmonton is not a great road team (3-6-1) and they are without four of
their top six defensemen, so that won’t help their cause either.
Have a look at the under, which might be worth a flier.
There hasn’t been more than five goals between these teams in the last five
meetings with four of them seeing four goals or less.
NHL Picks: Under