NHL Saturday Betting Preview: Toronto Has Its Goalie?

Dallas Stars vs New York Islanders

It might be too late to save their season, but the New York Islanders are in a groove. New York has won four of five and plays host to the Dallas Stars, who just snapped a three-game losing streak with an overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.

The Islanders have found success in alternating between Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov in net and, with another game Sunday either one of them could go Saturday with the other starting against the Philadelphia Flyers.

If Sorokin — 4-0-0 in his last four starts — goes against Dallas, you should take the Islanders straight-up as slight home favorites. But, if Varlamov gets the start, consider going with Dallas. The Stars have been up-and-down lately but their top scorers, namely Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski, can really take over a game and put up goals quickly. It’s not as easy to do that against Sorokin.

Chicago Blackhawks vs Minnesota Wild

Amid a concerning stretch of play, the Minnesota Wild — at least for the moment — stemmed the tide with a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. The Wild will try to keep the good vibes going as they face a Chicago Blackhawks team that just traded one of its best players (Brandon Hagel) and is likely to continue selling off valuable pieces up until the trade deadline.

Minnesota’s offense has been hit-or-miss lately, mostly putting up crooked numbers when Cam Talbot starts and not doing much when Kaapo Kahkonen starts. The Wild have won Talbot’s last four starts and lost Kahkonen’s last four starts so it’s a good sign for Minnesota that Talbot should go on Saturday.

Go with the Wild to cover the puckline as huge home favorites. They played great against Boston and might be turning a corner to get back to the elite level they were at for much of the season. The over is a good move too if you’re betting online because Minnesota scores a lot of goals and Chicago gives up a lot of goals.

New Jersey Devils vs Edmonton Oilers

The streaky Edmonton Oilers are rolling again, particularly on offense as Edmonton has scored 21 goals during its current four-game winning streak. They should be able to reach the back of the net often against the New Jersey Devils, who are coming off an ugly back-to-back in which they gave up 12 goals — eight by starter Nico Daws.

New Jersey pulled Daws midway through games against the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, so this might be a spot to give backup Jon Gillies a shot. Gillies has been bad this year and, if he gets the nod, the Oilers should be well on their way to a win.

Edmonton is comfortable home favorites and you should take the Oilers to cover the puckline against a talented Devils team that just can’t get reliable goaltending. The over is a must-take here as well.

Los Angeles Kings vs Vegas Golden Knights

As Edmonton has improved, the Vegas Golden Knights have faltered. Vegas did snap a five-game skid with a huge win over the Florida Panthers a few days ago but the Golden Knights are still in a lot of trouble as they host the Los Angeles Kings.

Jack Eichel is doubtful with an upper-body injury he suffered against Florida, starting goalie Robin Lehner is still out, and the Golden Knights are without a host of other key players from Mark Stone to Max Pacioretty to Reilly Smith (and more).

The Kings have slowed down a bit lately but they should win this one as slight road underdogs. Getting Los Angeles at plus-money in this spot is a coup and you need to take advantage.

St. Louis Blues vs Columbus Blue Jackets

The St. Louis Blues’ postseason spot isn’t as secure as they would like it to be so the Blues really need to get two points against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. St. Louis has dropped six of eight, mostly due to an offensive slump. The Blues have scored three goals or fewer in each of those losses.

Scoring hasn’t been the problem for Columbus; the issue for the Blue Jackets is trying to prevent goals. They’ve given up four or more goals in six of their last eight games. However, they have won Elvis Merzlikins’ last three starts and he should be in net.

With Merzlikins playing, Columbus is an intriguing value play as a sizable underdog.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Arizona Coyotes

The Arizona Coyotes aren’t playing like the pushover team they were for much of the season. Arizona welcomes the Pittsburgh Penguins having won six of seven and has been a really explosive team on offense for weeks. The Coyotes have scored five or more goals in five of their last six games.

Pittsburgh keeps chugging along as the Penguins try to catch the Carolina Hurricanes at the top of the Metropolitan Division. They’ve won three of four — every win with Tristan Jarry in goal — and have a really balanced offense headlined by one of the best players in the league. Pittsburgh doesn’t light the lamp a ton but the Penguins don’t need to with Jarry between the pipes.

The Penguins are huge road favorites on the BetUS sportsbook and you should take them on the puckline. Arizona has been improved but Jarry has been great all year and the Coyotes give up a ton of goals themselves.

Ottawa Senators vs Montreal Canadiens

It has been a lost season for both the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens but there is still some pride to be won in this rivalry matchup. Ottawa has dropped eight of 11 while Montreal has lost four of five after an initial surge when Martin St. Louis was named interim head coach of the Habs.

Montreal is a solid home favorite but with how equally bad these teams are, treat this as more of a pick’em type of game. So, go with the Senators straight-up for the value. Also, take the over because none of either side’s healthy goalies are especially good.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Nashville Predators

Have the Toronto Maple Leafs finally found their answer in goal? Kallgren, called up when Jack Campbell went down with an injury, has won his first two NHL starts in Toronto’s last two games and has allowed just two goals to the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes on 71 shots. Not bad for someone who had been playing in Sweden for the past two years.

Erik Kallgren

First #LeafsForever goalie to allow just 2 goals within his first 2 full career NHL starts since Mike Palmateer in October 1976 pic.twitter.com/xUaVwr36UR

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) March 18, 2022

Kallgren will start again for Toronto against the Nashville Predators and while it’s not particularly likely he’s able to keep this level of play up, the Maple Leafs’ goalie situation has been so bad that he’s probably going to keep getting chances. Nashville is a hot team too, having won five of seven and scoring plenty of goals in those games.

Toronto is a slight road favorite here but this is close to a pick’em. The fun pick would be the Maple Leafs and Kallgren but the more logical pick is Nashville straight-up because of Juuse Saros even though Auston Matthews is back from his suspension. Consider the under as well.

New York Rangers vs Tampa Bay Lightning

The New York Rangers head South to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in a potential playoff preview on national television in the US. Tampa Bay salvaged a so-so road trip with back-to-back wins over the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken behind strong performances from Andrei Vasilevskiy. New York is coming off a rough 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders.

Igor Shesterkin against Vasilevskiy is a great matchup between two of the NHL’s best goalies, so you should definitely take the under. Despite their gaudy record, the Rangers are still having tons of issues scoring, which means it’ll be tough for New York to take down the Lightning at home. Go with Tampa Bay on the puckline or simply take the Lightning to win in regulation and parlay that with the under.

Calgary Flames vs Vancouver Canucks

Fresh off a pretty shocking 1-0 overtime home loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night, the Calgary Flames are hungry for a rebound as they visit the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver basically needs to get at least a point in every game down the stretch in order to have a shot at making the playoffs while Calgary has some cushion in the Pacific Division but not enough to coast until the postseason.

Calgary will probably turn to Dan Vladar in net after Jacob Markstrom was perfect through regulation yesterday. Vancouver, losers of three of four, will use Thatcher Demko — as per usual — who has been one of the biggest reasons the Canucks still have a chance.

Go with the Flames to win in regulation here. They’re too good of a team to drop consecutive games to .500 or worse teams and Vladar has been a great backup. The under is enticing too.

Detroit Red Wings vs Seattle Kraken

The Detroit Red Wings finally got off the schneid with a win over the Vancouver Canucks in their last time out and they’ll look to make it two in a row against the struggling Seattle Kraken, who have lost 12 of their last 14 games.

Alex Nedeljkovic was brilliant against Vancouver in his first good start in a few weeks, which might give him a boost going forward. This game is essentially a pick’em with Seattle as a minimal favorite, so Detroit on the moneyline is probably the way to go here because the Red Wings have a bit more offensive firepower.