NHL Saturday Betting Recap: Toronto Feeling the Blues
A bunch of contenders were in action on Saturday, most of whom won to keep their stretches of good play going. The lone exception was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who fell flat in a disappointing home loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Let’s recap each game with an eye to the NHL betting lines:
Colorado Wins Offensive Shootout
The Buffalo Sabres knew that things were stacked against them on Saturday when they took on the Colorado Avalanche with backup goalie Dustin Tokarski in net. So, it’s not particularly surprising that Colorado won a high-scoring game 5-3 in which there were five first-period goals.
Tage Thompson scored all three of Buffalo’s goals, but the Sabres had no answers for the Avalanche’s relentless offensive attack for which five different Colorado players scored.
Colorado covered the puckline as a massive road favorite. The under (six goals) had no chance in this one.
Oilers Stay Red Hot
Jay Woodcroft is still undefeated as the interim head coach of the Edmonton Oilers as his team beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 for its fifth-consecutive win. The Oilers scored the game’s first three goals and seemed headed for an easy blowout, but Winnipeg made it close with a pair of third-period scores and had a late power play with a chance to tie. However, Edmonton held firm and iced things with a Darnell Nurse empty-netter.
Connor McDavid was heavily involved, scoring one goal and assisting on two others. He was in the middle of nearly everything the Oilers had going on offense, as usual.
Edmonton won straight-up as a slight road underdog and just covered the puckline as well. Nurse’s last-second goal wasn’t enough for the over (6½ goals), though.
Boston Holds On in Overtime
Despite blowing a pair of one-goal leads, the Boston Bruins managed to sneak by the Ottawa Senators with a 3-2 overtime win with David Pastrnak scoring the game-winning goal. Boston snapped a two-game losing streak behind a strong performance from Jeremy Swayman, who saved 31 of the 33 shots he faced.
Tim Stutzle and Nick Holden scored for the Senators in the loss. Boston was a solid road favorite on the BetUS sportsbook. The under (5½ goals) was pretty safe throughout the game.
Blues Shock Leafs
It wasn’t easy, but the St. Louis Blues took down the Toronto Maple Leafs in an impressive 6-3 win in Toronto. St. Louis went up 2-0 and 3-2 in this game but let the Maple Leafs tie the score twice heading into the third period. That’s where the Blues really took over, scoring three unanswered goals to finally put Toronto away.
Pavel Buchnevich led the way for St. Louis, scoring twice and notching a game-high seven shots on goal. David Perron and Robert Thomas each posted two assists as well. William Nylander (two goals) and Alex Kerfoot (two assists) did most of the Maple Leafs’ scoring. Jack Campbell (28 saves on 33 shots) had a rough showing in net.
The Blues won straight-up as sizable road underdogs and they nearly hit the over (6½ goals) themselves, but it still cashed easily.
Kings Stage Big Comeback
The Los Angeles Kings needed a huge third period to win their second game in as many nights, beating the Arizona Coyotes 5-3. Los Angeles was down 3-1 toward the end of the second period when veteran Drew Doughty scored a power-play goal to cut the Arizona lead to one. Then, the Kings went wild in the final frame, with goals from Trevor Moore, Doughty (again), and Adrian Kempe (his second of the night) to run away with the victory.
Doughty, Kempe, and Anze Kopitar (three assists) all had three points for the Kings, who pestered Karel Vejmelka with 39 shots on goals. Backup netminder Calvin Petersen did a fine job, blanking the Coyotes for the game’s final 27 minutes.
Tonight Drew Doughty of the @LAKings notched his first multi-goal game in the regular season since February 2, 2011, a span of 11 years and 17 days.
That's the longest gap between multi-goal games for a player in NHL history.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) February 20, 2022
LA, which was favored by a lot, managed to cover the puckline despite playing from behind for most of the night. The over (5½ goals) hit comfortably.
Calgary Keeps Winning
If you’re betting online, it’s usually a safe play to take the Calgary Flames who, after holding off the Seattle Kraken 2-1, have now won nine games in a row. This was a tie game for most of the night until Elias Lindholm broke the stalemate with his 22nd goal of the season seven minutes into the third period. That proved to be enough for Calgary to stay ahead.
Philipp Grubauer (35 saves on 37 shots) was more than deserving of a win but the Flames’ Jacob Markstrom (22 saves on 23 shots) was even better. Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk each had a goal and an assist to keep the streak going.
Calgary won straight-up as a huge home favorite but didn’t cover the puckline as the Flames were held under four goals for the first time since the end of January. The under (six goals) was never in doubt.
Anaheim Explodes for 7 Goals
The Anaheim Ducks ended their four-game losing streak in a big way, scoring seven times to trash the Vancouver Canucks in an easy 7-4 win. Anaheim set the tone right away with three first period goals and then added two more early in the second to build an insurmountable 5-0 advantage.
Nicolas Deslauriers and Adam Henrique each scored twice to lead the Ducks and Trevor Zegras had three helpers. Anaheim even chased Vancouver starter Thatcher Demko from the game. Elias Pettersson paced the Canucks with a goal and two assists.
The Ducks won straight-up as a solid road underdog and covered the over (5½ goals) on their own.
