Saturday was busy around the NHL with 10 games on the docket, including a lot of matchups between contenders and a Stadium Series game in Nashville. The Montreal Canadiens won their fifth straight, the Minnesota Wild kept struggling, and the Detroit Red Wings scored five third period goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs — and lost.
Let’s run through every game and make a note of the NHL betting lines for each:
Oilers Stun Panthers
The Edmonton Oilers know they need to get scoring from guys other than Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but they didn’t expect they’d need a hat trick from Derek Ryan — who had four goals all season entering Saturday — to beat the Florida Panthers 4-3. It was the veteran forward’s first career hat trick, with two of the goals coming in the decisive three-goal second period for Edmonton.
The Panthers, who lost as -200 favorites, have now dropped three-straight games — all of them at home. It was a really big win for Edmonton, which snapped a two-game skid and got great goaltending from Mikko Koskinen (44 saves).
Flyers Finally End Skid
Thanks to a much-needed 2-1 win over the scuffling Washington Capitals, the Philadelphia Flyers were able to snap another prolonged losing streak — a six-game skid — in a season filled with them.
Carter Hart was great for the Flyers, saving 27 of the 28 shots he faced in his first action in nearly two weeks. Philadelphia did all of its scoring early, with Claude Giroux getting on the board just 11 seconds into the game and Cam Atkinson following up at the end of the first period. Washington managed just a T.J. Oshie power-play goal in the second.
The Flyers won straight-up as home underdogs on the BetUS sportsbook.
Penguins Outlast Rangers in Goalie Duel
It’s not easy to get anything past Igor Shesterkin so the Pittsburgh Penguins made full use of their one goal in a 1-0 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday. Pittsburgh finally broke through with an Evgeni Malkin power-play goal five minutes into the third period off assists from Bryan Rust and Sidney Crosby. Tristan Jerry was 27-for-27 to earn his fourth shutout of the season.
Pittsburgh held on as a solid home favorite. The over (5 ½ goals) was low and it still never had a chance with both goalies as sharp as they were.
Hammond Leads Way for Canadiens
Make that five wins in a row for the Montreal Canadiens, who beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 behind a pair of goals from Artturi Lehkonen and another strong performance in net by Andrew Hammond. Hammond — the former Senator lovably known as The Hamburglar in Ottawa — has won both of his starts for Montreal in his first NHL action since the 2018 playoffs.
.@Senators fans welcomed "The Hamburglar" Andrew Hammond back to Ottawa by throwing hamburgers on the ice. 😂🍔 pic.twitter.com/CWXmrAjAt0
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 27, 2022
Yet again, Montreal won as an underdog which has been a common theme of this streak and of this season for the Canadiens.
Lightning Too Much for Nashville
The latest Stadium Series game was a fun one, as the Tampa Bay Lightning took down the Nashville Predators 3-2 at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, where the Tennessee Titans call home. The Predators struck first with a Tanner Jeannot goal but Tampa Bay responded with three-straight scores — one each from the terrific trio of Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, and Steven Stamkos — to take a commanding lead that would hold up.
Stamkos had his hand in all three Lightning goals and Andrei Vasilevskiy was great as usual, saving 26 of the 28 shots he faced. Tampa Bay didn’t cover the puckline as a -175 road favorite, however, and the over (six goals) just fell short.
Maple Leafs Hold On
The bar has been set pretty high for the craziest game of the NHL season. The Toronto Maple Leafs held off the Detroit Red Wings 10-7 in a game that felt more like a 1980s-style hockey game than one from 2022. Toronto used a four-goal second period to build a 7-2 lead that felt insurmountable, but starter Jack Campbell gave up three goals in the first 4:42 of the third period which prompted Sheldon Keefe to pull him for Petr Mrazek — a rare move when a team is winning.
Then, 40 seconds after Mrazek entered the game, he gave up a goal to Michael Rasmussen to make it a 7-6 game. Toronto scored two minutes later, soon to be followed 40 seconds later by another Red Wings goal. Finally, the Maple Leafs put things away with an Ondrei Kase shorthanded goal and then Mitch Marner’s fourth goal of the night for an even 10.
Eight different Maple Leafs had multi-point games, led by Marner’s six points (four goals and two assists). Star rookie Lucas Raymond had two goals and an assist to pace Detroit, which fought hard but just couldn’t get enough saves. Miraculously, Toronto covered the puckline as a big road favorite and both teams hit the over by themselves.
Flames Back on Track
Even though their 10-game winning streak was snapped last week, the Calgary Flames might be on their way to starting a new one. Calgary beat down the suddenly struggling Minnesota Wild 7-3 on Saturday night behind two goals and an assist from both Tyler Toffoli and Matthew Tkachuk.
Minnesota scored 96 seconds into the game but Calgary had the next five goals and never looked back. The Wild have lost five of their last six games and have been getting subpar goaltending from both Kaapo Kahkonen (who started against Minnesota) and Cam Talbot to go along with an offensive slump.
The Flames won comfortably as -160 home favorites and easily covered the puckline.
Colorado Doesn’t Quit
Another day, another comeback win for the Colorado Avalanche. Less than 24 hours after scoring six unanswered goals to beat the Winnipeg Jets, the Avalanche scored twice in the span of 26 seconds early in the third period to fight off another deficit and beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2. Shortly after J.T. Compher tied the score at two goals apiece, Nathan MacKinnon found the back of the net to give Colorado a lead it held the rest of the way.
Vegas played well enough to beat most teams, but the Avalanche aren’t most teams. The Golden Knights have now lost five of six and just haven’t been able to click with Jack Eichel in their lineup and Mark Stone out of it. Colorado won straight-up as a -175 road favorite.
Marchand Keys Boston Win
If you’re betting online, taking the Boston Bruins when Brad Marchand is in the lineup is a good idea. With their 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, the Bruins won their fourth straight game overall and second straight with Marchand back from suspension. He led the way with two goals, an assist, and a game-high eight shots on goal.
Boston dominated this game from the get-go, out-shooting San Jose 37-16 and setting the tone early. The Bruins cruised as big road favorites and covered the puckline thanks to Patrice Bergeron’s goal with 40 seconds left to play.
Kings Keep Rolling
The Los Angeles Kings, with their easy 5-2 win over the New York Islanders, have won five games in a row (seven of eight overall) and keep making progress in the Western Conference playoff picture. Los Angeles got started right away in this one, scoring twice in the first period. The Kings kept the Islanders at bay all night and were able to cruise to a victory.
LA was only a -135 home favorite so this was a decisive win in the second half of a back-to-back, no less.
