There’s a ton of NHL action on Thursday and a lot of intriguing matchups to boot, like the Vegas Golden Knights visiting the Florida Panthers and the St. Louis Blues looking for revenge against the Calgary Flames.
Also, some good teams — the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning come to mind — are taking on lesser opponents as they look to pad division leads.
Let’s run through the busy Thursday slate and the NHL betting lines for each game:
New Jersey Devils vs Tampa Bay Lightning
This is a pretty simple game to analyze. The Devils are really struggling right now and likely will have to turn to their third-string goaltender Jon Gillies — who wasn’t even in the organization until the middle of December — in net due to injuries to their starter and backup.
On the other side, the Lightning have won five of six and are probably the best team in the Eastern Conference. There’s just too much working against New Jersey in this one as the Devils start a road trip against an explosive Tampa Bay team. The Lightning are huge favorites so they might be worth a puckline bet.
New York Rangers vs Columbus Blue Jackets
The Rangers and Blue Jackets are clearly headed in opposite directions, as New York — one of the biggest surprises of the NHL season so far — has won five of six and is the top team in the Metropolitan Division while Columbus has lost four of five and is toward the bottom of the division. Columbus is coming off an embarrassing 6-0 loss to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night in which the Blue Jackets gave up a ridiculous 62 shots on goal.
It’s tough to pick against Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin, who hasn’t lost a start in almost a month, and he should be in goal for New York which has the rest advantage over Columbus. If you’re betting online, side with the Rangers.
Anaheim Ducks vs Montreal Canadiens
The 2021-22 season can’t end soon enough for the Canadiens, who are by far the worst team in the Eastern Conference and have won one game in a month and a half. They just lost to the Minnesota Wild 8-2. The Ducks fought back against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night to force overtime and eventually lose in a shootout.
It’s a tough back-to-back for Anaheim, which has cooled off after a surprising start to the season but should still be able to handle Montreal.
Carolina Hurricanes vs Ottawa Senators
Carolina has been rolling, winning four of five and getting contributions from across the board. The Hurricanes just beat the Golden Knights in overtime on Tuesday, recovering from a blown third-period lead to win on a Sebastian Aho goal. They’ve been pretty tough to beat when Frederik Anderson, leading the NHL in goals-against average and second in save percentage, is in net.
The Senators have struggled this season but have won two in a row and most recently blanked the Buffalo Sabres 5-0 behind a hat trick from Tyler Ennis and a shutout from the struggling Matt Murray. Ottawa is a big underdog but could be worth a flier since the Senators have been much more competitive since returning from a big COVID pause.
Vegas Golden Knights vs Florida Panthers
This might be the headliner of the night as Vegas continues a brutal four-game road trip against four of the Eastern Conference’s best teams while the Panthers finally return home following a six-game Western Canada and Seattle trip. Florida is almost spotless in Sunrise this season — 21-3-0 — while Vegas is banged-up a bit, so it’s a tough spot for the Golden Knights.
Los Angeles Kings vs New York Islanders
The Islanders might finally be making that “push” they’ve needed in order to give themselves a fighting chance to make the playoffs. New York has won seven of its last nine games and has another golden chance to pick up two points against a Kings team that has lost four of five and is in the middle of a long road trip.
Los Angeles has been getting great goaltending from Jonathan Quick, but is going through a bit of a downturn offensively. That works out great for the Islanders, who have mostly been beating up on bad teams as of late so they’ll take any edge they can get at this point considering how bad the early part of the season went.
Seattle Kraken vs Pittsburgh Penguins
Justifiably so, the Penguins are huge favorites over the Kraken on the BetUS sportsbook. Seattle has actually shown some life over the past week with a 3-3-0 homestand, but the Penguins have won six games in a row and 17 of their last 19 games overall. Pittsburgh has also won eight straight games at home while the Kraken have lost four consecutive road games. Everything is pointing in the Penguins’ favor.
Calgary Flames vs St. Louis Blues
It’s always great to have a rematch of two good teams over the course of a few days, especially when the most recent game was a blowout. Calgary smoked St. Louis 7-1 on Monday and followed that up with a drubbing of the Blue Jackets. So, the Blues will be out for revenge at home. St. Louis is a good bet here because Ville Husso will likely be in net and he has been much better than Jordan Binnington, who gave up all seven of the goals in that game.
Vancouver Canucks vs Winnipeg Jets
Both Vancouver and Winnipeg are riding losing streaks, with the Canucks dropping three in a row and Winnipeg losing five in a row. The Jets probably have the slight advantage here because Thatcher Demko is still in the COVID-19 protocol so Vancouver has been alternating between rookie netminders Spencer Martin and Michael DiPietro. Connor Hellebuyck is one of the only players keeping Winnipeg’s season together.
Nashville Predators vs Edmonton Oilers
Break up the Oilers! Edmonton came back from a 2-0 third-period deficit against Vancouver on Tuesday to win in overtime and capture a second consecutive victory. The Oilers need all the points they can get but it’ll be tough to beat the Predators, who have won three in a row and continue to be one of the biggest surprises in the NHL . This game is close to a toss-up betting-wise so there’s value on either side.
