Today’s NHL schedule features 13 games as we’re just two weeks away from the end of the regular season. Get today’s odds, predictions, and best bets for Saturday, April 1st.
NHL Schedule Breakdown
The following table highlights tired spots and/or days’ rest.
|
Rest
|
Visitor
|
Home
|
Rest
|
|
1
|
CAR
|
MTL
|
4/6
|
|
1
|
ANA
|
EDM
|
4/6
|
|
0
|
DAL
|
COL
|
2
|
|
3/4
|
FLA
|
CBJ
|
1
|
|
2
|
NYI
|
TBL
|
1
|
|
2
|
TOR
|
OTT
|
1
|
|
2
|
MIN
|
VGK
|
1
|
|
1
|
STL
|
NSH
|
1
|
|
1
|
BOS
|
PIT
|
1
|
|
1
|
NJD
|
CHI
|
1
|
|
1
|
LAK
|
SEA
|
1
|
|
0
|
BUF
|
PHI
|
1
|
|
1
|
SJS
|
ARI
|
0
|
More than any point this season, the table above might not be a great representation of which teams are tired and which teams aren’t. The average team played around 15 games in the month March and the schedule is likely wearing a lot of those teams down. For example, here’s Sunday’s schedule:
|
Rest
|
Visitor
|
Home
|
Rest
|
|
6/9
|
BOS
|
STL
|
6/9
|
|
0
|
NYI
|
CAR
|
6/9
|
|
3/4
|
NYR
|
WSH
|
2
|
|
6/9
|
LAK
|
VAN
|
1
|
|
0
|
NJD
|
WPG
|
1
|
|
0
|
ANA
|
CGY
|
1
|
|
3/4
|
DET
|
TOR
|
0
|
|
0
|
OTT
|
CBJ
|
0
|
|
0
|
PHI
|
PIT
|
0
|
Now back to Saturday’s action.
Saturday’s NHL Odds and Best Bets via DraftKings
- St. Louis Blues (+130) at Nashville Predators (-150)
- Boston Bruins (-130) at Pittsburgh Penguins (+110)
- Florida Panthers (-250) at Columbus Blue Jackets (+190)
- Buffalo Sabres (-120) at Philadelphia Flyers (EVEN)
- Toronto Maple Leafs (-150) at Ottawa Senators (+130)
- New York Islanders (+135) at Tampa Bay Lightning (-155)
- Carolina Hurricanes (-300) at Montreal Canadiens (+250)
- New Jersey Devils (-325) at Chicago Blackhawks (+265)
- Dallas Stars (+125) at Colorado Avalanche (-145)
- San Jose Sharks (-115) at Arizona Coyotes (-105)
- Los Angeles Kings (-105) at Seattle Kraken (-115)
- Anaheim Ducks (+390) at Edmonton Oilers (-490)
- Minnesota Wild (-105) at Vegas Golden Knights (-115)
Visit VSiN NHL Odds to see the full board.
Today’s Best NHL Bets
Boston Bruins (-130) at Pittsburgh Penguins (+110)
This is a potential first-round matchup, and if it was the playoffs, I’d lay -130 in a heartbeat. However, it’s not, and there’s no telling whether Boston will even ice a full lineup. The Bruins have been open about their intention to rest down the stretch, especially when they have two games in two days. Will important players be held out until Sunday, when they play St. Louis, or vice versa, I don’t know, but I’m willing to take a chance at -130 or better and hope that things work out in my favor.
Pittsburgh ranks high in terms of expected goals percentage. In fact, they grade out quite a bit better than the Bruins in that respect. But (overall) the Penguins haven’t played well against the top-nine teams from each conference since the start of January, with a sub-40 percent goal share and a sub-50 percent expected goal share in those games. Boston has done the exact opposite in those situations on average. The Bruins have played down to some opponents, but hopefully the Penguins start power, and the possibility of being matched up against them in the first round will be enough to get them up for this game.
Bet: Boston Bruins (Moneyline) -130 (one unit)
New York Islanders (+135) at Tampa Bay Lightning (-155)
When you look at how these two teams have played over the last month, New York has played well enough that +130 is a bit too generous. Yes, Tampa Bay has more high-end talent, but the Islanders underlying metrics are as good, and their scoring rates – for and against – are better.
Ilya Sorokin is also the best goaltender in hockey right now, and (assuming he’s between the pipes) the Islanders are a good bet at the current odds. However, the Islanders are going to play the Hurricanes on Sunday and that means there’s a chance we might see Semyon Varlamov.
Carolina is the team New York will likely play in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they might want to save Sorokin for them. The Islanders have been playing Sorokin on the first half of back-to-back sets, though, and they started him in both games of a back-to-back earlier this month.
Varlamov was good in the loss versus Buffalo in his last start, stopping 34 of 35 shots, but he’s also used to going long stretches without playing and New York doesn’t play until again until Thursday. That would be 12 days between starts, which is not unusual. Maybe Sorokin starts both games this weekend before getting a break. These are desperate times. Smaller bet because it’s not the best price available.
Bet: New York Islanders +130 (half unit)
St. Louis Blues (+130) at Nashville Predators (-150)
Nashville head coach John Hynes told reporters that he doesn’t know if Roman Josi (day-to-day) is going to be ready for Saturday’s game against St. Louis, but he did say that Filip Forsberg will remain out.
Buffalo Sabres (-110) at Philadelphia Flyers (-110)
Buffalo is playing their second game in as many nights after taking on the Rangers on Friday. The Flyers are playing the first half of a back-to-back with a game against the Penguins coming up on Sunday. Mattias Samuelson returned to the Sabres’ lineup on Friday for their 3-2 win over the Rangers, but leading scorer Tage Thompson did not. Thompson was considered a game-time decision, though, which means he’s on track to play again soon. Maybe even Saturday. Philadelphia is expected to get forward Travis Konecny back in the lineup.
Eric Comrie is expected to start for the Sabres, while it looks like Felix Sandstrom will be backed up by Samuel Ersson, who was sent down and called back from the American Hockey. There were some nice prices on over 6, and later over 6.5, but the information isn’t nearly as valuable now. The Flyers have been playing loose, and their games have been going over the total at a high rate. The Sabres, on the other hand, have struggled offensively, but playing the Flyers might help change that.
New Jersey Devils (-325) at Chicago Blackhawks (+270)
The Devils should be able to blow out the Blackhawks. New Jersey is a great road team they’re a huge favorite. I don’t have much interest in this game from a betting perspective since the odds have moved a bit already, but I guess it’s worth noting that Jonathan Toews is set to return to the Chicago lineup. Toews isn’t the same player, of course, but maybe his return provides a reason for the team to get up for the game. The Blackhawks have lost seven games in a row. Their last win at home came on March 14th when they beat the Boston Bruins 6-3.
Minnesota Wild (-105) Vegas Golden Knights (-115)
The Wild still don’t have Kirill Kaprizov, but their goaltending has been good, and the rest of the team has stepped up. The Golden Knights have also gotten good goaltending but there’s a strong argument to be made that the team is being propped up by their goaltenders, which isn’t a good thing. Shea Theodore didn’t travel with the team to San Jose, but Golden Knights’ head coach Bruce Cassidy said that he hoped the defenseman wouldn’t be out long term. Vegas is 9-9-3 without Theodore in the lineup and it’s unclear if he will be in the lineup on Saturday.
Los Angeles (-105) at Seattle Kraken (-115)
Seattle only played 12 games in March. The Kings, on the other hand, played 16 games, meaning this will be their 17th game since the beginning of March. Los Angeles has been great as of late, and very good for a while now, but it seems like the schedule might have slowed them down a bit as they only managed to score one goal in two games against Calgary and Edmonton.
The Kings will play their sixth game in nine nights when they visit Vancouver on Saturday and Kevin Fiala, Gabriel Vilardi and Mikey Anderson are also listed day-to-day. Three important players injured is enough to throw any team off, and if the Kings are fatigued, it could be enough to tilt the odds against them. I’m just not sure if there will be enough value there to justify fading the Los Angeles here.
All bets tracked via third part app Betstamp.