Category: Hockey

The Los Angeles Kings are a perfect 3-0 on the road but that will be in jeopardy tonight when they travel to Scotiabank Arena to face the Toronto Maple Leafs. Are the Leafs a true Stanley Cup contender? The answer is yes. Toronto is 5-2-1 overall and 3-1-1 on their home ice. They have arguably the best player in the NHL, Auston Matthews, and tonight Joseph Woll is confirmed to be between the pipes. Woll has been outstanding with a record of 3-1-0, a GAA of only 1.33 and a .961 SV%. The 4-2-2-Kings will begin a 4-game road trip and the Leafs are not the team you want to face for game 1. LA has not fared well in Toronto, going 1-4 in their last 5, and the home team usually wins between these two clubs.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Year after year, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been tough to beat at home and this year is no different. Tampa is 4-0-1 at Amelie Arena and that is where they will be tonight when they host the Seattle Kraken. The Bolts are hot, winners of their last two, both at Amalie, blanking the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, 6-0, and prior to that shutting out a really good Carolina Hurricanes team, 3-0. The Kraken’s struggles continue. After Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, they are now 2-5-2 overall and 1-3-2 on the road. The Lightning have faced the Kraken four times since Seattle entered the NHL in 2021, and they have won all 4 meetings, outscoring them 17-4.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Despite being without some of their key weapons, the Florida Panthers are still 3-3 on the season and could see the return of some of their heavy hitters tonight when they host the struggling Seattle Kraken in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers center, Sam Bennett, has yet to take the ice this year but did practice on Thursday. He says he feels great and is a game time decision for tonight. When the line of Bennet, Tkachuk and Verhaeghe get together they are a scoring machine. Florida could also see the return of captain Aleksander Barkov, who has been out with the flu among others. Seattle is off to a slow start. They are just 2-6 thus far and 1-4 on the road.
TONIGHT’S PICK: FLORIDA PANTHERS

The struggling 1-3-1 Washington Capitals will look to get back on track when they visit The Rock tonight and the 3-1-1 New Jersey Devils. After last night’s 4-1 home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington has now lost 3 straight and have been outscored 13-4 over that span. The Devils took care of business last night, downing the Montréal Canadiens, 5-2, north of the border and have now won 2 straight, finding the back of the net 10 times over the 2 wins. Washington is expected to have Hunter Shepard between the pipes. He will be making his NHL debut and that could be a problem the way New Jersey is scoring. The Caps are not the dominant team they use to be and the Devils have won the last three meetings. It’s never a walk in the park when you have to face the great Alex Ovechkin, and the Devils won’t come cheap, but they are the better team and should come out on top.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW JERSEY DEVILS

The 1-1 Winnipeg Jets will be hosting the 0-1-1 Los Angeles Kings tonight at Canada Life Centre. The Jets are coming off a 6-4 home victory over a really good Florida Panthers team and they always bring their best for the home crowd.
TONIGHT’S PICK: WINNIPEG JETS

The Boston Bruins were the best team in hockey last year by far but came up short. This year they lost a Bruin great, Patrice Bergeron, to retirement but they are still lethal and the rest of the league had better bring their A-game when they face the boys from Legends Way. Boston will be hosting the Nashville Predators tonight. The Bruins are 4-1 in the last 5 meetings with the Preds and Nashville is 3-9 in their last 12 trips to TD Garden.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BOSTON BRUINS

With the exception of one game, the Tampa Bay Lightning have outplayed the Toronto Maple Leafs but they still find themselves down 3-2 in the series. That’s okay, remember last year. Tonight the venue switches to Amalie Arena for game 6. The Lightning were lights out at home in the regular season with a stellar record of 28-8-5. They will throw caution to the wind tonight and Amalie Arena will be electric. The Bolts send it back to Toronto for game 7.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING