Category: Hockey

The Tampa Bay Lightning were slow out of the gate but are starting to find their groove. The 3-time Stanley Cup Champions have won two straight and will open a 3-game West Coast road trip tonight against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto Arena. The Kings have lost their last two and are still winless on their home ice, at 0-2. Jonathan Quick is expected to get the call in net tonight for the Kings. The veteran is 1-3 with a 3.94 GAA and a .889 SV%. The Lightning are expected to have Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes. The Big Cat is 2-2 with a 2.52 GAA, a .922 SV%, and is 7-2 in his career against LA. To say the Lightning have owned the Kings would be an understatement. The Bolts are 11-1 in the last 12 meetings and 5-0 in their last 5 in LA.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 

The Toronto Maple Leafs will take a two game winning streak into T-Mobile Arena tonight for a matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights. Both teams are 4-2-0 and match up well so we should see some entertaining hockey tonight. The Knights four wins have not been against the NHL’s elite (LA, Chicago, Seattle and Winnipeg) so don’t get too excited. Between the pipes tonight, Vegas is expected to have Logan Thompson and for Toronto Ilya Samsonov. Thompson is 2-2-0 with a 2.30 GAA and a .926 SV%. Samsonov has been outstanding. He is 4-0-0 with a GAA of only 1.73 and a .938 SV%. The Leafs have two of the NHL’S best, Auston Matthews and John Tavares, and Tavares has been on fire. Toronto has won 2 straight against Vegas and 5 of the last 6.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

The Buffalo Sabres are moving in the right direction after being bottom feeders and the brunt of many jokes for so long but that is about to change. The Western New Yorkers are 3-1 on the season and are coming off two very impressive road victories. On Tuesday, they took down the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton, 4-2, then made the short trip to Calgary to knock off the heavily favored Flames, 6-3. Tonight they will be a big dog once again when they head to Vancouver to take on the Canucks at Rogers Arena. Vancouver is winless on the season, at-0-3-2, and is expected to have Thatcher Demko between the pipes. Demko’s numbers are not good. He is 0-3-1 with a 4.30 GAA and a .861 SV%. Buffalo is expected to have Craig Anderson in net and he is 1-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .972 SV%. The Sabres have won the last two meetings with the Canucks and maybe after a win tonight they will start getting some respect.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BUFFALO SABRES

The 3-1-0 Boston Bruins lost their first game of the season on Tuesday, falling to the Ottawa Senators, 7-5, at Canadian Tire Centre. The Bruins were the better team by far in that matchup but probably took the Sens for granted and were playing back-to-back games, which is always tough. Tonight they return home to TD Garden to take on the 1-3-0 Anaheim Ducks. Since winning the season opener, the Ducks have lost 3 straight. They are expected to have John Gibson between the pipes and thus far he has not played well. Gibson is 1-2 with a 5.96 GAA and a 0.872 SV%. The Bruins are 2-0 at home and are expected to have Linus Ullmark guarding the net. He is 2-0 with a 2.59 GAA and a 0.927 SV%. Advantage Boston. The Ducks always give the Bruins a run for their money but Boston is averaging 5.33 goals per game which is the best in the league and should have no problem getting the puck past Gibson.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BOSTON BRUINS

The Florida Panthers are in trouble, down two games to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and tonight it won’t get any easier when they travel to Amalie Arena. The Panthers are 1-4 in their last 5 meetings with the Bolts and 8-21 in their last 29 in Tampa. Consider the Champs.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

After Monday’s loss at home to the inept New Jersey Devils, the Vegas Golden Knights head coach, Peter DeBoer, said they will have to win their remaining 5-games to even have a chance for the post-season, and he is right. The only problem is the best road team in hockey visits T-Mobile Arena tonight, the Washington Capitals. However, there is a positive note for Vegas. The Golden Knights have won the last two meetings with the Caps, and the home team is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings. Desperation is always a motivator.
TONIGHT’S PICK: VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

The Winnipeg Jets are 10 points behind Nashville for the second Wild Card spot in the West. With 6 games remaining, it would take a miracle for them to get in and they know that. Tonight their playoff chances get even bleaker when they head to Manhattan for a matchup with the New York Rangers. The Rangers stingy defense is coming off back-to-back shutouts and are allowing an average of just 2.5 goals per game. New York has clinched a playoff spot but are 2 points behind Carolina for the top spot in the Metropolitan, so there will be no let up for the Rangers tonight. The Rangers are 25-8-4 at MSG, have won 2 straight, 5 of their last 6, and beat the Jets, 4-1, in the last meeting on March 6th.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK RANGERS