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Tides’ Takes: Free NHL Betting Picks For Today – March 17, 2022

Timothy Buell Thu 3/17 9:29am PT
Image Credit: Imagn

ScoresAndOdds analyst Timothy Buell gives free expert advice and betting picks for Thursday’s NHL slate.

Happy Thursday everyone! Welcome to this new article for ScoresAndOdds, where we will offer betting picks and advice for multiple sports that are happening on a given day.

Now that the NFL season has unfortunately come to an end, we will be focusing on NHL odds and NBA odds and props. We will also be throwing in some traditional parlays and some same game parlays as we see fit.  

Make sure to use our tools at ScoresAndOdds to find the best lines at your favorite legal sportsbook.  

This article will solely focus on NHL picks and props due to only one NBA game tonight.

Free NHL Betting Picks For Today

Carolina Hurricanes @ Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs will be going back to Erik Kallgren in the net tonight. While it was fun to watch him post a shutout against the Stars in his last game, he will have his hands full tonight. The Hurricanes are a far-and-away better team than the Stars, and are one of the best teams in hockey. The Hurricanes are well rested and have had a few days off before this game, which only helps them. The Leafs are still without Auston Matthews, who is their best player and a top-five player in hockey. 

John Tavares had a monster game in his time out, but the Hurricanes are the best team in the NHL in goals allowed per-60.   Carolina also has the best penalty kill in the NHL. That will only amplify the loss of Matthews, who is their best power-play scorer.  I think it will be tough for the Leafs to put up enough goals to win this game.  

New York Islanders @ New York Rangers

The Rangers were actually able to win a game without Igor Shesterkin in net. Now he gets a home matchup in MSG where both Igor and the Rangers as a whole have been absolutely dominant all year. The crowd should really be fired up for this game and I look forward to viewing this game. 

This line seems a little too low, despite the Islanders playing better hockey recently. The Rangers are a better team and up-and-down the lineup and have the best goalie in the league, who is going into this game rested. I don’t anticipate a let-down spot tonight.  

Buffalo Sabres @ Edmonton Oilers

In the last write up, I also took the Oilers on the puck line against the Red Wings. We were able to cash that ticket despite some ugly goaltending from Mikko Koskinen. 

Tonight, Mike Smith will be in net, and I am not going to say that is any kind of upgrade over Koskinen, but this is the same type of matchup I want to take the Oilers in. The Sabres simply don’t have the finishing ability to put up enough goals to keep this game close. They rank bottom-10 in goals-forced per-60 and are 27th in expected goals for per-60. 

The Oilers just have way too much offensive talent for the Sabres to compete, despite their shaky goaltending. The Oilers are also highly motivated to continue to put up wins to secure their place in the playoffs as they remain in a tight race in the Western Conference.   

NHL Player Prop – Alex Ovechkin

Projection models slightly disagree with this bet and are showing that his average expected shot rate is closer to 4.0. I don’t agree with this projection. Ovechkin has 21 SOG’s over his last three games and now gets to face one of the worst defensive teams in the league. The Blue Jackets allow the most shots on net by quite a significant margin and I’m not seeing Ovi not being able to take advantage of all the open lanes he will be given. Ovi is very much a momentum player and when he starts shooting the puck at a high clip like he has been lately there is no reason to think it ends anytime soon.  

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