It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Edmonton Oilers. On March 18, their leading scorer Leon Draisaitl went down with an undisclosed injury in Edmonton’s 7-1 win over Utah. Two days later, their captain Connor McDavid went down with a lower-body injury in Edmonton’s overtime loss against the Winnipeg Jets. Neither is expected to return this week.
We haven’t included any Edmonton games in this week’s betting preview, but there may be some value with other players seizing the opportunity. We’ll start this week’s preview with their provincial rivals.
Dallas Stars (45-21-4 SU, 33-37 ATS) @ Calgary Flames (34-25-11 SU, 35-35 ATS)
Thursday, March 27
9 PM ET
On Thursday, the Dallas Stars head north of the border to face the Calgary Flames in what should be a competitive matchup.
Despite sporting a lacklustre —20 goal differential, the Flames have managed to scramble to within four points of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference after securing four straight victories. Although they’re moving in the right direction at the right time, the St. Louis Blues are proving difficult to catch with their stretch of seven straight wins.
On Tuesday, the Flames eked out a 4-3 overtime victory against the Seattle Kraken (+118). Calgary centreman Nazem Kadri (28 goals, 26 assists) scored twice, including the OT winner.
The Stars are second in the Western Conference, just eight points behind the Winnipeg Jets, and have an impressive +55 goal differential. On Monday, they shut out their division rivals, the Minnesota Wild (+170), 3-0. Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger (2.49 GAA, .909 SV%) had an incredible night, making 32 saves and registering his second shutout of the season. Scoring was a team effort, with Wyatt Johnston (26 goals, 37 assists), Matt Duchene (27 goals, 44 assists) and Mason Marchment (18 goals, 19 assists) all reaching the score board.
Montreal Canadiens (33-28-9 SU, 41-29 ATS) @ Carolina Hurricanes (43-24-4 SU, 33-38 ATS)
Friday, March 28
7 PM ET
After building some momentum, the Montreal Canadiens are starting to slip with three straight losses. Fortunately for them, all of the other teams stuck in the Eastern Conference wild card log jam have also floundered in their last couple of games; this has allowed Montreal to hold on to the second wild card spot for the mean time. Much depends on how the Habs perform in the homestretch going forward. In the 13 games remaining in their season, seven are against playoff teams.
On Tuesday, they faced the St. Louis Blues and suffered a major 6-1 defeat in a game where their netminder Sam Montembeault was pulled after letting in five goals on 32 shots.
As for the Hurricanes, they’ve been perennial playoff contenders the last six seasons, but haven’t made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in that stretch. Sitting second in the Metropolitan Division, they look competitive and offer great value at +1100 on the Stanley Cup futures market.
Clearly, re-trading Mikko Rantanen at the trade deadline didn’t knock Carolina off their course. The new additions of Mark Jankowski, Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven have been effective so far. The ‘Canes are 9-2 in their last 11 and are benefitting from having a league-best penalty kill (84.9%). On Tuesday, however, Carolina lost 3-1 to the Nashville Predators (+230) despite out-shooting them 35-16.
Toronto Maple Leafs (43-25-3 SU, 36-35 ATS) @ Los Angeles Kings (40-21-9 SU, 34-36 ATS)
Saturday, March 29
7 PM ET
The Maple Leafs are tied for first in the Atlantic (89 points) and are trying to fend off the surging Tampa Bay Lightning (87 points), who have a significantly better goal differential (+59 for Tampa vs. +21 for Toronto).
On Saturday, the Leafs face the Los Angeles Kings (second in the Pacific with 89 points). In their previous meeting, the Kings and Leafs went toe-to-toe at Scotiabank Arena, and Toronto walked away with the 6-2 win.
On Tuesday, the Leafs got a turn at the slumping Philadelphia Flyers and beat them 7-2; their second line did the majority of the heavy lifting. The Kings will be a much taller order.
The Kings have been quietly excelling in the second half of the season and have really ramped things up in the last couple of weeks. They’ve gone 9-1 in the last 10 games, and in that stretch they shut out Washington 3-0, beat Carolina 7-2 and Vegas 6-5. Their offensive depth is an asset, as all four of their lines are a scoring threat.
In the Kings’ 7-2 victory over Carolina, 12 of their forwards put up at least one point. They followed that game with a 7-2 victory over Boston the next night, and then a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers Tuesday night.
NHL Futures
We’re running out of time for the NHL futures, but you can still bet on division and conference winners.
Division Winners
The Washington Capitals may have the lockdown on the Metropolitan Division, where they’re -20000 to win over the +3000 Carolina Hurricanes, but there’s still some value to be had with the other divisions.
Atlantic
The best value is in the Atlantic where there are four teams to choose from:
Florida Panthers -120
Toronto Maple Leafs +190
Tampa Bay Lightning +500
Ottawa Senators +15000
Central
The Central Division has the Winnipeg Jets as heavy -500 favourites, but the Stars are also in the mix at +275, and you can always take a flier on the Colorado Avalanche at +10000.
Pacific
The Pacific Division has the Vegas Golden Knights leading the way at -350, and the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings checking in at +500.
Conference Winners
Last year, the Florida Panthers beat the New York Rangers to win the Eastern Conference, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars to win the Western Conference. With the exception of the Rangers, these teams are all once again at the top of the odds board to represent their Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Western
Dallas Stars +275
Edmonton Oilers +400
Eastern
Florida Panthers +225
Carolina Hurricanes +500
Washington Capitals +500
Get your bets in this week, and we’ll check in next with a fresh set of NHL betting opportunities.