It’s day two of the NHL playoffs, and after some interesting results last night we managed to go 2-0 with our computer picks. Let’s hope for more of the same tonight.
We are investing in two of the four games on today’s slate, check out why we are laying the juice with both of tonight’s selections.
Tuesday’s Top NHL Picks
- Rangers – Devils Under 6.0 (-122)
- Golden Knights ML (-150)
New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 – 07:00 PM EDT at Prudential Center
Will Reinforcements Help the NY Rangers?
Although the New York Rangers brought in the cavalry during the trade deadline to reinforce their roster in the hopes of going deep into the playoffs; it seems it could all be in vain, as not only has the team regressed in recent weeks, but once again, they rely too heavily on their special teams and 2022 Vezina trophy winner Igor Shesterkin.
Adding both previous Stanley Cup winners and league veterans Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko to the roster hasn’t proved as successful as one might think, with the Rangers being the 7th best powerplay team in the league, both players have only contributed 9 powerplay points between them.
NJ Devils First Post-Season Since 2018
It’s been five years since the Devils last made the post-season but they come into this year’s playoffs with a lot of confidence, having finished just one point shy of topping the Metropolitan Division and finished the regular season in profit on the moneyline at +9.1 units compared to the NY Rangers -1.7 units.
Although the NY Rangers will be a “tough out”, they will fancy their chances, as they are arguably one of the most beatable teams in the Eastern Conference side of the playoff draw.
These teams faced off 4 times during the regular season, with the Devils winning on 3 occasions.
The Pick
Although 3 of the 4 meetings during the regular season went over 6.0 goals, the previous game ended 2-1, which is more along the lines of what we are looking at ahead of this game tonight.
Our computer predicts a 2-2 final scoreline, and although we slightly disagree, we still believe the under is worth targeting. We predict the Devils winning tonight 3-1 or 3-2, both are in correlation to the under.
We are more than happy to take under 6.0 goals at -120 NHL odds, the under 5.5 is available at plus money (which we also like) but we like the insurance factor here as the Devils have seen 7+ goals in 9 of their previous 15 games.
OddsTrader Predicted Score: New York Rangers 2 – New Jersey Devils 2
NHL Pick: Under 6.0 Goals (-122) at SugarHouse
Winnipeg Jets vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 – 09:30 PM EDT at T-Mobile Arena
Winnipeg Look Towards Goaltending
The Winnipeg Jets have relied heavily on the goaltending of Connor Hellebuyck once again this season, and he comes into the playoffs in red-hot form, having only allowed three goals in his previous four starts and with an overall record of 37-25-2 with 2.49 goals against per game.
Considering Hellebuyck played 64 games this regular season (joint most) this is a very impressive record.
Offensive production has been par at best for the Jets this season, averaging only three goals per game, the third lowest of all the teams in this year’s playoffs. The Jets will need their offense to step up if they want to go deep into the playoffs, Hellebuyck is impressive, but he can only win them so many games before it’s down to the offense.
Golden Knights Don’t Know When Their Beat
The Vegas Golden Knights team has a lot of fight in them, having finished the regular season as the best team in the Western Conference despite struggling with multiple injuries to key players throughout the season.
They missed one of their star offensive players, Mark Stone, for half the season. Defensive star Shea Theodore played just over 50 games, and number one goaltender Robin Lehner didn’t play a single minute this season and won’t be available for the playoffs either.
With all these setbacks, the Golden Knights still managed to dominate with a 51-22-9 record. Stone is back in the lineup tonight and Vegas is dangerous.
The Pick
Having won 6 of the 9 games played all-time at the T-Mobile Arena between these two teams, we are once again looking towards the home team to make it 7 in 10 at home.
The Golden Knights have lost just 3 of their previous 15 home games, while the Jets have seen just 5 road wins in their previous 15. Our computer predicts a 3-2 win for the home team, although it could be more like 4-2. Either way, we like the Golden Knights to take game one of the series on home ice tonight.
Vegas produced +9 units of profit this season, whilst the Jets also ended in a profit with +2 units.
OddsTrader Predicted Score: Winnipeg Jets 2 – Vegas Golden Knights 3
NHL Pick: Vegas Golden Knights ML (-140) at Bet365
