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(Zak Krill/NHLI via Getty Images)
We didn't have a good Wednesday last week, people. But it's okay, because we're here to bounce back tonight and put some coin in our pocket as we near the final month of regular season hockey.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert, in fact, I'm the exact opposite. These are just my personal takes and my personal bets going into tonight's contests. Odds mentioned in this article are subject to change prior to puck drop.
Let's take a look at our (regrettable) record from last week:
Game 1: New York Rangers @ Detroit Red Wings
The Rangers made some real noise at this year's trade deadline, as they acquired Frank Vatrano from the Florida Panthers, Andrew Copp from the Winnipeg Jets, and Tyler Motte from the Vancouver Canucks. After making these moves, New York is hopefully set up to make a deep playoff run this postseason.
After a 7-4 whooping at the hands of the New Jersey Devils the day after the trade deadline, the Rangers seem to have found their groove with the new guys on the roster, as they turned it around by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Friday, a red-hot Buffalo Sabres team 5-4 on Sunday, and then defeated the Penguins again last night 3-2, giving New York a modest three-game win streak heading into tonight's contest.
As I mentioned, Tonight is the second of a back-to-back for the New York Rangers. After a 7 PM start time and a flight to Detroit last night, expect some fatigue from this Rangers squad, and also don't count on seeing Igor Shesterkin in net, as Gerard Gallant will most likely look toward Alexandar Georgiev to get the start.
The Detroit Red Wings have not been playing good hockey as of late. Of their 13 games played so far in the month of March, the Red Wings have only been able to muster up three wins during that span. After an embarrassing 11-2 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, Detroit has been the butt of the joke within the hockey world.
The Red Wings will look to bounce back against the Rangers tonight, who, like I said, will be facing some fatigue, but with how awful Detroit has been lately, I don't feel safe putting my money on them.
I'll take:
NY Rangers ML
Chris Kreider anytime goal scorer
Game 2: Vegas Golden Knights @ Seattle Kraken
I gave my thoughts on the Seattle Kraken and their current situation two weeks ago in my March 16th betting guide, so for a more in depth look into them take a look at that.
What can be said about the Vegas Golden Knights at this point in time? I can try to criticize them like I did the Red Wings above, but at least Detroit can use their rebuild as an excuse as to why they're playing bad hockey.
The Golden Knights have the NHL's version of a superteam, and are in serious danger of missing the playoffs. They traded for Buffalo Sabres superstar, Jack Eichel, they traded away Marc-Andre Fleury for pennies, thinking that Robin Lehner would be the better option in net (he's not) they had a trade voided by the NHL after they tried to send Evgenii Dadonov to the Anaheim Ducks, a team that was on his no-trade list, and are now going to have to go into the playoffs -- if they make it -- without one of two huge pieces to their team in Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone as they find themselves in financial turmoil, with only a little over $1.7 million in available cap space after the failed Dadonov trade.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh on the Golden Knights. After all, they have been dealing with injuries to big-name players all season long. As I mentioned above, captain Mark Stone hasn't played since February 8th after suffering a back injury, Max Pacioretty was placed on LTIR recently, and goaltender Robin Lehner hasn't played since March 8th due to a lower-body injury. Reilly Smith and Brayden McNabb are also out for Vegas right now.
Although the Knights are down on their luck right now, I still like their chances against Seattle.
I'll take:
VGK ML
U 6
Additional game picks this evening:
BUF Sabres +1.5
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