Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – March 13th

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins remain the class of the Eastern Conference, each winners of eight of their last ten. The Lightning lead the East with 110 points, while the Bruins are 17 points behind them at 93. The Washington Capitals have won nine of ten, including a seven-game winning streak that came to a halt Tuesday, to pass the New York Islanders and take the lead in the Metropolitan Division. Carolina has come on strong in the Metropolitan as well, winners of seven of ten. In the Western Conference, Dallas’ Ben Bishop has posted three consecutive shutouts in net, and the Stars lead the Wild by one for the first wild card position. The San Jose Sharks have won five in a row and seven of ten to lead the Western Conference, with a one-point lead over Calgary in the Pacific Division. The Winnipeg Jets lead the Central Division by a point over Nashville, but none of the top three teams in the Central have won more than half of their last 10 games. We have your top NHL betting picks for the week ahead.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – March 13th

New week, new power rankings! Do any of these teams deserve to be in the TOP 5?!? Full power rankings here: https://t.co/F3aXJs1Ck8 pic.twitter.com/0hfIS0UZOE

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) 12 de marzo de 2019

Wednesday, March 13

Chicago at Toronto (7:00pm ET, NBC Sports)

The Chicago Blackhawks are in seventh place in the Central Division but have won three in a row, taking down Buffalo and Dallas last week and opening this week with a 7-1 home romp over Arizona on Monday night. Brendan Perlini scored a hat trick for Chicago against his former team, and Patrick Kane got his 41st goal of the season. Jonathan Toews, Brandon Saad and Chris Kunitz also lit the lamp for the Blackhawks, and Corey Crawford stopped 24 shots. That hat trick gave Perlini his sixth goal in his last five games. The Blackhawks are now just four points out of the second wild card position in the Western Conference playoff standings. Now we see an Original Six matchup when the Blackhawks head north of the border to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are still in third place in the Atlantic Division but have split their last four games, delivering dominant wins in Calgary and Edmonton but losing in Vancouver and then getting embarrassed at home on Monday night by the Tampa Bay Lightning, falling by a 6-2 margin. Auston Matthews and Connor Brown were the only two Maple Leafs to find the back of the net, and goalie Frederik Andersen permitted four goals on the first 19 shots that he saw before heading to the bench early in the second period. Garret Sparks stopped 21 shots the rest of the way. Toronto was missing Kasperi Kapanen (illness), Jake Gardiner (back) and Travis Dermott (shoulder), so you will want to check the injury report before finalizing your wagers on this matchup. Even so, the Leafs should be able to bounce back on home ice against Chicago. NHL Betting Prediction: Toronto 4, Chicago 2

Thursday, March 14

Washington at Philadelphia (7:00pm ET, ESPN+)

The Washington Capitals have streaked to the top of the Metropolitan Division, thanks to a streak that includes impressive wins in Philadelphia and over Winnipeg at home, but we saw that the Pittsburgh Penguins still occupy a special spot inside the Capitals’ collective mind, as the Pens were able to deliver a 5-3 win at home on Tuesday. In that game, Evgeni Malkin picked up his 1,000th career point for Pittsburgh as the Penguins roared back from a 2-0 deficit for the win. After Jakub Vrana put the Caps up 2-0, Pittsburgh quickly evened the game, scoring two goals 47 seconds apart, and the Pens never looked back. Now the Capitals look to get another winning streak going in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Flyers are still sniffing out a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference but sit in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division. They have won three of four, knocking off the Islanders in New York, losing at home to Washington, beating the Islanders again on the road on Saturday and beating Ottawa on Monday night, 3-2. In that win over the Senators, the Flyers were without rookie sensation Carter Hart in goal but got a solid game out of Brian Elliott, after the offense woke up with three goals in the second period. The Flyers are pushing hard for that second wild card, but they have struggled against Washington this season. NHL Betting Prediction: Washington 4, Philadelphia 3