The New Jersey Devils picked up Timo Meier at the trade deadline last week, and he paid dividends for his new team in his debut, scoring in a 5-4 overtime win over the Arizona Coyotes. Meier had come to town in a nine-player deal with the San Jose Sharks that also involved four draft picks, and he notched his 32nd goal of the season at 9:09 of the first period. This was Meier’s first game since February 18, when he suffered an upper-body injury. Meier played on a line with Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes, two other high scorers.
Friday night features two NHL betting matchups, so let’s break them down for your sports betting consideration.
NHL News: Top Bets for the Weekend
Chicago Blackhawks at Florida Panthers
Friday, March 10 | 7:00 pm ET
Stuck in eighth place in the Central Division, the Chicago Blackhawks (22-36-5) are stuck playing the spoiler role at this point in the season. They had dropped four in a row, losing to the Ducks, Coyotes, Stars and Predators, before delivering a 5-0 thrashing of the Ottawa Senators on Monday, ending a five-game winning streak for the Senators. Seth Jones scored two goals in a three-score second period. Anders Bjork had three assists, and Alex Stalock stopped 35 shots, notching the 11th shutout of his career. Lukas Reichel, Jason Dickinson and Phillipp Kurashev also lit the lamp. The Blackhawks kept Ottawa three points behind Pittsburgh for the second wild card in the East.
Next up for the Blackhawks is a trip to Florida (32-27-6). The Panthers have won two in a row and three of four, taking down Pittsburgh and Vegas at home in their last two games. Their win over the Golden Knights on Tuesday saw Sergei Bobrovsky stop 31 of 32 shots as the Panthers moved within three points of a spot in the playoffs. Bobrovsky has a .957 save percentage in his last four starts, posting a 3-1-0 record. Ryan Lomberg started the scoring with a goal at 4:25 of the first period, and then the Panthers doubled the lead at 4:05 of the second period. Vegas drew within one at the 13:23 mark of the second after a penalty on Florida for too many skaters on the ice. Bobrovsky locked down the third period, stopping all 10 shots that he saw. Florida to win.
Anaheim Ducks at Calgary Flames
Friday, March 10 | 9:00 pm ET
The Ducks (21-35-8) are in seventh place in the Pacific Division and have dropped two of three, sandwiching losses to Washington and Seattle around a win over Montreal. Their loss to the Kraken came in 5-2 fashion on Tuesday. Trevor Zegras had a highlight-reel goal between the legs to start the second period, and Max Comtois scored an empty-netter with 1:27 remaining in regulation, but the Ducks had a five-game points streak end ignominiously as the Kraken skated around them all night, getting just that much closer to the lead in the Pacific Division.
The Flames (29-23-13) had dropped five in a row before picking up a pair of road wins, edging Dallas, 5-4, and Minnesota, 1-0. The win in Minnesota on Tuesday came in a shootout, as Tyler Toffoli’s effort made the difference after a physical, defensive struggle. Their win over Dallas also featured heroics from Toffoli, who scored on a breakaway with 6.2 seconds remaining in regulation. The Stars had roared back from a 4-2 deficit at the start of the third period, but the Flames’ opportunistic style paid off again at the end. The Flames also managed to kill off a power play late in the third on a boarding penalty against Calgary’s Nick Ritchie. Calgary to win.
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