The Calgary Flames clinched their eighth division title in franchise history with a 4-2 win over Dallas on Thursday. The Flames finished a stretch of 10 games with a high-flying 8-1-1 record, while the Stars failed to win any games in a three-contest stretch in Western Canada. Dallas finishes with four games at home as they fight to cling to that second wild card. In the Eastern Conference, Washington lost, 4-3, in a shootout to Toronto, but the bigger problem was an upper-body injury to Alex Ovechkin, who crashed into the boards in the early part of the third period. After that, the Caps went up, 3-1, but blew that lead and then lost in the shootout, losing a shot at climbing the standings. Take a look at two primo NHL betting picks for this week as the NHL’s regular season winds down.
NHL News: Top Betting Games of the Week
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Vegas Golden Knights at Dallas Stars (8:30 pm ET, ESPN+)
Vegas currently trails Dallas by three points in the standings, and both teams have played 79 games, with three games to go. Dallas has won 44 times in regulation, while Vegas has won just 42, so the Stars would have that tiebreaker. Vegas has dropped three of four, including a 5-4 home loss in shootout fashion to San Jose on Sunday. In that game, the Golden Knights led, 4-2, with just over two minutes remaining in regulation, but then the Sharks scored with 2:06 left and again with 0.9 seconds to hush the Vegas crowd. If Dallas beats Vegas on Tuesday, the Stars would clinch the second wild card position and eliminate the Golden Knights.
Dallas got pummeled on their Western Canada trip by a combined score of 15-6, but they bounced back with a 3-2 win over the expansion Seattle Kraken on Saturday. The Stars fell behind, 2-0, before Roope Hintz lit the lamp twice in about two minutes to draw the Stars even, and Vladimir Namestnikov had the game-winner. Hintz has five goals in the team’s last three contests, and Jake Oettinger had 30 saves. Can Dallas stand tall at home one more time and clinch a playoff spot?
Final Score Prediction: Dallas 3, Vegas 2
St. Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche (9:30 pm ET, ESPN)
The Blues have won three in a row and four of five, a stretch that began with an 8-3 spanking of Nashville on the road and ended with a successful three-game road trip out west, finishing with a 6-3 win at Anaheim on Sunday. In the victory, St. Louis fell behind, 2-0, during the first period, before they rallied for the win. Ville Husso only had to stop 14 shots as the Ducks did not muster much offensive pressure after the opening period.
The Colorado Avalanche have turned down the intensity over the last week, dropping four in a row, including a 4-1 loss at Winnipeg on Sunday. That game featured three goals by the Jets in a period of 3:21 during the third to turn a one-goal deficit into a laugher. Nikolaj Ehlers put in the insurance goal late in regulation, and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 30 shots, playing his 65th game of the campaign and 380th overall as a Jet, both franchise records, while also tallying his 200th career win. Darcy Kuemper stopped 40 shots for Colorado as the defense did not do him a lot of favors. It will be interesting to see if the Avalanche can get back to playing dominant hockey in time for the postseason.
Final Score Prediction: St. Louis 3, Colorado 2
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