Top NHL Betting Picks & Predictions of the Week – April 2nd Edition

Despite winning just five games in their last ten in regulation, the Boston Bruins have moved past Tampa Bay for first place in the Eastern Conference, with 110 points (and a game in hand). Washington and Columbus are the two hottest teams in the East, winners of eight of their last 10. In the western Conference, Vegas is still atop the Pacific Division with 107 points (and a two-game winning streak), but Nashville is in first place in the conference, with 113 points and a six-point lead over second-place Winnipeg in the Central Division. As we play out the last games of the regular season, you may see contenders resting some key players down the stretch, so check out roster reports before locking in your wagers. Here are our best NHL betting picks for the coming week.

Top NHL Betting Picks & Predictions of the Week – April 2nd Edition

NHL Power Rankings (04/01) https://t.co/IK9Digzzca << Info Here pic.twitter.com/rtdUeZKZjF

— NHL Now (@_NHLNow) April 2, 2018

Tuesday, April 3

Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders (7:00pm ET, CSN / MSG+)

The Philadelphia Flyers are clinging to one of the wild card positions in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of New Jersey — but they could also take third place in the Metropolitan Division with a surge, as they are tied with Columbus in points, but the Blue Jackets have the tiebreaker with more wins in regulation. Philadelphia took down Colorado on the road, 2-1, back on Wednesday, and then won a home overtime thriller over Boston, 4-3, on Sunday night, thanks to a goal from Claude Giroux in extra time. The Flyers have an offense that can jump out for big goal totals, but then they can vanish in some games, which is why they are just 13th overall in goals scored. The Flyers visit an Islanders team that is at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division despite ranking eighth overall in goals scored with 3.2 per game. They lost in New Jersey on Saturday night, 4-3, in a game that typified their struggles. They gave up a late goal to Taylor Hall in that loss in which he skated from one end of the rink to the other and buried a goal. The Islanders are dead last in goals permitted per game (3.6) and on the penalty kill (74.1%). The big Philly win over Boston should give them the momentum (and motivation) to find the holes in the Islander attack. NHL Betting Prediction: Philadelphia 4, N.Y. Islanders 2

Nashville at Florida (7:30pm ET, FSSM / FSFL)

Nashville heads to Florida on Tuesday night riding high on the strength of a 4-1 shellacking of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night. Filip Forsberg put up a pair of goals for the Preds, who recovered nicely from the 7-4 embarrassment they suffered at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres in their prior game. Nashville has a high-flying offense, scoring 3.2 goals per game (seventh overall), and they showed once again in Tampa Bay why they have the league’s second-best defense in goals permitted (2.5 per game). The Florida Panthers were making a run at one of the wild card slots in the Eastern Conference, but a three-game skid leaves them at 86 points and out of realistic contention at this point. They took a 5-1 beating in Boston from the Bruins on Saturday that drove the coffin nail into their postseason hopes, and they welcome Carolina on Monday night before Nashville shows up the next night. While the Panthers sit in the middle of the statistical standings as far as scoring (14th) and goals permitted (19th) go, they don’t have the motivation that the Preds have to keep the gas down. NHL Betting Prediction: Nashville 3, Florida 1

Thursday, April 5

Pittsburgh at Columbus (7:00pm ET, AT&TSN / FSOH)

The Pittsburgh Penguins currently have 96 points, two more than the Columbus Blue Jackets (who have a game in hand on the Pens). The Penguins live and die with their offense, ranked sixth overall (3.3 goals per game) and tops in the league with a 25.9% power play conversion rate. They showed what happens when their offense isn’t working, though, when they lost 3-1 at home to Washington on Sunday. One particularly porous moment for the Pittsburgh defense (which ranks 20th overall in the league) happened when T.J. Oshie snuck in behind the defense and got an easy shot through Matt Murray’s five-hole. Pittsburgh has three days off before they visit their Metropolitan Division rivals. Columbus took a bad loss in Vancouver on Saturday, as they put up an uncharacteristically high four goals — but permitted five in an overtime loss that denied them a key point. The Blue Jackets normally go defense-first, as they permit just 2.7 goals per game (eighth overall), and since their offense (17th) and special teams (28th on the power play and 24th on the penalty kill) aren’t particularly noteworthy, they rely on using their defense to generate chances up front. They host Detroit on Tuesday before Pittsburgh comes to town — can they turn the tables on their rivals? NHL Betting Prediction: Pittsburgh 4, Columbus 3