This article is part of our NHL Picks series.
Last day of the regular season. It's bittersweet. The NHL is the greatest sports league in the world in my completely biased opinion. It doesn't matter if it's Game 2, 36, 51 or 82, professional hockey players are a cut above the rest in their level of competition. It's almost a guaranteed good time when you turn on a regular season hockey game regardless of the matchup, so it's been an absolute pleasure to cover the season from start to finish. And I just gotta say, it's also a pleasure to admit that my picks since the first drop of the puck would have you in the black if you took every single one of 'em. So, you're welcome. Let's finish off strong tonight and gear up for the most electric postseason in all of sports. Here are your two best NHL bets for tonight!
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Tonight's NHL Best Bets
Avalanche vs Predators
"It's kind of a must-win for us," said Avs' star Mikko Rantanen of tonight's matchup against the Predators. A win gives them their 3rd consecutive Central Division title and a date with the Kraken in the first round of the playoffs. A loss would yield the top spot in the division to the Stars and would draw the Wild as the Avs' first-round matchup. The Avalanche have won all 3 contests against the Preds so far this season. Both teams played yesterday too so tonight's matchup will feature both backup goalies: Pavel Francouz for Colorado and Kevin Lankinen for Nashville. The Avs beat the Jets 4-2 in Denver. The Predators beat the Wild in overtime in Nashville on a beautiful between-the-legs goal scored by Juuso Parssinen who just shrugged his shoulders after potting that highlight reel play. The Preds have won their last four home games, so I think they're going to muck it up enough tonight to keep this one close even though the Avs have way more to lose.
Predators PL -140
Sabres vs Blue Jackets
They don't call it gambling for no reason, and this is a classic gambling game. There is basically nothing riding on this game for either squad, they both just gotta finish their respective seasons. They both played last night with both contests going to overtime. The Sabres beat the Senators in Buffalo and the Blue Jackets got a home win against the Penguins. Tage Thompson did not travel with the Sabres to Columbus for this contest. Patrik Laine is injured for the Blue Jackets, and more concerningly so is goalie Elvis Merzlikins. The guy playing goal for Columbus tonight might as well be an EBUG call-up because I have no idea who he even is. I'm just taking the Sabres tonight because they're more fun.
Sabres ML -175
