The NHL's five-game slate tonight features three matchups that take place on the West Coast, which could only mean one thing…
Yet another edition of our NHL Late-Night Best Bets. Twice in one week is rare for us, but the real fun starts when the clock hits four digits. Strobe-lights activated. Deep house playlist engaged. And a whole lot of hockey to come.
Let's dive into my NHL best bets, picks and predictions for Wednesday, March 4.
NHL Late-Night Best Bets, Wednesday, March 4
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 10:00 p.m. | |
  | 10:00 p.m. | |
  | 10:00 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NHL Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Hurricanes vs. Canucks
Let’s try this again.
The Carolina Hurricanes disappointed me on Monday, after falling to the Seattle Kraken, but luckily, there’s another team in the Pacific Northwest that is so much worse.
The Vancouver Canucks are horrible. And they’re only going to get worse after the trade deadline comes to an end on Friday afternoon.
Morale is at an all-time low in Vancouver.
Elias Pettersson is a shell of his old self, Jake DeBrusk was healthy scratched for the first time since his rookie year, Brock Boeser is in the midst of trade discussions yet again, and the goaltending is a mess.
For Carolina, this very well may be a trap game, and it can be unpredictable when coming off a loss. But in order for this to be a trap game, there needs to be at least some momentum coming from the other team.
And I don’t think I’ve seen a team in worse spirits than this season’s Canucks.
In addition, they have the league’s worst 5-on-5 defense, a bottom-three offense, and rank dead last in the penalty kill.
I’m happy to back Carolina with the puck line here.
Pick: Hurricanes -1.5 (-109)
| | |
Islanders vs. Ducks
This is an interesting matchup!
The New York Islanders make their annual trip out west, and their first game will be against the red-hot Anaheim Ducks.
Though the Ducks just got brutally beaten down by the Colorado Avalanche last night by the score of 5-1, and back-to-back games haven’t exactly been their milieu.
When on the backend of a back-to-back, Anaheim has gone 2-3-1, and after losing by two or more goals, it’s 6-10-1 in the following game.
In terms of the Islanders, they’ve been on a total heater, winning the first three games out of the Olympic break, winning two in overtime, and the third on a last-minute goal by Anders Lee.
If you look at their 5-on-5 numbers, though, they’re not very good. They’ve certainly been elevated by the boy-wonder Matthew Schaefer and elite goaltending from Ilya Sorokin. But Sorokin is already ruled to start tomorrow, which gives David Rittich another chance to play.
On Monday, Rittich looked abysmal, despite coming out with the win. He was great to start the season, but as the season wore on, we started to see some cracks in the armor.
The difference is, Rittich has an impressive record in his career against the Ducks, going 4-1, including beating them on Long Island by the score of 5-2. He also has a career .934 SV% against them.
So, I’m going to ride with the pesky Isles here, and am banking on history to repeat itself.
Pick: Islanders Moneyline (-110)
| | |
Blues vs. Kraken
Similar to the Canucks, the St. Louis Blues are a franchise in peril.
The Blues are ready to unload their roster by putting franchise cornerstones Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou and Jordan Binnington on the market.
And at least two of them may likely be dealt by Friday.
St. Louis heads into Seattle to face the Kraken, who are coming fresh off a win against the Hurricanes. No matter how many times I fade them, they always find a way to shove it in my face.
I don’t like the way the roster is built. If you avidly read my work, you’ll know that by now. But I can’t argue that there are some decent goal scorers here with Jordan Eberle, Jared McCann and Matty Beniers all posing as threats to tuck in a goal.
Does Binnington play tonight? It may very well be his last as a Blue, and even after looking like his old self in the Olympics, I wonder what version of him we’ll get tonight.
These teams squared off in St. Louis in the first game during the break, and the Blues won 5-1, which is over the 5.5 total here.
Additionally, games that have been played in Climate Pledge Arena have a 40% over rate, with most of it occurring from January on.
Take the over here, and let’s wake up with some money in our accounts.
Pick: Over 5.5 (-118)
| | |
