Golden Knights vs Canucks NHL Odds, Picks, Predictions

Golden Knights vs. Canucks Odds

The Vancouver Canucks are basically out of the playoff race, but they've been hot despite that, winning seven of their last eight games going into Tuesday's matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights.

They'll be up against another hot squad, though, given that the Golden Knights have won eight of their last 10 games. Only one can win, so which will it be?

The must-have app for NHL bettors

The best NHL betting scoreboard

Free picks from proven pros

Live win probabilities for your bets

DOWNLOAD NOW

Vegas Golden Knights

If we step aside from the recent hot streaks and just compare each team's season as a whole, there's no question that Vegas is the favorite. The Golden Knights have a 25-point lead in the standings, and the main difference has been goaltending.

For most of the season, the Canucks have had horrible goaltending, while Vegas' Logan Thompson and Adin Hill have been solid. Recently though, Vegas' goaltending depth has been tested because four netminders (Thompson, Hill, Laurent Brossoit and Robin Lehner) are dealing with injuries.

Brossoit and Thompson are getting close to returning, so perhaps one of them will be an option against Vancouver, but the likely scenario is Jonathan Quick will be in net. Quick struggled mightily with Los Angeles this season, posting a 3.50 GAA and an .876 save percentage in 31 contests, but he's recorded a serviceable 2.98 GAA and a .904 save percentage over five starts with Vegas. That's been enough for Quick to win four of his five Golden Knights outings thanks to the team's strong forward core.

Even with Mark Stone (back) unavailable, Vegas still has six players with at least 45 points. Vegas also has Ivan Barbashev, who has been great since he was acquired from St. Louis, contributing four goals and eight points in 11 appearances with Vegas.

The Golden Knights rank eighth offensively in March with 3.80 goals per game. It's no wonder Quick has been winning with that kind of support.

Vancouver Canucks

I had high hopes for the Canucks entering the season. I believed that they had a great offensive core, an elite defensive defenseman in Quinn Hughes and a solid starter in Thatcher Demko. In this case, two out of three wasn't good enough.

Vancouver's forwards and Hughes were everything the team hoped for and more in the early section of the season, but it really didn't matter because Demko was terrible out of the gate and then was shutdown due to a groin injury. Vancouver continued to endure some of the worst goaltending in his absence (to be fair, it was in part because of subpar defensive work), which led to the Canucks' season ultimately being lost.

Since Demko was activated from the injured reserve list  on Feb. 27, though, things have been different. He's posted a 2.24 GAA and a .927 save percentage over eight games since returning and has won six of those contests. Vancouver might actually have the better goaltender versus Vegas on Tuesday — that's a statement that would have seemed unfathomable just a month ago.

It's not all good news for the Canucks, though. They rank a respectable 13th offensively with 3.30 goals per game in 2022-23, but they have recorded just 3.00 in March. It doesn't help that Vancouver dealt Bo Horvat to the Islanders on Jan. 30, but this team is still capable of more than its shown recently, given that Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, Andrei Kuzmenko and Hughes are still around to lead the charge.

Demko has been so good recently that Vancouver hasn't needed the best out of its forwards to win, but that might not be enough against Vegas.

Golden Knights vs. Canucks Pick

As good as Vancouver has been recently, it shouldn't shock you to learn that the Golden Knights are the heavy favorites on the moneyline. At the same time, the odds aren't lopsided to the point where selecting Vancouver on the puck line offers a good return either.

I'm somewhat tempted to take Vancouver on the moneyline because I do believe the Canucks are being underrated, but the reality is that even with Demko doing well, Vegas' red hot offense might be too much for him.

I'll instead suggest taking them on the 3-Way, feeling confident enough that the Golden Knights can get the job done in regulation.

Pick: Vegas Golden Knights 3 Way +105 (play down to -105)