Tuesday NHL Games to Watch

The ice is heating up in NHL. Tuesday’s slate of games has Boston battling Columbus on the road, but the key matchup might be Winnipeg-Minnesota. The Jets are in first in the Central Division, but they haven’t been playing well. That should give Wild backers some confidence. Let’s dig deeper into that matchup, along with Bruins-Blue Jackets, Lightning-Canadiens, and Flyers-Stars!

[Tuesday, April 2]

Boston Bruins +125 at Columbus Blue Jackets -145 (7:00pm ET)

Boston’s cooled down some since tearing up the rest of the league. The Bruins will enter their battle with Columbus having gone 1-3 SU in their last 4. That’s not the only thing to worry about if you’re looking to back Boston, though. The Bruins are also 1-4 SU in their last 5 games following a loss by 3 or more goals.

Columbus is on a roll, having won 5 straight. The Blue Jackets are also 5-1 SU in their last 6 versus the Eastern Conference. It’s difficult to see Boston ending Columbus’ winning streak, which makes the Blue Jackets an overlay at -145.

NHL Free Pick: Blue Jackets -145

Carolina Hurricanes +105 at Toronto Maple Leafs -125 (7:30pm ET)

Carolina has dropped 3 of their last 4, making them a dog against Toronto on Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs have also gone 3 of 5, though. The trends give Carolina a shot. The Hurricanes are 6-2 SU in their last 8 versus a team from the Atlantic Division and 8-3 SU in their last 11 in the third game of a 3-in-4 situation. The Hurricanes are also 2-5 SU in the last 7 meetings, making Toronto a solid home favorite play.

NHL Free Pick: Maple Leafs -125

Tampa Bay Lightning -120 at Montreal Canadiens -100 (7:30pm ET)

Tampa put a 3-0 beating on the Canadiens in the last head-to-head matchup. The Lightning sit on 124 points in the Atlantic Division and are easily the top team in NHL.

But, there are some reasons to believe Montreal gets it done on Tuesday night. The Canadiens are 6-0 SU in their last 6 games playing on 2 days rest, 4-0 SU in their last 4 versus a team from the Atlantic Division, and 10-1 SU in their last 11 Tuesday games. Here’s our swing-for-the-fences NHL play for April 2.

NHL Free Pick: Canadiens -100

Winnipeg Jets -110 at Minnesota Wild -110 (8:00pm ET)

Winnipeg’s now in first in the Central with 96 points. But, St. Louis and Nashville are right behind with 94, making every game the Jets play an important matchup. The last time Winnipeg battled Minnesota, they failed 2-3. The trends say the Jets flip the script on Tuesday. They’re 6-1 SU in their last 7 games playing on 0 days of rest and are 21-5 SU in their last 26 in the third game of a 3-in-4 situation.

NHL Free Pick: Jets -110

Philadelphia Flyers +160 at Dallas Stars -190 (8:30pm ET)

Dallas only allows 2.5 goals per match, ranking second in NHL. Surprisingly, star goalie Ben Bishop hasn’t played for a while, and the Stars are still one of the stingiest teams in the league. Dallas hosts Philly on Tuesday, having won 3 of 4.

Their lone loss happened on the road against Vancouver in a shootout. All the trends point to Dallas taking this: the Flyers are 1-4 SU in the last 5 meetings in Dallas, the favorite is 14-3 SU in the last 17 meetings, and the home team is 6-0 SU in the last 6 meetings. It’s hard to go against the trends.

NHL Free Pick: Stars -190

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