A dry run playoff series between the Caps and Lightning, the Bruins need to snap out of it and Blues are singing their own team name.

There are some decent favorites to ride today as the NHL betting market attempts to steal your attention away from all this glorious NCAA tournament action. Let's look at three good plays that take a bit of risk to make them worthwhile. Whiffing on underdogs is not in the cards today.

[Saturday, March 16]

Pittsburgh Penguins -140 over St Louis Blues +120 (1pm ET)

If you’re the Blues shouldering a three-game losing streak, you’re probably not excited to go visit the Penguins. Especially since Pittsburgh is 5-1 against a team with a losing record.

The Penguins have won 6 of 7 games and lobbied hard against the Sabres in a 5-0 decision. With Maatta, Letang and Ruhwedel still out due to injury, the defensive core has had to make sure nothing is falling through the cracks. They’ve definitely done their job and held the Sabres to just 26 shots

The Blues have a solid record for Eastern Conference tilts with a 7-2 run of 9 games and are 6-2 in their last road 8 games. There’s not much to say about St. Louis at the moment because, while they are still in the 1st wild card spot, they stink and if they can’t turn this around they’ll end their season early.

The Penguins will win this 3-1 as a decent home favorite play.

Tampa Bay Lightning -180 over Washington Capitals +160 (7pm ET)

Guys, buckle up, this is a game that should absolutely be watched. These teams have been circling each other all season and I'm so pumped about how they’ll duel it out over the next two weeks with three games against one another.

Tampa was knocked out of the Eastern Conference by the Capitals in their last meeting so Tampa is out for blood. They’re looking good for it too: They stand at the top of the league and are looming over Washington by 21 points.

Washington is 5-2-2 at Amalie Stadium and 13-3-3 against Tampa in the regular season. They are coming off a hefty 5-2  win against the Flyers and are now 8 of 9.

This is the old measuring stick meeting the new measuring stick and could possibly foreshadow the playoffs, a dry run if you will.

Tampa is tricky and chomping at the bit to show the Caps what’s-what. They’ll do just that 3-2.

Boston Bruins -150 over Columbus Blue Jackets +130 (7pm ET)

The Bruins got off on the wrong foot during their Thursday night tilt with the Blue Jackets and they might be in for a rough ride in their second go with Columbus tonight. While the Bruins were losing, Boone Jenner popped off and managed a hat trick and shouldn’t have. The Blue Jackets were 3-5-0 since the revamped team came to play and have been  outscored 24-13. The Bruins were lethargic and need to play hard if they want to fix this mess.

Columbus was able to score 5 unanswered goals before the Bruins decided that they would play in the second period and I think this is the crux of what we should be looking for in Saturday’s game. The Bruins should have won on Thursday and they won’t come in to this match sleeping.

Expect Boston to shock the Blue Jackets 3-1.

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Lindsay Van Gyn has a masters degree in sports communications focusing on the NFL. She is a passionate writer who focuses on the cultural intersection of sports, statistics and fans.