All four of these teams added pieces at the trade deadline but only three of them did it with playoff aspirations in mind. These are important games but the specific situations in some of these matchups help create a clear option when choosing which team to put your wager on.
Moneyline: Dallas Stars (-145) vs Edmonton Oilers (+120)
The Oilers and Stars are both fighting for playoff seeding, which should create a high-energy affair. Unfortunately for Edmonton, they will be coming off a back-to-back against a tough Colorado team that got the best of them in a 3-2 overtime loss.
Mike Smith earned a 6-1 victory in his last start against the Buffalo Sabres and got the nod against the Avalanche setting up Mikko Koskinen to start against the Stars. Koskinen has improved his record to 23-9-3 and is currently on a four-game win streak. The Oilers will be getting into Dallas late as they are traveling after the game, which creates another obstacle for the Oilers to overcome.
The Stars won their last game against the Washington Capitals 3-2 and will play their first game back on home ice in three games. They’re coming off a day of rest and should have Jake Oettinger in the crease who made 36 saves out of the 38 shots he faced in his last outing. Roope Hintz also scored his 24th and 25th goals of the season picking up his first two points after going scoreless in his previous three.
Moneyline: New Jersey Devils (+125) vs New York Rangers (-155)
The Devils find themselves looking to snap a three-game losing streak after not doing much at the trade deadline. The team has given up six goals only scoring three times in each of their last three games with Jon Gillies getting the team’s latest start. With nothing else to play for this season, they will likely turn to their younger players and give them more minutes to help them develop, which means Nico Daws should be the team’s goaltender of choice for the rest of the season.
The Rangers are coming off a 2-0 shutout victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on the back of Alexandar Georgiev and will have the Vezina Trophy favorite in Igor Shesterkin back in the net. Chris Kreider is up to 41 goals on the season and has scored three in his last four games played.
The Rangers added to their roster at the deadline with Andrew Copp being the most notable acquisition and should have some of their new faces in the lineup for this game. The reinforcements should provide the team with a vote of confidence and give them a much deeper roster. If they can keep up their strong defensive play, the Devils will have trouble getting pucks past Shesterkin and getting the win. The Rangers also lead the season series against them 2-0.
Odds via Yahoo and BetMGM.
