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NHL
Sunday, February 27
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Ice picks: Today's best NHL bets
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Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers (-127, 5.5)
If there is one thing the Lightning have done well this season, it’s dominate the Rangers.
Tampa Bay is 3-0 against the Blue Shirts this season, winning twice in Florida and once more in Manhattan. Tampa Bay has conceded seven total goals in those meetings, but has come away with the victory each time by limiting New York on the power play and taking advantage of its opportunities.
Martin St. Louis (one goal, three assists) and Steven Stamkos (two goals, two assists) have led the way against the Rangers this season. And the Tampa Bay offense enters the game firing on all cylinders. The Lightning have notched 10 goals in their past two games and have scored at least twice in each of the past 20 games.
"They're a good team, no question," Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said of the Lightning. "They have skilled guys up front. They played pretty solid defensively, as well."
And the Rangers will struggle to match their scoring. New York has won the past two but has a combined three power-play tallies in those games -- something that figures to be more of a problem against Tampa Bay. The Rangers also remain without star forward Marian Gaborik and have been held to two or fewer goals six times over their past 10.
Pick: Tampa Bay
Boston Bruins at Edmonton Oilers (149, 5.5)
The Bruins don’t care about what happened in Vancouver Saturday night. All Boston knows is that it loves the second game of back-to-backs.
The B’s are 6-3 in the second game of back-to-backs this season and entered the weekend winners of three straight, each by at least two goals – all on the road. This game will feature the hottest rookie skater in the NHL. And it’s not Boston’s Tyler Seguin or Edmonton’s Taylor Hall. It’s Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who has 10 goals and 15 points over his past 15 games.
“I think he was a guy who competed hard, and last year if there was anything, I thought in his first year it was him having trouble maintaining that grit,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “As far as his (offensive) production, I always thought he had a great shot. I think he’s building confidence and knows he can give a little bit more to his team, and he gets more experience. I think the grit is still there, but productively he’s gotten better.”
Edmonton, meantime, has dropped two of its past three games. The lone victory was a 5-1 triumph against Colorado, but the team wasn’t even competitive in the defeats. The losses were by a combined 9-1 margin against mediocre St. Louis and Minnesota.
Look for Marchand and Boston to keep rolling.
Pick: Boston
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Sunday, February 27
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ice picks: Today's best NHL bets
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers (-127, 5.5)
If there is one thing the Lightning have done well this season, it’s dominate the Rangers.
Tampa Bay is 3-0 against the Blue Shirts this season, winning twice in Florida and once more in Manhattan. Tampa Bay has conceded seven total goals in those meetings, but has come away with the victory each time by limiting New York on the power play and taking advantage of its opportunities.
Martin St. Louis (one goal, three assists) and Steven Stamkos (two goals, two assists) have led the way against the Rangers this season. And the Tampa Bay offense enters the game firing on all cylinders. The Lightning have notched 10 goals in their past two games and have scored at least twice in each of the past 20 games.
"They're a good team, no question," Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said of the Lightning. "They have skilled guys up front. They played pretty solid defensively, as well."
And the Rangers will struggle to match their scoring. New York has won the past two but has a combined three power-play tallies in those games -- something that figures to be more of a problem against Tampa Bay. The Rangers also remain without star forward Marian Gaborik and have been held to two or fewer goals six times over their past 10.
Pick: Tampa Bay
Boston Bruins at Edmonton Oilers (149, 5.5)
The Bruins don’t care about what happened in Vancouver Saturday night. All Boston knows is that it loves the second game of back-to-backs.
The B’s are 6-3 in the second game of back-to-backs this season and entered the weekend winners of three straight, each by at least two goals – all on the road. This game will feature the hottest rookie skater in the NHL. And it’s not Boston’s Tyler Seguin or Edmonton’s Taylor Hall. It’s Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who has 10 goals and 15 points over his past 15 games.
“I think he was a guy who competed hard, and last year if there was anything, I thought in his first year it was him having trouble maintaining that grit,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “As far as his (offensive) production, I always thought he had a great shot. I think he’s building confidence and knows he can give a little bit more to his team, and he gets more experience. I think the grit is still there, but productively he’s gotten better.”
Edmonton, meantime, has dropped two of its past three games. The lone victory was a 5-1 triumph against Colorado, but the team wasn’t even competitive in the defeats. The losses were by a combined 9-1 margin against mediocre St. Louis and Minnesota.
Look for Marchand and Boston to keep rolling.
Pick: Boston
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