It's a must-win game for the Edmonton Oilers...

The Oilers face a near must-win game Friday. ...

The Kings are 17-19-5 on the road this season...

The TV pundits are watching a different series here than us; Winnipeg is up 2-0 but the Jets are hardly steamrolling the Blues in the process. Consider that Game One was tied 3-3 into the final two minutes, and the Blues were lurking menacingly the whole way in a bitter 2-1 loss on Monday. The Blues now get Connor Hellebuyck away from Winnipeg; d Hellebuyck's numbers (including a 2.43 GAA) are not quite as overwhelming on the road. Save for a few moments in the third period of Game One, the Blues have maintained their defensive rigidity and made it difficult for the Jets to navigate up the ice, and St Louis has won 12 straight at the Enterprise Center! Play Blues on Money Line

I couldn't help but be impressed with the level of fight and depth I saw first hand from the Wild in the first two games of this series. Vegas looked rather lethargic themselves in Game 2 especially with their defensive assignments and puck handling. With Game 3 being so pivotal I really expect both teams to tighten things up on their back end. Both goalies have shown flashes this series and with some support I expect that to continue. My total on this game is closer to 5.5 under -125 so I'm happy to grab an inflated tag and root for low event hockey in the twin cities

Like Dallas the other night, I tend to think the Wild win outright but won't turn down a home +1 and be fine with a push in an OT loss or the like. Minnesota star Kirill Kaprizov has returned to the form that saw him as the Hart Trophy favorite for a while before injury as he has five points in the first two games. Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson won his final two home RS starts, allowing two goals in each. Minnesota is generally vastly superior defensively on home. The Vegas top line of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev doesn't have a combined point.

With livewires Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek back from injury, the Wild's offense has a lot more bite, and Minnesota isn't limited to hoping to win by scorelines like 2-1 and 3-2. Matt Boldy has also scored three goals already in this series, and jumping on VGK for a 3-0 lead after the first period (extended to 4-0 of Game 2 suggests Minnesota is very much in business. Vegas has not been controlling center ice or living in the O-zone in the first two games of this series as it usually does. A full-strength Wild seems an even match, perhaps even with an edge if Filip Gustavsson (30 of 32 saves on Tuesday) continues to stay sharp in goal. Play Wild on Money Line

This series heads to Ottawa with the Senators desperately looking to crawl back into contention here. That said, the first two games of the series made it clear that Toronto is the better team here. I expect the Maple Leafs to come out ahead again on Thursday and improve their lead in the series to 3-0.

The Ottawa Senators return home trailing 0-2 in the series, even though they outshot Toronto in both games, with a combined total of 61 shots to Toronto's 45. The Sens outhit the Maple Leafs in both games, 104-58. Ottawa can defeat Toronto, as evidenced by its 3-0 record in the regular season. The atmosphere will be electric for their first postseason home game since 2017. I have to play the home team in this spot.

Of all the first-round matchups we suspect this is the most likely for a sweep. Though the pace slowed in the second and third periods of Game 2, Toronto has been mostly getting a good jump up the ice, and the frontline scorers are in sync, John Tavares and Mitch Marner in particular. Plus, Anthony Stolarz has looked solid in goal, making his first significant playoff appearances (he featured briefly for Florida in relief of shell-shocked Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 4 of the Finals vs. Edmonton last June). The Senators have not been able to get their offense untracked and are running out of time to get back into this series...soon it will be too late Play Maple Leafs on Money Line

The Lightning were shockingly flat on Tuesday in the series lid-lifter, losing at home 6-2, with Andrei Vasilevskiy continuing what has been a puzzling ineffectiveness in goal the past two postseasons. The Panthers reminded that the last two weeks of the regular season aren't especially meaningful for a team that knows its way around the playoffs and has been to the last two Stanley Cup finals. Getting back Matthew Tkachuk for the first time since February 4, and his pair of power-play goals. fueled a night in which everything went right for Florida. We count on the NHL version of the zig-zag and Vasilevskiy rediscovering his usual form for a quick Tampa Bay recovery tonight. Play Lightning on Puck Line

They're still catching their breath from the Kings' wild 6-5 win on Monday. A few things emerged from Game One for Edmonton. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl back on the ice at the same time causes issues for the opposition. The former Hart winners each scored a goal on Monday combined for six points. On the other hand, that definitely wasn't the "good" version of Stuart Skinner in goal, a worrying development as his Oilers' career has been marked by Jekyll-and-Hyde performances. The Kings have confidence they can beat him, and LA has now scored 11 goals across the past two vs. the Oilers (the 5-0 win on April 14 in Edmonton was against Cal Pickard in goal for the Oilers). Pay Oilers-Kings Over.

That Kings almost blinked in Game One, blowing an early 4-0 lead before needing Philip Danault's goal in the last 42 seconds to win a wild 6-5 decision. The Oilers, however, are different with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl both available; each scored in Game One, and combined for six points. Darcy Kuemper's veneer of invincibility in goal was pierced, and even thought he Kings won their 33rd game at Crypto.com this season, Edmonton's fightback suggests this is not going to be one-way traffic for LA. Remember that Edmonton has beaten the kings in this round the past three seasons, and looks very capable of getting a split before action moved to Rogers Place. Play Oilers on Money Line

Definitely tempting to play Stars +1.5 at the same price, but yep I worry about that Avalanche empty-netter with 10 seconds left in regulation and Dallas down a goal. Stars netminder Jake Oettinger is one of the best in the league but had pretty mediocre road RS splits at 12-11-3 with a 3.16 GAA. Oettinger also has had his problems in Denver in the past. Counterpart Mackenzie Blackwood was fairly better at home after being traded from San Jose. And captain Gabriel Landeskog is expected to play his first game since June 2022 for Colorado, so that should be an emotional boost in front of the home crowd.

I expected this series to have ebs and flows; I just didn't expect to see so many in Game 1. Montreal looked overwhelmed early in the game leaning into Sam Montembault to keep things tight. However by the time the 3rd period rolled around Montreal found their sea legs which makes them a live dog in my opinion tonight. No doubt the Habs need more production down their lineup but they can play loose and free in this spot. My number on the game doesn't show a tremendous amount of value but the dog is live at +145 or better tonight