Tuesday NHL Picks
Our team of writers and handicappers hand out their hockey playoffs picks and predictions for Tuesday, April 21.
New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes, 7:35PM ET
Everything seemed to line up against the New Jersey Devils to make a run at the Stanley Cup.
They drew one of the NHL’s hottest teams down the stretch for their first-round series, a Carolina club that all but owned them during the regular season.
They lost injured captain Jamie Langenbrunner early on for multiple games. And then they found themselves once again in overtime against a Hurricanes team they’d never beaten in extra time during the playoffs.
My, have things changed.
The Devils are halfway toward making it out of the first round, turning a fortunate bounce in OT into a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven series against the Hurricanes with Game 4 set for Tuesday night.
NHL Free Pick: New Jersey – View Game Matchup | Best Line: +125 SBG Global
Vancouver Canucks at St. Louis Blues, 8:05PM ET
One win away from a first-round playoff sweep, the Vancouver Canucks are anything but cocky. A loss from making their first postseason appearance in five years a colossal dud, the St. Louis Blues are not panicking.
The Canucks will attempt to neutralize another sellout crowd in Game 4 Tuesday night with the no-frills road-game mentality they used in the regular season. All sweep talk was steered away Monday, as easily as Roberto Luongo has handled shots in this series.
“Nobody’s going to talk about that stuff,” said Steve Bernier, who scored the go-ahead goal in a 3-2 victory Sunday night that put the Canucks up 3-0. “We came to St. Louis with one thing in mind: play shift to shift and not try to do everything extraordinary.”
The Blues will lean on the second-half success that launched them from last in the Western Conference to sixth place despite injuries to stars Paul Kariya, Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson. They finished the regular season 9-1-1 to qualify with one game to go before running into Luongo & Co.
NHL Free Pick: Vancouver – View Game Matchup | Best Line: -135 SBG Global
San Jose Sharks at Anaheim Ducks, 10:35PM ET
Throughout the San Jose Sharks’ outstanding regular season, rookie coach Todd McLellan always insisted the results didn’t matter as much as the process.
Even while the Sharks racked up the best record in franchise history, he mostly praised their steady growth and consistent effort, not the growing pile of victories.
Trouble is, the Sharks’ six outstanding months have counted for absolutely nothing in the first few days of the NHL playoffs.
With just two goals and a boatload of missed chances in two tight games, the Presidents’ Trophy winners already are down 0-2 to the playoff-tested, results-oriented Anaheim Ducks.
The top-seeded Sharks’ effort and growth are still fine, McLellan now says – but the results had better catch up in the next two games, or this delightful season will be another disaster for his playoff-poor franchise.
NHL Free Pick: San Jose – View Game Matchup | Best Line: -140 SBG Global
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Posted: 4/21/09 1:03PM ET