ISLANDERS (+120) at BLUE JACKETS (-140), 7 p.m.
The Islanders (33-17-6) head out to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets (32-20-3) on this lovely Valentine’s Day for a Metropolitan Division showdown between playoff teams.
Columbus has a four-game winning streak, which follows a five-game losing streak, which followed a four-game winning streak.
If this were any other season for the past five years, we would’ve taken the Blue Jackets. However, there’s something special brewing in New York this year. These Islanders just don’t seem to have any long skids. They get consistent goaltending night in and night out no matter who is in net and their forward corps is playing above their paygrade and have been all season.
Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin can turn the game on its head any time, but we the Islanders can contain him and his band of cohorts here. We will take this price on the Islanders for a road game (16-10-2) all year long. Lou Lamoriello has something cooking on Long Island this year, it’s time we took a piece of the action as well.
Pick: Islanders To Win (-120)
DEVILS (+135) at BLACKHAWKS (-155), 8:35 p.m.
New Jersey (21-27-8) heads to the windy city to take on Blackhawks (23-25-9) in a game that probably won’t end well for the away team. Last time these clubs met, the Devils blew the Blackhawks out of the water at Prudential Center. They absolutely crushed the Over with 13 combined goals.
The Devils played the Blues on Tuesday and got decimated, 8-3. This should not get that bad, but good old Corey Schneider -- who hasn’t won a regular season game since 2017 -- will be in net. He’s usually good to let up 3+ goals against any opponent. Stack that up along with the fact that F Patrick Kane has been ripping it up recently and it’s just a recipe for disaster. We think the Devils will drop yet another game on the road this season (7-18-3), but we have gut feeling it will be closer than most expect. We also like the over because of Schneider.
Pick: Blackhawks To Win (-155)
Pick: Over 6.5 Goals