NHL Betting Picks For Thursday, March 8


Back with free NHL betting picks tonight for the first time since going 2-0 last Thursday with winners on the Devils/Panthers Under 6 and the Blackhawks Team Total Under 2.5.

The season record for these betting picks now stands at 32-16, partly because we’ve been really selective in just posting our favourite plays. We’re going to do that again tonight with just 1 bet on the action, even though there are 12 games on tonight’s NHL slate.

Don’t forget to check out our live odds page if you’re interested in seeing tonight’s NHL betting lines. Otherwise, here’s what we like for tonight:

NHL Betting Picks For Tonight

Colorado Avalanche at Columbus Blue Jackets

You’re not going to find a team with a larger home-road dichotomy this season than the Avalanche.

Colorado is still in the thick of the playoff race only because of how well the Avs have played at the Pepsi Center, where they’re 13-1-1 in their last 15 games. Get Colorado out on the road, however, and the Avalanche has dropped 10 of its last 13, and those victories came over the Oilers, Canucks and Sabres.

Beating the Blue Jackets tonight in Columbus is a test that the Avs just don’t seem up to at the moment. The Jackets are in a battle for playoff positioning of their own, simply because they haven’t put the puck in the net with any consistency. They are still as tough as ever in their own end of the rink, especially on home ice where they’re allowing just 2.33 goals per game on the season.

Korpisalo gets the start in net for Columbus, which gives us a more favourable line to work with than if Bobrovsky was in net for the Jackets. However, Korpisalo’s numbers at home this year have been excellent compared to his work on the road, and we’re not concerned about backing the Jackets’ second-string netminder here.

The Blue Jackets moneyline was a consideration at -135 odds, but we’d rather challenge the Avalanche to score 3 goals in a game that we can easily see ending with a 2-1 or 3-2 score. We’ll play the Colorado Team Total Under 2.5 at +102 odds, a bet we made at Pinnacle.com.