NHL Picks with Jimmy the Bag: Tuesday, March 9th
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Mar 8, 2021
NHL Picks with Jimmy the Bag: Tuesday, March 9th: Get your Tuesday hockey action fix with Jimmy the Bag, who has his eye on three games to get you into the profits.
NHL Picks for Tuesday, March 9th
7pmET
Sabres (6-14-3, 4-7-1 AWAY) at Flyers (12-7-3, 6-3-2 HOME)
Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
The Buffalo Sabres are a mess and must be faded night in and out moving forward. They’ve lost seven straight. Their goaltender Linus Ullmark was holding everything together quietly, having a strong season with a 2.44GAA and a .919%, and now he’s out for at least a month with a lower-body injury. Their one superstar, the franchise player to build around, the one guy you need to turn this around. Jack Eichel has two goals in 21 games and is playing listlessly out there. Rasmus Ristolainen has returned from injury and looks lost and disheartened. In 10 games before he got hurt, he was a +2 with 6p. In the six games back, he is a -10 with 2p. When you need to change the culture in a dressing room, you don’t sign Taylor Hall. Taylor Hall and Eric Staal have combined for five goals and are a -28 in 46 games. Why did you sign them? Go you and build through the draft. There are other players who need that ice time. They lost a top 4 defensemen, Jake McCabe, for the season. Fade, fade, fade. And bet Overs. Their goaltending is terrible, and they have a fair power play. They know they need to score to stay in games.
The Flyers have lost two straight. They are playing in a very competitive division, and if the season ended right now, they wouldn’t be in the playoffs. They need wins, and they need a sense of urgency. This is an extremely deep squad. Giroux finally got off the schnide; now Giroux, Konecny, and Nolan Patrick need to follow suit. You’d think if the Flyers were getting monster production from James Van Riemsdyk and Joel Farabee, they’d be high atop the East division. So they’re getting production from JVR, Couturier, and Farabee. Then the 2nd line of Laughton, Hayes, and Konecny needs to do more. Their 3rd line of Claude Giroux, Nolan Patrick, and Jakub Voracek is the #1 ranked 3rd line in the league and is better than some team’s 1st lines. They need to get their shit together. If they do, they could run right to the Cup. If they don’t, they don’t make the playoffs. They will have urgency tonight and beat the Sabres handily.
7pmET
Devils (8-11-2, 6-2-1 AWAY) at Capitals (14-6-4, 7-3-2 HOME)
Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
The Devils snapped their five-game losing streak in a 1-0 win at the Bruins on Sunday. They needed Scott Wedgewood to stand on his head and make 40 saves to do it. They were outshot 40-25 and were very fortunate to get the W. With Captain Nico Hischier out of the lineup, they don’t have enough offense. Jack Hughes, Pavel Zach, Miles Wood aren’t enough. Yegor Sharangovich, Nikita Gusev have not performed at the level expected of them. Their Corsi figures are ugly on offense and defense.
The Capitals have won 4/5. They are coming off an impressive 3-1 in Philadelphia on Sunday. It was extremely important because it was Ilya Samsonov’s 1st great game of the season. After a lengthy bout with Covid, it looks like he’s ready to get hot. It hurts to lose Tom Wilson to suspension, but this is an excellent hockey team. I have them to win the Stanley Cup at 16/1 and 22/1. They are deep as the ocean. Backstrom is having an excellent season. Ovechkin and Kuznetsov have not found their form when they do lookout.
7pmET
Predators (11-14-0, 4-7-0 AWAY) at Hurricanes (17-6-1, 8-1-1 HOME)
PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC
The Predators snapped their three-game losing streak with a 4-3 shootout win at Dallas on Sunday. They were fortunate to meet the Stars when they had Klingberg and Hintz out of the lineup. They lost Matt Duchene to a lower-body injury, and they are likely better without him. He plays on the periphery, and you don’t win hockey games with players like that unless they are elite offensively, and he no longer is that. They lost Ryan Ellis to injury, and it is an enormous loss. The Predators PK is terrible, and when they play teams with a strong power play, they are in grave danger. I don’t believe in this hockey team and will happily fade them.
The Hurricanes saw the team they need to be when they lost three straight to the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Since those humbling defeats, they have won 5 consecutive games. Alex Nedelkovic looks like the real deal. They are so strong up the middle with Sebastian Aho, Vincent Trochek, and Jordan Staal. They each have over 20 points. They have an excellent forward group. They now have the 2nd highest #1 defensive unit in the league in Dougie Hamilton and Jacob Slavin. This is a very dangerous team that will continue to win hockey games.
