As the Washington Capitals try to grab an Eastern Conference wild card spot, they will be without one of their key forwards for a bit in Tom Wilson as he was suspended six games by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Friday for a high-sticking penalty last Wednesday vs. Toronto. The 29-year-old Wilson, who has 32 points (17 goals, 15 assists) in 66 games, will not be eligible to return until April 4. Here’s a look at two intriguing early-week matchups around the NHL.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week (March 25th, 2024)

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Vegas Golden Knights vs. St. Louis Blues

• When: Monday, March 25th, 2024, 8:00 PM ET
• Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO
• TV: NHL Network
• Radio: Fox Sports Las Vegas 98.9 FM (Golden Knights) // 101 ESPN AM (Blues)
• Live Stream: ESPN+
• NHL Betting Odds: Golden Knights (-152) // Blues (+125)

Only two games on Monday and this important Western Conference matchup is on the NHL Network. Vegas as of this writing holds down the final wild card spot in the West with 83 points and St. Louis is next with 79 points, so the Blues need this more.

The Knights enter on a two-game winning streak following a 4-2 win over Columbus on Saturday. Ivan Barbashev scored a goal on four shots and added two hits for the Knights. Barbashev had gone 10 games without a goal, picking up just three assists in that span. The 28-year-old has seen some fluctuations in his ice time, but he’s still in a top-six role. He’s up to 15 goals, 39 points, 106 shots on net, 148 hits and a plus-14 rating through 70 contests overall.

Jack Eichel tallied his 500th and 501st career point with two goals in the victory over the Blue Jackets. Eichel got to 500 career points in his 527th game. Only four active U.S.-born players have reached the milestone faster: Auston Matthews (445 GP), Matthew Tkachuk (520 GP), Patrick Kane (523 GP) and Johnny Gaudreau (524 GP).

Jonathan Marchessault leads the Knights with 38 goals on the year and is two shy from joining William Karlsson (43 in 2017-18) as the second player to score 40 goals in a season with the franchise. Adin Hill started to win over Columbus in but suffered an undisclosed injury and won’t start Monday.

It will be Logan Thompson with Jiri Patera recalled from AHL Henderson on Sunday to serve as the No. 2. Thompson logged 16:00 of ice time in Saturday’s victory in relief off Hill. The 27-year-old Thompson has a 19-12-5 record this season with a 2.77 GAA and a .905 save percentage through 38 games played. St. Louis is tied for 25th in the league this campaign with 2.86 goals per game.

The Blues won for the sixth time in seven games Saturday, 5-4 in OT in Minnesota behind a Jordan Kyrou hat trick. After beating Marc-Andre Fleury midway through the second period to tie the game at 2-2, Kyrou struck twice more in the third to complete his fourth career hat trick, tied with Jaden Schwartz and Red Berenson for ninth place on the franchise’s all-time list.

The 25-year-old Kyrou has produced back-to-back three-point performances. He has five multipoint efforts in the last 16 games, but 10 games with no points at all. On the season, Kyrou is up to 25 goals and 56 points through 71 contests. He has 20 multi-goal games in his career, tied with Mark Hunter, Pierre Turgeon, Scott Young and Alexander Steen for 15th place on the franchise’s all-time list.

Jake Neighbours opened the scoring and became the third Blues player in the last 10 years with a six-game point streak at age 21 or younger, joining Robert Thomas (six in 2019-20) and Jaden Schwartz (8 GP & 7 GP in 2013-14).

Monday concludes the season series between the teams, and they split the first two in a home-and-home set on Dec. 4 & 6. They won in St. Louis was a 6-3 Knights victory. Thompson was in net for Vegas and Jordan Binnington for the Blues. That should be the case again Monday.

NHL Betting Pick: Blues

Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

• When: Tuesday, March 26th, 2024, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• TV: NHLPP, ESPN+
• Radio: FM 98.5 The Sports Hub (Bruins) // 560 Sports WQAM (Panthers)
• Live Stream: ESPN+
• NHL Betting Odds: TBA

Huge game in the Atlantic Division as these clubs will finish first and second, but it remains to be seen in which order. Both also are still in the running for the Presidents’ Trophy, which goes to the team with the most regular season points. Florida may not have center Aleksander Barkov for the matchup. He missed a third straight game Sunday against Philly, although coach Paul Maurice said that he could return Tuesday against Boston or Thursday against the Islanders. Barkov has 11 points over his last nine appearances, giving him 66 points through 62 appearances.

Should be Sergei Bobrovsky in net as backup Anthony Stolarz got a rare turn Sunday. Bobrovsky stopped 34 of 37 shots in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Rangers. Bobrovsky and the Panthers had a 2-0 lead early in the second frame, but the Rangers rallied back, scoring three goals in the last two periods to put the game into overtime. Although Bobrovsky was able to stop all four shots sent his way in the extra frame, he fell short of the win in the shootout. It was Bobrovsky’s fourth loss in a row — a rare cold spell in what’s been a great campaign for the 35-year-old Vezina candidate.

Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk is one of six players with at least 50 points since Jan. 1. Teammate Sam Reinhart is on the precipice of becoming the second 50-goal scorer in franchise history, following Pavel Bure (59 in 2000-01 & 58 in 1999-00).

Boston looks to join the Red Wings (6) as the second franchise to capture at least five Presidents’ Trophies (since 1985-86) and the first to secure the award in consecutive seasons since the Capitals in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

However, the C’s enter on a two-game skid after being upset 3-2 in Philadelphia on Saturday. Tyson Foerster found the back of the net with 1:29 remaining in regulation, marking the Flyers’ second-latest go-ahead in regulation this season. Bruins star David Pastrnak is one point away from becoming the seventh player in Bruins history with multiple 100-point campaigns – Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr (both w/ 6) are the only ones with more than two.

Should be Jeremy Swayman in net for Boston on Tuesday, although he has had a bumpy ride since the All-Star break — over his last 12 starts the 25-year-old sports a 6-5-1 record with a 3.16 GAA and .902 save percentage.

Boston is 2-0 vs. Florida this season. The game in the Miami area was on Nov. 22 and a 3-1 final score. John Beecher and Jake DeBrusk scored in a 3:05 span of the second period to put Boston in control, and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Bruins. Linus Ullmark was in net. Anton Lundell scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 shots.

NHL Betting Pick: Panthers

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