NHL Saturday Three-Game Parlay – Take the Lightning, Wild and Flyers

NHL Saturday Three-Game Parlay 

Game 1 Preview: Atlanta Thrashers at Tampa Bay Lightning

Atlanta cannot wait for Kari Lehtonen to return. Already among the league leaders in both goals for and goals per game (ranked 6 th in each category), the Thrashers have been plagued with sub-par defense and even subber-par goaltending. The Thrashers are still in the hunt for a playoff spot, and will need to make the postseason if they want any chance of keeping Ilya Kovalchuk at season’s end. They need Lehtonen back, and they need him bad.  

The Lightning are coming off a solid 3-2 OT win over the Maple Leafs on Thursday. As bad as things may seem in Tampa Bay, they are still only a few points away from a playoff spot and have the talent in hand to be able to make a solid push. They showed great character in beating the Leafs after getting clobbered 8-2 by the New York Rangers. Those sort of bounce back games are the stuff good teams are made of.  

Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning.  

Game 2 Preview: Columbus Blue Jackets at Minnesota Wild

The Blue Jackets are one of the league’s worst teams, but are coming off a solid 3-2 road win against Boston. Columbus has been able to score recently, with 16 goals in their last four games, but they only have two wins to show for it. That responsibility falls onto the shoulders of Steve Mason and Mathieu Garon, neither of whom has done much to instill confidence in the franchise.

Garon is the de facto starter, but unless he starts to string together solid performances, the Jackets will be out of the playoffs, as opposed to now, where they are only ‘virtually’ out of the playoffs.  

The Wild are happy to be home after going 0-3-0 on a road trip earlier in the week. Despite losing 4-3 in a shootout against Detroit at home on Thursday, the Wild are a very confident bunch when playing in Minnesota. They’re 16-6-1 at home. On the flip side, that just proves how bad they are on the road, considering they sit at the bottom of the Western Conference standings and show no real signs of recovery.  

Pick: Minnesota Wild 

Game 3 Preview: Carolina Hurricanes at Philadelphia Flyers

Maybe the Hurricanes should have put the ‘C’ on Eric Staal earlier. In his first game as Captain Carolina, Staal scored a hat trick to power the Canes past the Thrashers 5-2 on Thursday. It’s most likely an example of too-little too-late for the cellar-dwelling Hurricanes, but at least their fans can still get a thrill watching Staal emerge into a full-bodied NHL superstar.

The Flyers looked real good in a 2-0 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday. The win was more impressive knowing that the Rangers went into that game having scored 14 goals in their previous two wins. It was clearly Ray Emery’s best game since returning from an abdominal injury. The Flyers have cooled down a bit after going through a huge winning streak at the beginning of 2010. But despite that, the Flyers have settled into the playoff race and show no signs of backing down.

Pick: Philadelphia Flyers