Senators to sting Blue Jackets on Thursday

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We're coming in on a mini-sweep with our best bets. The Oilers pounded the Capitals while the Avalanche and Canucks played to the over in Vancouver.

The Senators aren't playing great hockey, but bad luck has made things look a lot worse than they are.

They've generated 205 scoring chances (fourth-most in the league) and 19.75 expected goals (11th-most) in March. But that's only translated to 12 goals - nearly eight below expectation.

With the likes of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Claude Giroux and Shane Pinto, Ottawa has enough talent to convert these opportunities into goals at a much higher clip.

But the Sens could have the perfect opponent to change that bad luck in the Blue Jackets. They've conceded more goals than all but the Sharks this season, and both their goaltenders - Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov - grade negatively in terms of goals saved above expectation.

The chances will be there for Ottawa and, with any luck, the goals should follow.

Meanwhile, in Columbus, the youth movement continues. The Jackets are giving young journeymen like Alex Nylander and Trey Fix-Wolansky a lot of opportunities to show off what they can do. I just don't see enough play-driving ability or high-end talent on the roster to generate a win here.

Bet: Senators (-125)

The Hurricanes are gearing up for the playoffs, and it shows. They've tightened the screws on opposing offenses, allowing one even-strength goal or less in nine of the past 13 games. Moving the floor to two goals, that becomes 12 of 13 contests.

Carolina has the best penalty kill in the league, so the club's an absolute nightmare to deal with in all scenarios. There's simply no easy way for teams to create offense.

The Hurricanes' offense is also slowly rounding into form. On a per-minute basis, they rank third in expected goals and fifth in actual goals since Feb. 29.

With Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jake Guentzel joining the mix, Carolina now has enough high-end talent to turn their chances into results more often.

Although the Hurricanes were blanked in their last game, they did generate 3.36 expected goals. Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin put on an impressive performance, which is customary from one of the league's best goaltenders.

The Panthers are exceptional, but their underlying metrics have dipped a little lately. They're also playing without star defenseman Aaron Ekblad, and forward Evan Rodrigues is banged up.

The Hurricanes are worth backing thanks to home ice, full health, and better five-on-five metrics.

Bet: Hurricanes (-125)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.

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