{"id":485309,"date":"2026-03-04T17:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T17:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/485309\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T17:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T17:44:18","slug":"nhl-picks-best-bets-islanders-vs-ducks-blues-vs-kraken-expert-previews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/485309\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Picks & Best Bets: Islanders vs Ducks, Blues vs Kraken Expert Previews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Expert NHL picks & bets for Islanders vs Ducks and Blues vs Kraken matchups\u2014single plays, parlays, odds & promos to tip your Wednesday night slate!<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Expert
\n\t\tNHL Best Bets & Picks: Islanders vs Ducks & Blues vs Kraken \u2013 Expert Game Previews<\/p>\n

The National Hockey League (NHL<\/a>) has just five games on the docket for Wednesday night, with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils available on hulu, as well as ESPN+, at 7 p.m. ET. The St. Louis Blues and Seattle Kraken also square off on ESPN+\/hulu at 10 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

We’ll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Wednesday’s NBA and\/or NCAA basketball action. Good luck with all of your plays! Let’s get started.<\/p>\n

Top up your bankroll thanks to sportsbook promos<\/a> like this BetMGM bonus code<\/a> offering $1,500 in bonus bets.<\/p>\n

For the latest\u00a0NHL Odds<\/a>, including\u00a0NHL Futures<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0NHL player props<\/a>, visit RotoWire’s\u00a0NHL Betting<\/a>\u00a0page. For up-to-date\u00a0NHL player news<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0NHL Injury Report<\/a>\u00a0info, head to RotoWire’s\u00a0NHL Lineups<\/a>\u00a0page. You can find more picks at Bookies.com\/picks<\/a>. Here are our NHL Best Bets today, featuring expert NHL picks for an action-packed slate of games.<\/p>\n

New York Islanders \"NYI\"\/ at Anaheim Ducks \"ANA\"\/<\/p>\n

The Islanders (35-21-5) and the Ducks (33-24-3) meet in what is a marquee game, which might be a bit surprising to some. Puck drop at Honda Center is set for 10 p.m. ET, and this game is available for streaming on ESPN+.<\/p>\n

If you told a casual fan that both the Islanders and Ducks would be in position for a postseason spot after roughly two-thirds of the regular season, that might have received a quizzical look. However, both of these teams are well on their way to a postseason berth. New York is 18-11-3 on the road, and Anaheim is 20-9-1 on ‘The Pond’ this season.<\/p>\n

These teams met at UBS Arena on Dec. 11, and the Islanders dusted the Ducks 5-2 as slight favorites (-115) as the Over (6.5) cashed. The Islanders started quickly, as Travis Mitchell<\/a> scored an even-strength goal to open the scoring, while Anders Lee<\/a> supplied two power-play goals to make it 3-0 heading to the room after one period. Tony DeAngelo<\/a> had a pair of power-play assists.<\/p>\n

Leo Carlsson<\/a> scored in the second, and Troy Terry<\/a> had a shorthanded goal early in the third period, as Anaheim made things interesting, but Simon Holmstrom<\/a> ended the threat with a goal at 6:06 of the third, and Ryan Pulock<\/a> added an insurance marker at 14:46. Lee ended up with a four-point night, going for two goals and four points.<\/p>\n

Ville Husso<\/a> was the goaltender for the Ducks that game, and that could, again, be the case here. David Rittich<\/a> started for the Islanders, stopping 31 of 33 shots in the victory. Husso (6-4-1, 3.07 GAA, .888 SV%) has been shaky when given the chance. Rittich is confirmed to go for the visitors.<\/p>\n

Rittich has been rolling along, and the Islanders are playing with a ton of confidence lately, winning five in a row, including a 5-4 thriller against the Florida Panthers on Sunday night in a seesaw affair.<\/p>\n

Let’s go with the Islanders, and we’ll go high on the total, based on the fact that the Over has cashed in three in a row for the Isles, and Husso has been very giving, too.<\/p>\n

Islanders ML (-110 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbooks)Over 6.5 (-115 at Bet365, Caesars, DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbooks)<\/p>\n

Don’t make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps<\/a> without first consulting the latest NHL odds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

St. Louis Blues \"STL\"\/ at Seattle Kraken \"SEA\"\/<\/p>\n

The Blues (22-29-9) and Kraken (29-22-9) meet at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle at 10 p.m. ET, and this game is available on ESPN+.<\/p>\n

Seattle heads into this game searching for some revenge after getting smoked 5-1 in St. Louis in the first game out of the Olympic break at Enterprise Center on Feb. 26.<\/p>\n

In that 5-1 win, Dylan Holloway<\/a> and Kaapo Kakko<\/a> exchanged first-period goals, and it was fine for the Kraken. However, the dam broke in the second, as Jordan Kyrou<\/a> scored what stood up as the game-winning goal, while Holloway was back for his second marker. In the third, Pius Suter<\/a> scored, and Holloway deposited one into the empty net to make the hats fly in The Lou.<\/p>\n

Joel Hofer<\/a> was in net for the Blues, stopping 23 of 24 shots, while Philipp Grubauer<\/a> conceded four goals on 31 shots.<\/p>\n

In this one, though, Jordan Binnington<\/a> (8-17-6, 3.60 GAA, .867 SV%, 1 SO) is likely to get a shot to work through his issues, although it wouldn’t be shocking to see Hofer. Either way, the Kraken won 2-1 against the first-place Carolina Hurricanes last time out, and they’ve won five in a row on home ice. Seattle should be able to get the job done, as it exacts revenge in a big way. And, if it is, indeed, Binner against Grubauer in the crease, let’s take the Over.<\/p>\n

Kraken ML (-144 at FanDuel Sportsbook)Over 5.5 (-125 at Bet365 Sportsbook)<\/p>\n

Missouri sports betting<\/a>\u00a0is live, and you can check in on the best\u00a0Missouri sportsbook promos<\/a>\u00a0if you’re located in the Show Me State.<\/p>\n

Parlay Strategy and Super Parlay Picks for NHL Betting Slates4-Leg NHL Super Parlay (+799 at FanDuel Sportsbook)Islanders ML (-114) at DucksOver 6.5 (-118) – Islanders at DucksOver 5.5 (-142) – Kraken vs. BluesKraken ML (-144) vs. Blues2-Leg NHL Sides Parlay (+218 at FanDuel Sportsbook)Islanders ML (-114) at DucksKraken ML (-144) vs. Blues2-Leg NHL Totals Parlay (+214 at FanDuel Sportsbook)Over 6.5 (-118) – Islanders at DucksOver 5.5 (-142) – Kraken vs. Blues<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Expert NHL picks & bets for Islanders vs Ducks and Blues vs Kraken matchups\u2014single plays, parlays, odds &…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[2210,233,5292,1739,5,55615,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-485309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim-ducks","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-ducks","10":"tag-anaheimducks","11":"tag-ducks","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-minor-league-stats","14":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116172153336305763","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}