{"id":514895,"date":"2026-03-21T13:20:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T13:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/514895\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T13:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T13:20:17","slug":"our-best-bets-for-saturdays-crucial-slate-including-penguins-vs-jets-and-islanders-vs-canadiens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/514895\/","title":{"rendered":"Our best bets for Saturday’s crucial slate, including Penguins vs. Jets and Islanders vs. Canadiens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\tGambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

Saturday is easily the most crucial day of the NHL\u2019s<\/a> regular season so far.<\/p>\n

There are 11 games on the docket, and nine of them feature at least one team within five points of the playoff cutline. And one of the outliers, Minnesota vs. Dallas, pits two teams jockeying for home-ice advantage. The only true dead-rubber game is St. Louis vs. Vancouver.<\/p>\n

Better yet, the action gets underway at 1 p.m. ET with staggered starts throughout the day until a massive late-night puck drop between the Oilers and Lightning to close the show on \u201cHockey Night in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cards like this don\u2019t come around very often, and what better way to celebrate than by building a long-shot parlay?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jets vs. Penguins, 1 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh deserves tons of credit for hanging onto a playoff spot despite the injury to Sidney Crosby. The Pens\u2019 captain made his return to the lineup against Carolina and helped his team scrape together a point in a wild overtime loss.<\/p>\n

That defeat revealed some of the cracks underneath the surface for the Penguins of late.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s defensive structure has come unglued, leading to some struggles in goal. A high shooting percentage and terrific special teams have kept the Pens afloat, but their recent numbers scream regression.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jets will be a dangerous, desperate underdog in Steeltown on Saturday afternoon. Take Winnipeg on the moneyline (+134, FanDuel) to get the day started.<\/p>\n

The Play: Jets moneyline (+134, FanDuel)<\/p>\n

Sabres vs. Kings, 4 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

The Kings are turning themselves into an intriguing long shot in the futures market. They still need to get into the dance, but if Los Angeles ends up in the Pacific bracket, it can go on a run.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons to believe that the Kings will get into the postseason is its ability to drag games beyond regulation. Los Angeles has gone to overtime an NHL-leading 26 times this season, and Saturday\u2019s out-of-conference tilt with the Sabres sets up well for more free hockey, as both of these clubs will be keen on grabbing anything they can from this game and moving on.<\/p>\n

\"HockeyArtemi Panarin of the Los Angeles Kings. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n

You can get +300 on Kings vs. Sabres to go past 60 minutes.<\/p>\n

The Play: Sabres vs. Kings to go to overtime (+300, FanDuel)<\/p>\n

Maple Leafs vs. Senators, 7 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a good habit to just blindly bet against teams because they\u2019ve got nothing to play for, but there are some exceptions to the rule. The Toronto Maple Leafs fit that bill. Not only are the Buds limping to the finish line, but they are caught up in a media maelstrom after nobody stepped up to challenge Anaheim\u2019s Radko Gudas when he injured captain Auston Matthews with a knee-on-knee hit. Toronto just wants this season to end.<\/p>\n

The Senators, meanwhile, are playing must-win hockey from here on out. And it also doesn\u2019t hurt that Ottawa loves nothing more than embarrassing big brother, especially on \u201cHockey Night in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toronto is on the second night of a back-to-back and will be ripe for the taking here. The Sens are -130 to win by at least two goals.<\/p>\n

The Play: Senators -1.5 (-130, FanDuel)<\/p>\n

\"OttawaBrady Tkachuk and the Senators have fought their way back into the playoff race. Bob Frid-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Islanders vs. Canadiens, 7 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest game on the slate, only one point separates the Islanders and Canadiens. The Isles will be feeling the pressure after dropping out of the playoff picture for the first time since Dec. 4, thanks to a gut-punch<\/a> against the Senators on Thursday, but the Habs are also feeling the heat after they blew a late lead in a regulation loss to the Red Wings on the same night.<\/p>\n

Given the stakes, this could be a cagey affair, which should set us up well for another play overtime bet.<\/p>\n

Only two teams have gone past 60 minutes more than the Canadiens, and only six have played more 3-on-3 periods than the Isles. You\u2019re getting +330 on this one to stretch past regulation.<\/p>\n

The Play: Isles\/Canadiens to go to overtime (+330, FanDuel)<\/p>\n

The Parlay: Jets moneyline\/Sabres-Kings to go to overtime\/Senators -1.5\/Isles vs. Canadiens to go to overtime (70\/1, FanDuel)<\/p>\n

Why Trust New York Post Betting<\/p>\n

Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[183,229,5,145,21,159,4,351,25,100,43,171,352,31,18],"class_list":{"0":"post-514895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-betting","9":"tag-buffalo-sabres","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-los-angeles-kings","12":"tag-montreal-canadiens","13":"tag-new-york-islanders","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-nhl-betting","16":"tag-ottawa-senators","17":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-sports-betting","20":"tag-sports-picks","21":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","22":"tag-winnipeg-jets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116267374364954524","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514895","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=514895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}