Zak’s Puck Picks, February 25, 2020!

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Welcome to Zak’s Puck Picks!! I started in Cash with Flash Handicapping Challenge and have been heating up. I am super excited to keep the momentum going and win some serious money talking Puck Picks with all of you! 

A big part of my life is my three kids. Each one of them holds a different attribute that I would personally use to aid me in deciding what picks to make. My twins Pork and Ribs and their little brother Bean (not their real names but very appropriate nicknames).

Pork is a doer. He is one to dive into a situation and figure itout as it unfolds, usually with great success. In terms of the puck pick, itwill be a gut feeling pick and be backed with some stats to explain the feeling. 

Ribs, he likes to observe the situation, take in all theinformation, and then make an educated decision on what his next step will be.His puck pick will be focused around teams that are on hot streaks, eitheragainst a team in a matchup or on a winning streak. 

Now Bean may sound cute and innocent, but he is a wild man. Not alot of thought goes into actions and if there is some thought, its gearedtowards “how can I push Dad’s buttons”. His puck pick will be a little more onthe risky side. There will be reasons why I think we should go this way.

As cook by trade and hockey as a passion since I was 3 years old,let’s get some puck picks in the oven and make some dough shall we?

All odds are referencedfrom vegasinsider.com. The source of information comes from Newsday.sports.gracenote.com,unless otherwise specified. I will play ALL picks mentioned in thesearticles.

PuckRecord for February (52-44)

PuckRecap: Monday night (1-0)

Onlyone game last night, fourteen tonight! Last night Columbussnuck out an ugly win against the Senators. Most definitely the least excitingpart of the NHL action toady. We’ll get into that a bit later. Will just make afew picks today, as a lot of the lines are -200 or lower. Let’s look at tonight’s puck action.

Pork’sPuck Pick- New Jersey Devils – 130

TheDetroit Redwings got rid of Andre Athanasiou and Mike Green to the EdmontonOilers, two quite skilled players where the Devil’s, in my opinion didn’t losemuch. Sammi Vatenen, who has been injured for quitea while and Wayne Simmons, a big body on the power play and a solid voicein the room. Simmons could be replaced on the power play by Myles Wood in myopinion and would gain more speed there as well. With Louis Domingue gettingshipped off to Vancouver, it is now McKenzie Blackwood’s net to puck stop fulltime. He has won his last six starts with two shutouts and has only allowedseven goals in that span. Both games this season the Devils have won in NewJersey by scores of four to one and five to one. Two reasons why I am nottaking the puck line is, Detroit Redwings are keeping games close lately and thisgame is in Detroit. I feel confident in the Devils on the money line.

Rib’sPuck Pick- Minnesota Wild-175

TheColumbus Blue Jackets played Ottawa last night and squeezed out a win. As thatpick was a puck pickwinner, it didn’t instil any type of confidence movingforward. As Derek Grant was acquired by Columbus at the deadline and shouldsuit up tonight, I don’t believe he will be a big difference maker in scoringgoals, which the Jackets so desperately need. The Ottawa win snapped an eight gamelosing skid for Columbus who have also had trouble keeping pucks out of theirnet. It was quite yesterday in Minnesota interns of deadline moves. There hadbeen a rumor that Zach Parise was headed to the Islanders for Andrew Ladd andsome other, however that never came to fruition. The home team has won both ofthe games in the season series and tonight that’s where the Wild find them selves. With a six and fiverecord in February, I see the Wild winning tonight and continuing bro push forthe playoffs.

BeansPuck Pick- Edmonton Oilers -152

Oneof the winners of trade deadline day was the Oilers! They picked up AndreAthanasiou and Tyler Ennis today as well as Mike Green last night. This adds alot of depth to the Oilers and strengthens and already incredible power play.There is now the ability to split up McDavid and Draisaitl and still have scoringpower throughout the line up. The speed of both McDavid and Athanasiou shouldterrify top defensive units and still keep Draisaitl and Nugent Hopkinstogether on the second line, who showed great chemistry with McDavid out of thelineup. While the Anaheim ducks have been keeping games close lately, they havenot been able to pull out many wins. I see this test continuing tonight as theOilers come away victorious with their shiny new players.

Pucknews and notes around the NHL;

Thetrade deadline didn’t disappoint today there are a lot of different takes outthere. I thought I would add mine to to the mix. I will try to keep this asbetting related as I can.

LasVegas Golden Knights

Ithink the Knights made the most significant move in acquiring Robin Lehner fromChicago. This was one of their two glaring needs and this move could shore upboth. Vegas did also acquired Alex Martinez from LA however to have a stellarbackup in Lehner should give Marc Andre Fluery some much needed rest for theplayoff run. This move I think should be the largest jump in Stanley CupFavourite

EdmontonOilers

Iam not sure that the Oilers did enough on their back end to make a long run inthe playoffs. Mike Green is a nice piece, but I was hoping for more of astay at home defenseman. However the addition of Andre Athanasiou and TylerEnnis add someone to skate with McDavid and added depth to the second and thirdlines. With a team that already puts the puck in the net often, especially onthe power play, adding a thirty goal scorer in Athanasiou can only help thosestats. These moves make them right there as a potential favorite to win the Pacific.

TheNew York Islanders

TheIslanders needed scoring. I believe they got a great piece in Jean-PierreGabriel Pageau. After the trade they also signed him to a six year, thirtymillion dollar extension according to the New York Islanders twitter channel. Iam not sure what this does in term of betting however I know believe they getinto the playoffs and could for sure be a contender for a first round upset. There are a few other matchups I may like, however it depends who thepuck stopper is. Stay tuned to the #nhl and # sports betting tabs on Discord,as well as Twitter for any changes or more potential matchups as more newsunfolds!

I am very excited to join this team of highly skilled people atWin Daily. If you have any further questions, please feel free to find me onthe Win Daily Discord chat (@Zak PRB) or on Twitter (@PRBpuckpicks) Thank youto you all for reading, let’s go make some bacon.

NHL Update

The NHL Playoff picture is beginning to take shape. With about 70% of the season behind us here are your division leaders and their respective Stanley Cup Odds. The Capitals have maintained their points lead over the surging Penguins, while the Lightning has won 8 in a row in an attempt to catch the Bruins. All 4 teams see their odds stay about the same to win the Stanley Cup, while the entire Pacific Division attempts to sort out who will represent them in the playoffs and who will settle for a Wildcard spot.

To get in on the action on DraftKings click here!

Before the first puck of the season dropped for the 2019-2020 NHL season we offered Over/Under Point Totals for each team. The Islanders and Blue Jackets are on their way to hitting the over while the Devils and Red Wings are running out of gas to get them over the finish line.

I am very excited to join this team of highly skilled people at Win Daily. If you have any further questions, please feel free to find me on the Win Daily Discord chat (@Zak PRB) or on Twitter (@PRBpuckpicks) Thank you to you all for reading, let’s go make some bacon.