The Winnipeg Jets will be looking to get back into the Western Conference playoff picture with a win on Thursday night as they visit the Ottawa Senators as -140 road favourites on the NHL betting lines at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Winnipeg closed out a six-game homestand with a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday to improve to 6-2-1 in its past nine outings.
The Jets have resuscitated their flagging playoff hopes during this recent surge, and now sit just one point back of the Calgary Flames in the hunt for a Western Conference wild-card berth. Winnipeg is nine points back of first-place St. Louis in the Central Division standings, and is a distant +6000 wager at betting sites to claim its first-ever divisional crown.
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And while the Jets have been steady on home ice, posting wins in five of their past eight contests, they have struggled on the road, picking up just one win in their past five dates away from Bell MTS Place. The team has also produced mixed results against the Senators, losing two of their last three meetings to end a four-game win streak in the series.
That’s good news for the Senators, who will be looking to win three games in a row for just the second time this season when they hit the ice on Thursday night. Ottawa is coming off a 7-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres as +100 home underdogs on Tuesday night to improve to 3-1-0 on its current six-game homestand. The Senators have averaged four goals per game during their current surge, but have fallen to defeat in six of seven meetings with Western Conference opponents since mid-January, according to the OddsShark NHL Database.
Elsewhere on the Thursday NHL odds, the Toronto Maple Leafs wrap up a home-and-home series with the Pittsburgh Penguins as -120 home chalk at the sportsbooks. The Maple Leafs return home after suffering a 5-2 defeat in Pittsburgh as +120 underdogs on Tuesday night, marking their second-straight loss.
Overall, Toronto has lost six of nine games, but has held the Penguins to 2.20 goals per game while posting wins in four of their last five meetings at Scotiabank Arena. Pittsburgh arrives in Toronto having won three straight, but has failed to tally consecutive wins during a 3-3-0 run on the road.
As well, reeling after suffering their fifth-straight loss in Detroit on Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens travel to Washington as +165 underdogs for Thursday night’s clash. The Canadiens have scored just five total goals in three-straight road losses, but do face a struggling Capitals team that has lost four of their past five contests.
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