Dana Lane

Connor McDavid has been doing his best superhero impression for the Oilers this year. The youngster has 31 goals and 93 points through 51 games played. The Edmonton Oilers improved their record to 10-3-1 in their last 14 games dating back to April 2nd. They have the best powerplay in the NHL, scoring 27.2% of the time and putting up 3.3 goals per game.

The Blackhawks have had a terrible end to the season losing each of their last 6. Chicago has lost two straight to Carolina and on Thursday will play its third consecutive game on the road against the Hurricanes. The Cane's will win but with a defensive efffort. 

The Buffalo goaltending is a mess which means most will bet the over in this one.  The proper way to look at this is, the Sabres will be protecting their netminder by keeping their defensemen back, which will limit their offensive zone time.  From the Penguins perspective, the goal is to win and not get hurt.  This is a dead under.

One of the biggest things for the remainder of the season for the Bruins will be keeping the consistency of the third and fourth lines flowing so they’ll be able to build on that for the playoffs. The bottom six seem to be identifying their needed roles in the lineup right now. This will be a different game than the previous two. 

To the Islanders, ending up in third or fourth really does not matter, the Islanders would be wise to give many guys a rest. And it appears that they will.

Kawhi Leonard and Patrick Beverley both re-entered the lineup this week, leaving Serge Ibaka as the only rotation player still dealing with an injury. The Lakers recently got Anthony Davis back, but LeBron James and Dennis Schroder have been ruled out of tonight's contest. The Lakers could also be without Talen Horton-Tucker, who is considered questionable with a calf injury. 

I loved what the Thunder did against the Kings in a loss.  This is the time of year you have to understand what type of team you're getting especially with them out of the postseason picture.  I don't want a team that lays down and the Thunder didn't in the fourth quarter even though they took the loss. I'll take double digits with OKC. 

Yes, the Pacers are dealing with injuries but I suspect we'll catch the Hawks napping in this one after a big win against the Phoenix Suns.  This will be the Hawks final road game of the season which means there is usually one eye on getting home. 

This match-up looks too easy which is why we're looking at the tanking Pistons here.  We know Detroit is looking towards next season but their young kids still have something to prove. It's not been a great year from them but one thing you can expect from any kid is inconsistencies which means there are some highs as well. Memphis looked like they went through the motions on defense against Minnesota, they won't cover this number with that effort tonight. 

The Washington Wizards will face a desperate team Thursday night when they visit the Toronto Raptors in Tampa.

While the Wizards have been on a nice little roll that has enhanced their playoff chances despite a 135-134 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, the Raptors are coming off a 1-3 Western trip that has dimmed their playoff outlook.

If the Raptors defeat the Wizards, it would keep their hopes percolating. A loss, however, could be devastating to their chances of an eighth consecutive postseason appearance.

The Chicago Bulls are on a four-game losing streak and are in need of more support. Fortunately, Thursday's matchup will be the first game back for Zach LaVine, who missed 11 straight games due to the league’s health and safety protocols. The veteran guard will be joined by Nikola Vucevic, who was sidelined for the last two games due to a hip injury.

The Arizona Diamondbacks surprisingly been having one of the better hitting batteries in all of the league because of catcher Carson Kelly. He is doing incredibly well as he is hitting .333 and has a 1.142 OPS with six homers and 17 RBI. He is slugging well and not striking out in his last week of games as he is 7-for-23 with two walks and two strikeouts. If he can continue being a great hitter, it will be difficult to stop them.

All eyes are squarely on Drew Smyly as he’ll be taking the mound as today’s starter for the Braves. Simply put, he absolutely has to get going because he’s gone from being unlucky in his first start of the season to being just plain dreadful in his most recent start. He’s already given up seven more home runs (9 home runs allowed so far) over four starts this season than he did over seven starts (2 home runs allowed) in 2020, so obviously the key is to find a way to keep the Nationals inside of the ballpark.

We're starting to see some cracks with the Kansas City Royals as they carry a four-game losing streak into this match-up. They have also lost five straight to the Indians in Kansas City and four straight overall.