We have a bit of a gift for sports bettors on Monday, March 2 in the NHL as it’s a very rare weekday matinee with the Detroit Red Wings visiting the Nashville Predators in a 2 p.m. ET start on NHL Network in the final meeting of the season between the clubs. The Red Wings are -115 favorites with a total of 6.5.
All U.S. sports leagues are trying to branch out to Europe as much as possible as it obviously makes marketing sense. This game was originally set for 8 p.m. ET but was moved up in large part to showcase European players in primetime back in their home countries in the wake of the Milan Cortina Olympics and the 2025 NHL Global Series Sweden. The Predators played in both of those games in Stockholm back in November against Pittsburgh.
Both these teams have top European stars. Nashville center Filip Forsberg, second on the team with 48 points and also a rumored trade possibility ahead of the Friday deadline, played for Team Sweden in the Olympics. So did Detroit star forward Lucas Raymond, who leads the Wings with 62 points.
Team Finland won the bronze in Milan in large part on the back of Preds goalie Juuse Saros, who in six starts went 4-2-0 with a 1.66 goals-against average and .940 save percentage. Nashville forward Erik Haula also played for the Finns. Stellar defenseman Roman Josi, the former Norris Trophy winner, played for Switzerland. The Wings had three players at the Games: Raymond, Team USA’s Dylan Larkin and Germany’s Moritz Seider.
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Every point is crucial for both these clubs in terms of making the Stanley Cup playoffs. Detroit holds the East’s top wild card spot as of Monday and is -380 to play extra hockey for the first time since 2016. I absolutely believe that happens barring major injuries. The Red Wings would obviously like to get out of the wild card spot as that would mean an incredibly tough first-round matchup against one of the East’s likely division winners in either Tampa Bay or Carolina.
If the Red Wings do anything ahead of the trade deadline, it would be to add. Nashville is one of those clubs that has to decide if it sells or buys. Forsberg might be kept, but the team would like to move other high-priced forwards such as Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O’Reilly.
Stamkos has a full no-movement clause, so he will decide his fate. He also makes $8 million annually through 2027-28, and that’s a tough fit for some contenders within the salary cap. In Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss in Dallas, Stamkos became the third active player to record 10 career 30-goal seasons, joining Alex Ovechkin (19) and Sidney Crosby (13). Stamkos has scored in four of his past five and is a +170 second favorite overall to find the net Monday.
So while Nashville isn’t winning the Cup this season, it may have a big say in which team does. Sitting three points out of the West’s final wild card spot, the Preds are +200 for the postseason with No at -245. I’d lean to the latter. If the team misses the postseason for a second straight year, it seems all but a lock that coach Andrew Brunette is out. Current general manager Barry Trotz is retiring after the season. He hired Brunette and surely the new GM will want his own guy.
Nashville tries for the season sweep as it was a 6-3 upset winner in Detroit the day before Thanksgiving. The Preds scored five third-period goals. O’Reilly was the No. 1 star with a goal and two assists, and Stamkos had a goal and helper. It was backup Justus Annunen in net but Saros should be in for this one. Cam Talbot made 22 saves for the Wings, but he’s generally the No. 2 behind John Gibson. It should be Gibson on Monday. Usually, goalies are much better on home ice but Gibson is the opposite at 12-5-0 with a stellar 1.89 GAA, .937 save percentage and four shutouts on the road.
There are things that give me pause on either side: Detroit is at the end of a trip (2-2 on it spanning the Olympic break) and surely eager to play its first home game in more than a month Wednesday. Meanwhile, it’s the front of a back-to-back for Nashville – but certainly better than the back end.
Perhaps consider Detroit’s Patrick Kane to score at +280. The former Hart Trophy winner and future Hall of Famer — maybe my second-favorite NHL player ever — scored his 239th career road goal in Saturday’s loss at Carolina. That passed Keith Tkachuk (238) for the third most by a U.S.-born player. The only players with more are Mike Modano (259) and Jeremy Roenick
(249). Roenick is my No. 1 hockey guy; he was unstoppable in the video game NHL ’94 a la Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl.
Pick: Single-game parlay of Red Wings alt +1.5 & alt Under 7.5 at -135 via FanDuel
