Intelligent Hockey: Best bets for Saturday's NHL slate

Goodbyes are never easy. With the last weekend of the regular season knocking at the door, we need to bid adieu to fading some of our favourite doormats and chumps. The playoffs will be a welcome amp-up in intensity, but before we pivot, I’d like to invest in the misfortunes of three woeful franchises one last time. 

Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit Red Wings Saturday, April 23 – 12:30 PM ET  Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 are old news. The Penguins have lost at the first opportunity in their last three playoff rounds, and even the sportsbooks view them pessimistically – only the Capitals have longer odds to win the Eastern Conference.

Contributing to that backdrop is a messy present where the Penguins are sputtering. In their last fourteen games, they have five wins. With the postseason starting in less than two weeks, Pittsburgh needs to find stability, and fast.

The Detroit Red Wings can offer the Penguins temporary relief this Saturday. The Red Wings’ expected goals and high-danger chances percentage at 5-on-5 this month are horrific, and even when Detroit ekes out a win, it can seem miraculous. To wit, the Red Wings have three wins over the Bruins, Hurricanes and Lightning in the month of April, but in all three games they were badly outshot. Against Tampa Bay, Detroit allowed the fewest shots, but it still conceded 41 shots on goal. 

The Red Wings bested Tampa Bay on Tuesday night because of goaltender Thomas Greiss and the Lightning squandering opportunities. Detroit looked so bad at different points in the game, it almost seemed as if Greiss’s own players were conspiring against him. 

The Red Wings’ defencemen committed numerous turnovers while attempting to execute their breakout. They couldn’t box