Red-hot Golden Knights no-brainer NHL pick to beat eliminated Kraken, clinch Pacific Division title Wednesday

The NHL's regular season ends Thursday, and if we are being honest there's not much of a betting edge for most games the rest of the way with all 16 playoff spots clinched. Spots have been clinched, but not all seeds. And that brings us to Wednesday's Seattle at Vegas game, and it seems like a no-brainer to back the Golden Knights, as they have all the motivation.

There are six games tonight, and this is the only one that has any affect on the playoffs; the others are meaningless or solely important for draft lottery positioning – i.e. better to lose.

BetRivers same-game parlay (+110)

• Golden Knights regulation line
• Alt Under 7.5

The Pacific is the only division that hasn't been clinched, and it has been a fun race to watch with Vegas, Edmonton and Anaheim taking turns leading it this season. The Ducks had been alive entering Tuesday but then lost at Minnesota so can't win it.

Vegas sits with 93 points entering its regular-season finale tonight, and second-place Edmonton has 91 entering its RS finale at home Thursday vs. Vancouver, which has by far the fewest points in the NHL. So the Oilers should win that if they need to.

But all the Knights need is one point – simply a regulation draw – to win the Pacific a second year in a row and fifth time overall. Pretty impressive considering the expansion franchise only joined the NHL for the 2017-18 season, and five would be the most division titles by an team in the league over the span. Vegas is priced at -475 to win it. Thus if it does get that point tonight, I may have to fade the Oilers in a mostly meaningless game Thursday, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

We had two late-season head coaching firings in the NHL in a major rarity. The New York Islanders fired Patrick Roy with four games to go, and that did not spur a run to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vegas fired Bruce Cassidy on March 29 with eight games remaining, coming the day after a third straight loss and sixth in seven games.

Cassidy was replaced by another former Stanley Cup-winning coach in John Tortorella, and that looks like a stroke of genius by GM Kelly McCrimmon. The Golden Knights have not lost in seven regulation games since, with the only defeat still earning a point in a shootout. Monday's 6-2 rout of Winnipeg was the 400th victory in franchise history.

Knights star Jack Eichel somehow didn't have a power-play goal all season but got his first in that one and added three assists to record his fourth four-point night of the season. That's a franchise record. Eichel didn't score in Tortorella's first game but has two goals and eight assists since, with a plus-7 rating.

"I don't think any of us would have expected to head into the last game of the year with the chance to win the division with the amount of points we had," Eichel said of the coaching change after Monday's win. "But here we are."

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Tortorella is one of those hired-gun types to spur a team to immediate success – think Billy Martin of the Yankees if you are old enough. And Torts usually is quite successful for a while but eventually wears out his welcome just like he did with the Lightning (won his only Cup with them), Rangers, Canucks, Blue Jackets and Flyers.

Vegas would become the 10th team in NHL history to capture a division title after making an in-season head coaching change – a feat this team also did once previously. Tortorella would have the second-latest debut among that group.

Could the Knights win the Cup priced +1100. Sure they could, but who is the No. 1 netminder in the postseason?  Torts has been using Adin Hill and Carter Hart fairly equally. Hart was out injured from early January to the start of April but is 5-0-0 in five starts since with a minuscule 1.80 GAA. Tortorella knows Hart from when both were in Philadelphia.

Hill has gone 1-0-3 with 13 goals allowed over his last four contests but also was the backstop of Vegas' 2023 playoff club that won the Stanley Cup (under Cassidy).

"They're joining together at the right time here," Tortorella said Monday. "They have a strong belief that they can play. So, hopefully that'll continue, bring us through our next game, and then get us ready for the real stuff."

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Winning the division in theory means an easier first-round playoff matchup against a wild card team, which in the Golden Knights' case would be the top WC team in Utah. Central Division champion Colorado has won the Presidents' Trophy so it will get the worst West wild card club.

Seattle was eliminated from playoff contention Sunday and this is a front of a back-to-back with the Kraken's season ending Thursday at Colorado. They didn't put up much fight in their home finale Monday vs. Los Angeles – having shut some guys down -- and doubt they do here. Seattle is one of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL at 2.79 goals per game.

The Kraken shockingly lead this season series 3-0, albeit each by one goal, so even more motivation for Vegas to avoid an embarrassing sweep to a division rival.

I recommend the regulation line because if the game does get to overtime, then Vegas has no reason to care having clinched the Pacific. And while the Knights might score five tonight, Seattle likely does little offensively against Hart (the projected starter). Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.