{"id":202322,"date":"2026-03-03T15:40:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/202322\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:40:07","slug":"nhl-goal-chase-picks-for-upcoming-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/202322\/","title":{"rendered":"‘NHL Goal Chase’ picks for upcoming games"},"content":{"rendered":"

TUE. MARCH 3
\nJensen’s pick: Macklin Celebrini<\/a>, F, SJS (vs. MTL; 10 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, TSN2, RDS)<\/p>\n

The San Jose Sharks forward ranks 15th in the NHL in goals (29) and is\u00a0tied for fifth in even-strength goals (24). Celebrini, who’s only 19 years old,\u00a0ranks fifth in points (83 in 58 games) and eighth in shots on\u00a0goal (202). While playing for Canada at the 2026 Olympics, Celebrini led the entire tournament in goals (five) and was second in points (10 in six games). The No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, Celebrini has the Sharks in the Stanley Cup Playoff hunt\u00a0and is in the thick of the Hart Trophy conversation with San Jose being one of the League’s most-improved teams (29 wins in 58 games games this season, exceeding its\u00a020 wins in 82 games from last season). Per NHL EDGE stats, Celebrini ranks in the 95th percentile among forwards or higher in hardest shot, average shot speed, midrange goals, midrange shots on goal and long-range shots on goal. Celebrini had two points (one goal, one assist) and eight shots on goal in two games against the Montreal Canadiens last season as a rookie.<\/p>\n

Jensen’s March 2 pick, Zach Werenski<\/a> (CBJ), did not play (illness); current streak: 0<\/p>\n

Jensen’s longest streak of season: 3<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Meaney’s pick: Tage Thompson<\/a>, F, BUF (vs. VGK; 7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, MSG-B)<\/p>\n

The Buffalo Sabres forward ranks second in the NHL in 5-on-5 goals (24) and leads that category since the start of the 2024-25 season (57 in 137 games). Thompson, who is tied for second in the NHL in even-strength goals (27) in 60 games this season, leads the Sabres in goals (32; tied for eighth in NHL), points (63) and shots on goal (214; tied for fifth). Thompson has had at least one point in 27 of his past 32 games and is tied for fourth in goals (20) and is eighth in points (41) over that span. The 28-year-old has 10 goals in his past 15 games and eight points during a seven-game point streak. Per NHL EDGE stats, Thompson leads NHL forwards in 90-plus mph shot attempts (29), is tied for third in the League in midrange goals (14) and ranks fifth among forwards in hardest shot (97.94 mph) this season. Thompson also ranks highly among forwards in midrange SOG (83; fifth), long-range SOG (32; tied for fourth), high-danger SOG (62; 95th percentile) and high-danger goals (13; 93rd percentile). The Vegas Golden Knights have allowed at least four goals in five of their past 10 games and have allowed the seventh-most goals per game (3.60) in the NHL over that span (Jan. 24).<\/p>\n

Meaney’s March 2 pick, Mavrik Bourque<\/a>\u00a0(DAL), did not score; current streak: 0<\/p>\n

Meaney’s longest streak of season: 2<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Perlowitz’s pick: Brandon Hagel<\/a>, F, TBL (at MIN; 9:30 p.m. ET; The Spot, HBO MAX, truTV, TNT)<\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Lightning forward leads them in multigoal games (six) and game-winning goals (six) while ranking second on the team in goals (28 in 53 games), even-strength goals (24), road goals (15) and shots on goal (162), trailing Nikita Kucherov<\/a>\u00a0in each of those categories. Coming off a season-high eight shots on goal against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, Hagel is on pace to average more than three shots on goal per game (3.06) for the first time in his career. Hagel scored on one of his seven shots on goal while playing in each of Canada’s six games at the 2026 Olympics. The 27-year-old, who set NHL career highs in goals (35) and even-strength goals (32) last season, is playing on the second line with Anthony Cirelli<\/a>\u00a0and Jake Guentzel<\/a>\u00a0as well as the second power-play unit with Victor Hedman<\/a>. Per NHL EDGE stats, Hagel is tied for sixth in the entire NHL in goals from high-danger and midrange zones combined (26) and ranks in the 90th percentile or higher among forwards in the following categories:<\/p>\n

Max skating speed: 23.22 mph (92nd percentile)
\n20-plus mph speed bursts: 127 (90th percentile)
\n22-plus mph speed bursts: 10 (93rd percentile)
\nHigh-danger shots on goal: 53 (92nd percentile)
\nMidrange shots on goal: 67 (97th percentile)
\nLong-range shots on goal: 16 (91st percentile)<\/p>\n

Perlowitz’s March 2 pick,\u00a0William Nylander<\/a> (TOR), scored 1 goal; current streak: 4<\/p>\n

Perlowitz’s longest streak of season: 4<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Read more: Fantasy picks\/props; futures angles<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more: ‘NHL Fantasy Stars’ picks for Tuesday<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TUE. MARCH 3 Jensen’s pick: Macklin Celebrini, F, SJS (vs. MTL; 10 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, TSN2, RDS) The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-202322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-san-jose","9":"tag-san-jose-headlines","10":"tag-san-jose-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}