NHL Daily Gambling Preview – 2/16/22

Last night was my sixth NHL winning day in a row. I crushed the huge slate going 10-2 and winning 9.53 units. Tonight we have a quick four game slate with some potentially fantastic games (and Jack Eichel makes his Golden Knights debut)!

Jets vs. Wild (7:00)

The Wild are one of the top teams in the NHL this season, coming into this game with a 30-11-3 record and an 11-1-1 record in their last thirteen games, most recently in a 7-4 win against Detroit on Monday where Matt Boldy netted his first career hat trick. That only regulation loss in that span for Minnesota came against the Jets last Tuesday in their first game back from the All Star break, so tonight will be a rematch of that 2-0 Winnipeg shutout win. The Wild have the third highest scoring offense in the NHL, averaging 3.8 goals per game and allowing an average of 2.84 goals per game. The Jets haven’t been anything special this season. They’re 20-18-8 and have just three wins in their last twelve games. Winnipeg’s scoring an average of only 2.76 goals per game, eleventh fewest in the NHL and allowing an average of 2.85 goals per game. In the first two games this season between these teams, Minnesota won 6-5 in overtime on October 19th and then again in a huge 7-1 blowout win on November 26th. I like the Wild to get their revenge here after last Tuesday’s loss where their top notch offense didn’t show up. I’ll take the Wild ML for 1.5 units.

Hurricanes vs. Panthers (7:30)

This should be a great game between two of the best teams in the NHL this season. Florida’s 32-10-5 and they haven’t played since before their All Star break, losing 5-2 in MSG to the Rangers on February 1st but have been played awesome lately, with a 19-3-1 record in their last 23 games. They’re leading the league in scoring, averaging 4.09 goals per game and are allowing an average of 2.89 goals per game. Carolina’s a great team as well with a 32-11-3 record and have been 16-4-1 at home this season. They do have three losses in their last four games, but they’ve been a great, well rounded team all season so I’m not putting much stock into those games coming out of the All Star break. The Canes are very good on both ends of the ice, allowing the fewest goals in the NHL, an average of only 2.37 goals per game and scoring a sixth most average of 3.48 goals per game. Florida won both previous matchups against the Hurricanes this season with a 5-2 win at home on November 6th and then again in Carolina. I’ll jump back on that here with a unit on the Florida ML and 1.5 units on the alternate over 6.

Flames vs. Ducks (9:30)

The 27-13-6 Flames’ hot streak continued last night with their dominating 6-2 win against Columbus (triple winner) for their seventh win in a row and tenth win in their last twelve games. Calgary’s scoring an average of 3.39 goals per game, eighth most in the NHL and they’re even better on the back end, allowing the second fewest goals in the NHL, an average of only 2.39 goals per game. Jacob Markstrom had the night off with Dan Vladar starting in last night’s game, so Markstrom is projected to start tonight. He’s been great this season with a 2.12 GAA and .926 save percentage. The Ducks have clearly outperformed expectations this season with their young stars getting them to a decent 23-17-9 record on the season. They haven’t been great though lately, with just six wins in their last 17 games since coming back from the Christmas break. Anaheim has been in the middle of the pack this season, scoring an average of 2.88 goals per game and allowing an average of 2.8 goals per game. Both previous matchups between these teams needed longer than 60 minutes to determine a winner and the road team winning, with the Ducks winning 3-2 in OT on October 2nd and Flames winning 4-3 in a shootout on December 3rd. I think Calgary keeps their win streak going at home tonight, even on the second half of a back to back and I’m right back on them again, but think the trend of overtime games between these teams doesn’t continue tonight. I don’t think its worth laying the -215 and think the Flames get it done inside 60 minutes, so I’ll take Calgary in regulation for a unit. I like the over here too which has gone over the 5.5 total in ten of the last eleven games for Calgary and five of the last seven for the Ducks, which I’ll also take for a unit.

Golden Knights vs. Avalanche (10:00)

A huge change comes to the lineup for the Golden Knights tonight as Jack Eichel makes his debut for Vegas at home in the Fortress in his first game back from his surgery that essentially got him traded from Buffalo. Jack’s a full blown super star that changes an entire offense with the talent that he brings to the ice. As a life long Sabres fan that saw him as part of the future of our franchise, I hate the way the Pegula’s and the Sabres organization handled it but with the Knights being my second favorite team, I’m excited to see what he brings to a great run franchise in the desert. Mark Stone got placed on long term IR with a back injury, which cleared cap space to make room for Jack. Tt’s a shame we won’t be able to see both of the Knights best players on the ice together until potentially the playoffs, with the Golden Knights likely pulling off what Tampa did with Stamkos and Kucherov the last two years since there’s no salary cap for the playoffs. The Knights are 28-17-3 this season and have gone through tons of injury issues and covid cases this year. They’re on a week rest, coming off a 6-0 shutout loss in Calgary last Wednesday and prior to that were on a three game win streak. Even with all the injuries, the Vegas offense has been good all season, averaging 3.29 goals per game, tenth most in the NHL and adding the Eich Daddy should give them an extra spark. They’ve had more struggles on the other end of the ice, allowing 2.96 goals per game. Colorado’s coming off their first regulation loss since December 16th as their offense didn’t show up in their 4-1 loss to Dallas. That was their first regulation loss at home since October 26th…a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the first time these teams played this season. The Avs hold the best record in the NHL at 34-9-4 on the season. They’ve got the second highest scoring offense in the league, averaging 4 goals per game and are allowing an average of 2.85 goals per game. I’d lean Colorado but not enough to bet on it, especially with Jack’s debut at home in Vegas and the Avs on the second half of a back to back. I’d lean the over as well, with two teams that can easily score and have had their issues defensively and in goal, but with the over/under at 6.5, pretty juiced up at -125, I don’t think that’s worth it either. Speaking of Jack though, have to get in on some Eichel props with him looking to show the NHL how incredible he is on his return. I will take Jack Eichel over 0.5 points and over 0.5 goals for half a unit each along with a .2 unit shot each on over 1.5 goals at the nice +1000 price and first goal scorer at +1300.

Game Bets

1.5u Wild ML (-140)

1u Florida ML (-108)

1.5u Florida/Carolina over 6 (-155)

1u Calgary in regulation (-139)

1u Calgary/Anaheim over 5.5 (-113)

.5u Jack Eichel over 0.5 points (-185)

.5u Jack Eichel over 0.5 goals (+240)

.2u Jack Eichel over 1.5 goals (+1000)

.2u Jack Eichel – first goal scorer (+1300)

Record: 437-298-16 (+36.01 units)

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