NHL Daily Gambling Preview – 4/6/22

Slight losing night on yesterday’s big NHL slate going 6-8 to just lose 0.66 unit. No biggie. Let’s bounce back tonight on five game slate tonight.

Capitals vs. Lightning (7:30)

Both of these teams are pretty much locked into the playoffs but they’re both coming off back to back losses. The Lightning are 43-19-7 on the season, sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division, tied with the Bruins, but they’re pretty much guaranteed to make the playoffs with a 20 point lead over the Islanders. They’re coming into tonight’s game off back to back losses to the Leafs (6-2) on Monday and the Habs (5-4 in a shootout) but have a 4-1-1 record in their last six games. Just like the past two seasons where they won their back to back Stanley Cups, they’ve been very good on both ends of the ice. The Bolts have scored an average of 3.3 goals per game, eighth most in the NHL and are allowing a ninth fewest in the NHL average of 2.8 goals per game. The Caps are currently in the second Wild Card spot in the East, which is where I’d expect them to end the regular season, as they’re eleven points ahead of the Islanders but nine points behind the Penguins for third place in the Central. They have a 37-22-10 record and have been inconsistent at times. They’re coming off back to back blowout losses at home to the Wild (5-1) on Saturday and the Hurricanes (6-1) last Monday but prior to those two games they were on a 9-2-1 stretch in their prior twelve games. Washington has been pretty good on both ends of the ice all season. They’ve averaged 3.2 goals per game, twelfth most in the NHL and they’re allowing an average of 2.9 goals per game, 13th fewest in the NHL. Both prior games these teams played, the Lightning won by a goal in low scoring matchups with a 2-1 overtime win in DC on October 16th and a 3-2 win at home on November 1st. I’d give the Bolts the edge here both offensively and defensively, especially with the goaltending matchup of Vasilevskiy vs. Samsonov, even on the road. I’ll take Tampa and the under here for a unit each.

Jets vs. Red Wings (7:30)

Detroit’s been one of the worst teams in the NHL lately, but they let me down betting against them last night as they ended their six game losing streak with a 5-3 win against the Bruins, just their third win in their last 16 games. They’re now 27-34-9 on the season and they’ve been especially bad on the road where they’re 9-21-3. The Red Wings have struggled on both ends of the ice. They’re scoring an average of just 2.84 goals per game, 13th fewest in the NHL and they’ve allowed the most goals in the NHL, an average of 3.84 goals per game. Winnipeg’s coming off back to back losses to the Kings (3-2) on Saturday and the Leafs (7-3) on Thursday after they went on a three game win streak. They’re 33-27-10 and have been quite inconsistent but come into tonight’s game with a 9-5 record in their last 14 games. They’ve allowed an average of 3.04 goals per game and have scored an average of 3.03 goals per game. They’re just a boring team. When these teams played in Detroit on January 13th, the Jets shut out the Red Wings in a 3-0 win and I’d expect them to win pretty easily again tonight, especially with the Red Wings on the second half of a back to back. I’ll take the Jets in regulation for a unit, as the ML is way too expensive a -286. I’d slightly lean the Jets TT over and the game under but not enough to bet on either of them.

Blues vs. Kraken (8:00)

For a while the Blues were on a pretty bad slump but they come into tonight’s game with a 5-0-1 record in their last five games, after a blowout 5-1 win against the Coyotes on Monday. They’re 39-20-10 and currently sit in third place in the Central Division. They’ve been very good offensively, averaging 3.59 goals per game, fifth most in the NHL. Defensively, they’ve been pretty good as well, allowing an an eleventh fewest in the NHL average of 2.88 goals per game. Ville Husso, who’s confirmed in goal tonight has a pretty solid 2.41 GAA and .923 save percentage, going from an absolutely liability last year to their top starter. The Kraken are coming off a big 4-1 win at home against Dallas (loss for me) on Sunday night but their inaugural season has sucked with a 22-41-6 record. Seattle’s struggled on both ends of the ice. They’re scoring an average of just 2.61 goals per game, fourth fewest in the NHL and they’ve allowed an eighth most in the NHL average of 3.49 goals per game. Backup Chris Driedger hasn’t been good in goal this season with a 3.05 GAA and .898 save percentage. The Blues are 2-0 against the Kraken with a 2-1 win on January 13th at home and a 5-0 shutout win on January 21st in Seattle. The Blues should easily win this game at home tonight. I’ll go with 1.5 units on the Blues TT over and half a unit on the Blues in regulation. I’d also lean the over but not enough to bet on it.

Golden Knights vs. Canucks (10:00)

The Golden Knights must have realized that they’re gonna miss the playoffs and they’ve gone on a tear lately, winning their last five games in a row and seven of their last nine games. They’ve improved to 39-28-4 on the season and now sit a point outside of the playoffs behind the Stars (and two points behind Nashville) for the final Wild Card spot for the West. They’re struggling without Mark Stone, who they can’t activate till the playoffs and they won’t be able to activate him until the playoffs…if they get in. The Knights have averaged 3.14 goals per game on the season and in their last five games have scored an average of 4.4 goals per game. They’ve allowed an average of 2.94 goals per game. The Canucks have struggled lately with only two wins in their last nine games to drop to 32-28-10 on the season. They’ve been very good defensively, allowing an average of just 2.84 goals per game, tenth fewest in the NHL but they’ve had issues scoring, averaging only 2.79 goals per game, eleventh fewest in the NHL. This game tonight is the second half of a home and home after the Knights just beat the Canucks 3-2 in overtime on a Shea Theodore in Vancouver on Sunday night. That was the second time these teams played this season with Vegas winning 7-4 at home on November 13th. I’d think they win again here at home tonight and I’ll take them for half a unit. I would also lean the under but not enough to bet on it.

Ducks vs. Flames (10:00)

To me this is easily the most lopsided matchup on tonight’s NHL slate. The Flames one of the best teams in the NHL, leading the weak Pacific Division with a 41-19-9 record. They have struggled a bit lately but are coming off a 3-2 win against the Kings on Monday night to end their three game losing streak. Calgary has been very good on both ends of the ice. They’re scoring an average of 3.46 goals per game, seventh most in the NHL and they’ve allowed the second fewest goals in hockey, an average of just 2.49 goals per game. Jacob Markstrom’s one of the NHL leaders in goal this year with a 2.19 GAA, .924 save percentage and 9 shutouts. The Ducks have been horrible lately, coming off a 6-1 loss at home to the Oilers on Sunday and they have just one win in their last 13 games to drop to 28-31-12 on the season. They have allowed a twelfth most in the NHL average of 3.17 goals per games and they’re scoring only a ninth fewest in the NHL average of 2.75 goals per game. The Flames are 2-1 on the season against the Ducks, losing 3-2 in overtime at home on October 18th, winning 4-2 in a shootout in Anaheim on December 3rd and then winning a 6-2 blowout at home on February 16th. I like the Flames to blow out the Ducks tonight on the road in this last game of the season between these teams. The ML price is way too expensive for me at -260 but I’ll go with a unit on Calgary in regulation. I’ll also get a little bit fancy here cause I’m getting incredible value on it (100% profit boost on DraftKings Sportsbook) and go with a unit on a SGP of Calgary TT over 3.5, Anaheim TT under 2.5, Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau to both score.

Game Bets

1u Lightning ML (-143)

1u Lightning/Capitals under 6.5 (-112)

1u Jets in regulation (-182)

1.5u Blues TT over 3.5 (-130)

.5u Blues in regulation (-150)

.5u Golden Knights ML (-184)

1u Calgary in regulation (-167)

1u SGP: Flames TT over 3.5 & Ducks TT under 2.5 & Matthew Tkachuk over .5 goals, & Johnny Gaudreau over .5 goals (+1700)

Record: 672-493-27 (+10.6 units)

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