Crushed hockey yesterday, getting a great 3-0 sweep to win 5 units. Great day on the NHL! Tonight we have a six game slate. Let’s stack up the wins for our third winning day in a row.
Sabres vs. Lightning (7:00)
After great back to back wins against the Habs and Blues, the Sabres lost 3-1 to the Devils on Friday, just getting out played by a really great team. Buffalo’s now 9-12 on the season. We’ve played really good offensively but struggled at times on the back end. Although we gave up 40+ shots to the Devils, the defense and goaltending has been decent enough in the last three games which is a good sight to see. The Lightning are rolling right now. Coming off a 5-2 win against the Blues on Friday, they’re 12-7-1 with just one loss (against the NHL leading Bruins) in their last six games. The Lightning have been as good offensively as they have the last three years on their way to three straight Eastern Conference Finals wins but their defense and Vasilevskiy’s goaltending hasn’t quite been as up to par as they’d hope. The first time these teams played this season back on November 5th in Tampa, the Bolts won a pretty close game 5-3 with the Lightning scoring the game winner in the final five minutes of the game. I’d expect the Bolts beat us here tonight but not enough for me to bet on them with with Elliot confirmed in goal. I will take the over here for a unit with both backups in goal.
Blue Jackets vs. Golden Knights (7:00)
This game’s a huge mismatch. The Golden Knights, despite being on a two game losing streak after getting blown out 5-1 at home by the Canucks on Saturday (preventing me from two big sweeps in a row with my only loss of the weekend) and losing 4-2 to the Kraken on Friday, they’re still one of the best teams in the NHL with a 16-6-1 record. They’ve been phenomenal on both ends of the ice and this should be the perfect get right spot for them in Columbus against the lousy Blue Jackets. The Jackets offense has been fine but they’re horrendous defensively. I like the Knights to get a win here against the much inferior Blue Jackets on the road and I’ll take Vegas in regulation for a unit. Along with that, I’ll take the over and the Vegas TT over 3.5 for half a unit each.
Red Wings vs. Maple Leafs (7:00)
The Leafs have played solid hockey lately. They’re 13-5-5 and after their 4-1 win in Pittsburgh on Saturday, they’re on a three game win streak, picking up at least a point in each of their last eight games. They haven’t been fantastic offensively but have some how picked up the slack defensively. I don’t think Toronto gets out of the first round, but there’s no denying that they’ve played well lately. The Red Wings completely fucked me, needing overtime on Friday to beat the Yotes 4-3 in a shootout with a big swing for me on their regulation line. Regardless of me losing though, that gave Detroit their fourth win in a row to improve to 11-5-4 on the season. They’re not world beaters but have definitely improved on both ends of the ice from their spot last year. I’d lean the Leafs get another win on the road here and would lean the under but neither enough to bet on it so I’ll just lay off this game.
Rangers vs. Devils (7:00)
The Devils are fucking incredible. Coming into tonight’s game off an easy 5-1 win at home against the Caps on Saturday (no sweat winner for me), they’re now a very impressive 18-4 on the season with just one loss in their last 16 games. They’re generating the most high danger scoring chances and expected goals in the league with their very fast offense clicking at a fantastic rate and they’ve unexpectedly been very good on the back end, allowing the fewest goals in all of hockey. The Rangers on the other hand are playing boring hockey and falling right in the middle of the pack in the league, competing for possibly a wild card spot, a pretty big disappointment after last season’s trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. After blowing a 3-0 lead in the third period and allowing four straight Oilers goals in the third to lose 4-3 on Saturday afternoon, the Rags are now 10-8-4 off back to back losses. I like the Devils to beat up on them here in MSG tonight and with the great price on this game that in my opinion is much too cheap, I’ll take Jersey for 2 units. I’d lean the under as well but not enough to bet on it.
Blues vs. Stars (8:00)
Saturday night the Blues had a hell of a comeback win against the Panthers to bounce back from blowout losses in Tampa and Buffalo. Down 4-1 in the third period, they came back to tie the game up (hitting my over relatively easy after making it a sweat after having four goals in the first 12 minutes of the game) and then win in overtime on Jordan Kyrou’s second of the game. St. Louis is now 11-10 on the year and haven’t been great on either end of the ice. The Dallas Stars have played great hockey so far this season but are on a bit of lousy stretch. Coming off a 4-1 loss in Colorado on Saturday, their second in two nights after a 5-4 overtime loss at home to the Jets on Friday, they’re now 12-6-4 on the year. They’ve played really well on both ends of the ice. I’d slightly lean the Stars get a win tonight on the road in this Central Division matchup and would slightly lean the under, but neither enough to bet on. I’ll lay off this game.
Oilers vs. Panthers (9:30)
Both of these teams are coming off big three goal third period comeback games on Saturday, in opposite directions. The Panthers had a 4-1 lead at home against the Blues, which they blew in regulation and went on to lose in overtime. Florida’s only picked up one win in their last five games to drop the President’s Trophy winners from last year to 10-8-3 on the season. On the other side of things, the Oilers were in a 3-0 hole on the road against the Rangers on Saturday afternoon going into the third and with a four goal period capped off with Leon Draisaitl scoring the game winner with just over two minutes left, they came back to win 4-3. They’re 11-10 and haven’t played all that great either. The tale of the tape for both of these teams has been similar this season. They’re both pretty good offensive teams (although the Oilers offense doesn’t have much depth behind McDavid and Draisaitl, who are two of the best players in the world) but the defense and goaltending on both of these teams has struggled. I’d slightly lean the Oilers win here at home tonight but not enough to bet it. I do like the over though, which I’ll take for a unit, expecting both teams to put the puck in the back of the net.
Game Bets
1u Lightning/Sabres over 6.5 (-110)
1u Golden Knights in regulation (-177)
.5u Golden Knights TT over 3.5 (-177)
.5u Golden Knights/Blue Jackets over 6.5 (-110)
2u Devils ML (-110)
1u Oilers/Panthers over 6.5 (-130)
Futures
1u Boston Bruins – Stanley Cup Champions (+1000)
1.5u Boston Bruins – Stanley Cup Champions (+1100)
2u Vegas Golden Knights – Stanley Cup Champions (+1200)
1.5u Carolina Hurricanes – Stanley Cup Champions (+1300)
1u New Jersey Devils – Stanley Cup Champions (+1600)
Record: 147-135-2 (-15.98 units)
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