Last night I got reverse swept on the NHL, losing two of my three bets by a goal, going 0-3 to lose 5.3 units. Not great but I felt like I read those games correctly. I’m going to scale back a bit but lets bounce back on tonight’s nine game slate.
Devils vs. Blackhawks (7:00)
This is the biggest mismatch of the year and the -430 line on this game lines up pretty much exactly as I expected for this game to be. The Devils are incredible, a full blown Stanley Cup contender playing phenomenal hockey on both ends of the ice. Coming off a 3-2 win in Philly on Saturday, they’re 20-4-1 on the season with a 17-1-1 record in their last 19 games. New Jersey’s offense has lead the NHL in expected goals and high danger scoring chances and they’re scoring at a high rate, dominating offensively. Defensively they’ve been very good as well, second behind only Boston in goals allowed. The Blackhawks are on coming off a 3-0 shutout loss on Long Island on Sunday night. They’re one of the worst teams in the NHL with a 7-13-4 record and they’ve only picked up one win in their last ten games. This is easily a lottery team. I’d expect a blowout win for the Devils at home tonight. The moneyline and even the -240 regulation line is too expensive for me. I will take the Devils -1.5 puck line for a unit.
Senators vs. Kings (7:00)
After a horrendous start to their season, the Senators have finally gotten into a bit of a groove with four wins in their last five games, coming off a big 5-2 win at home against San Jose on Saturday. They’re now 10-13-1 on the season. The Kings are 13-10-4 on the year. They’re coming off a 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes at home on Saturday and have only gotten three wins in their last ten games. Both of these teams have played in a pretty similar way, playing decent enough offense but struggling on the back end. These teams played in LA just two weeks ago with a 3-2 overtime win for the Senators on November 27th in a game where Ottawa outshot the Kings 39-27. Tonight the Kings will be starting an inexperienced backup goalie in Phoenix Copley, confirmed in goal for the first time this season after LA just sent Cal Petersen down to the minors. That along with how both of these teams are playing right now, I’d expect the Senators get a win here at home and will take them for a unit.
Penguins vs. Blue Jackets (7:00)
This is another pretty big mismatch on tonight’s slate. The Penguins are playing good hockey, coming into tonight off a dominant 6-2 win against the Blues on Saturday with a 7-1-1 record in their last nine games to improve to 13-8-4 on the season. Pittsburgh’s offense has been fantastic all season but they haven’t been all that great on the back end. The Blue Jackets blow. They’re just 8-13-2 and have only gotten one win in their last five games. Columbus is one of the worst teams in the NHL defensively with lousy goaltending and although their offense was hot earlier in the year they’ve since cooled off quite a bit. In the first matchup between these teams this season in Columbus on October 22nd, the Penguins came back from down 3-1 with five straight unanswered goals to win 6-3. I kept riding Blue Jackets overs for a while but I think I’m done with that since their offense hasn’t produced enough to hit it lately with each of their last five games staying under. I do like the Penguins to win at home but the price on this game at -278 is too expensive to bet for me. I will take the Pens in regulation for a unit.
Lightning vs. Red Wings (7:00)
The defending three time Eastern Conference champions have been playing great hockey once again this season. Coming off a 4-3 overtime win against the Leafs on Saturday they have won eight of their last ten games to improve to 15-8-1 on the season. Although their defense and Vasilevskiy’s goaltending hasn’t been as good as the last few years, they’ve been just as good offensively as the last several years. The Red Wings are coming off a 4-2 win in Columbus on Sunday that ended a three game losing streak. Detroit’s much improved from last season with a 12-7-5 record. They’ve still struggled a bit defensively but they’re playing solid offense. I like the Bolts to get a win here at home tonight and I will take the Lightning in regulation for half a unit.
Islanders vs. Blues (7:30)
On Sunday night the Islanders bounced back from two unexpected lousy losses with a 3-0 shutout win at home against the Blackhawks. The Isles have played really well this season with a 16-10 record and have five wins in their last seven games. They’ve been pretty good on both ends of the ice. The Blues have been so streaky this season and have played like shit lately, especially on the back end. Coming off a 6-4 loss against the Rangers last night, they’re on a four game losing streak with only one win in their last seven games to tank down to 11-14 on the year. They’ve struggled on both ends of the ice, especially defensively with terrible D and really awful goaltending. They’ve allowed six goals in each of their last three games. In St. Louis on November 3rd the first time these cross conference teams played this season, the Isles won 5-2 with a high scoring four goal second period for New York. The Blues are in disarray right now and I like the Isles to get another win here, especially at home with St. Louis on the second half of a back to back. I’ll go with the Islanders for a unit.
Jets vs. Panthers (8:00)
This is an interesting matchup. The Jets have flown (get it?) under the radar this season but they’ve played awesome hockey with a 15-7-1 record. Coming off a 5-2 win on Saturday against the Ducks where they scored three unanswered goals in the third period as they bounced back from a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jackets at home on Thursday, they’ve won four of their last five games. Winnipeg’s played really well on both ends of the ice. Their offense is producing at a solid level and backstopped by one of the best goalies in the league in Connor Hellebuyck, they’ve been spectacular on the back end. The Panthers haven’t been as great as they were last year when they won the President’s Trophy. They’re 12-9-4 on the season and coming off 5-1 road wins against the Kraken on Friday night and Canucks on Wednesday night. They’ve been very good offensively but have struggled quite a bit defensively, needing high scoring games to win. I’d slightly lean the Jets and the over in this game but neither enough to bet on it. I’ll stay off this game.
Stars vs. Maple Leafs (8:30)
This is easily the best game on tonight’s slate. Tonight’s game will be the first time two players with 18+ game point streaks will face each other with Mitch Marner on a 19 game streak and Jason Robertson on an 18 game streak as the Stars host the Leafs. The Stars are having a great year with a 14-6-5 record. On Saturday afternoon, they were down 5-1 early in the third period against the Wild and mounted another incredible comeback forcing overtime with four straight goals in just over ten minutes but went on to lose 6-5 in a shootout. On the season Dallas has been fantastic offensively and really good on the back end as well. Toronto’s playing really well too. They’re 15-5-6 and haven’t taken a regulation loss in their last eleven games but their five game win streak came to an end on Saturday with a 4-3 overtime loss in Tampa. They’ve played really well on both ends of the ice as well, over exceeding my expectations on the back end. The first game between these teams in Toronto this season on October 20th was a tight game with the Leafs winning 3-2 in overtime while they outshot the Stars 43-28. I think that this game is entirely just a coin flip and don’t really have any strong enough opinion on this game to bet it. I looked at Marner and Robertson point props but even parlaying the two of the together isn’t worth betting. I’ll completely stay off this game too.
Ducks vs. Hurricanes (10:00)
This is another huge mismatch. The Ducks are the worst team in the NHL with a 6-17-3 record and only one regulation win on the season. After they gave up three goals in the third period to lose 5-2 in Winnipeg on Saturday, they’re on a six game losing streak with just two wins in their last 14 games. This team blows and they’re statistically the worst team in the NHL on both ends of the ice. The Canes are a Cup contender that I picked to win the East before the season. After some struggles, they’re now on a four game winning streak after a 4-2 win in LA on Friday night. They’re 14-6-5 on the season and have only lost once in regulation once in their last ten games. Carolina’s offense hasn’t been all that great but they’ve been fantastic on the back end. I like the Hurricanes to win pretty easily here tonight on the road but the -275 price isn’t worth betting on but I’ll take them in regulation for a unit.
Kraken vs. Canadiens (10:00)
The Seattle Kraken’s seven game win streak came to an end on Saturday night with a 5-1 loss at home to the Panthers (a goal short of hitting the over). Seattle’s played great this year with a 15-6-3 record and only three losses in their last 15 games. They’ve improved a ton from last season, especially offensively and have been a ton of fun to watch this year. The Habs are on the second half of a back to back on the road after a 7-6 overtime loss in a crazy game last night in Vancouver, that I’m glad I stayed off of. They were up 4-0 in the first period but blew that lead, going down 5-4 after allowing five straight. After answering back with two goals late in the third, they gave up the equalizer with just 1:25 left in the game and then just 13 seconds into overtime lost on a goal from Elias Pettersson. Montreal’s improved quite a bit from last season where they were the worst team in the league, coming into tonight with a 12-11-2 record. They’re not world beaters by any means though without great production on either end of the ice. With the Canadiens playing that insane game last night and on the second half of a back to back, I like Seattle to bounce back from their loss on Saturday with a win at home tonight. I will take the Kraken in regulation and the Kraken team total over 3.5 for half a unit each.
Game Bets
1u Devils -1.5 (-148)
1u Senators ML (-110)
1u Penguins in regulation (-167)
.5u Lightning in regulation (-152)
1u Islanders ML (-185)
1u Hurricanes in regulation (-162)
.5u Kraken in regulation (-159)
.5u Kraken TT over 3.5 (-137)
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: 175-158-2 (-22.26 units)
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