I crushed last night’s NHL slate again, coming just 13 seconds short of hitting the under of the Preds game in a 6-1 blowout for a sweep of the board, with all the rest of the wins coming easy for my second winning night in a row. I finished the night going 3-1 to win 1.85 units. For today’s New Year’s Eve slate, we have a giant twelve-game slate. Let’s keep winning!!
Bruins vs. Sabres (1:00)
My Sabres continued their undefeated run in the red and black goathead third jerseys on Thursday night with a huge 6-3 win against the Red Wings, a game I absolutely crushed betting on. They played fantastic through the first two periods but didn’t look great defensively in the third. . That win extended Buffalo’s win streak to five straight wins to improve to 17-14-2 on the season. The Sabres lead the NHL in scoring this season but they’ve struggled quite a bit defensively this year. They won’t have an easy test tonight against the best team in the NHL in the Bruins. Boston leads the league with a 28-4-3 record and have an 18-0-2 record. They’re the second best team in the NHL offensively and the best defensively. The Sabres played them close the first time they played this season back on November 12th in a 3-1 loss for Buffalo at home. The Bruins have owned us historically and I expect a let down for the Sabres here unfortunately. I’ll take the Bruins in regulation for a unit. I’d lean the over but not enough to bet on it.
Blue Jackets vs. Blackhawks (1:00)
This is a terrible matchup between two of the worst teams in the league, who just played each other about a week ago. In that game on December 23rd, the Blackhawks got a 5-2 win, their only win in their last eleven games and just their second win in their last 20. This team’s horrible. They have the worst record in the league at 8-22-4 and have been terrible on both ends of the ice. Columbus has been horrible too. They’re 10-22-2 on the season and after a 2-1 loss on Long Island on Thursday, they’re on a seven game losing streak. The Jackets have only been marginally better than the Blackhawks offensively and they’re even worse defensively. I’d slightly lean the Blue Jackets win here at home and would slightly lean the over but not enough to bet either. I’ll lay off this lousy game.
Golden Knights vs. Predators (3:00)
Yesterday the Predators dominated in Anaheim, winning 6-1 (and screwing my under with 13 seconds left in a blowout, so I ended up splitting the game). They’ve picked up at least a point in four of their last five games but have only won three of their last eleven, coming into this afternoon’s game with a 15-14-5 record. Nashville’s been pretty good defensively this season but they’ve struggled a ton offensively. Vegas comes off a 3-2 shootout loss in Anaheim on Wednesday, where they dominated the Ducks, outshooting them 51-27 but John Gibson shut the door on the Western Conference leading Golden Knights. Vegas has a 24-12-2 record this season, leading the Pacific Division and tied for first in the West with Dallas. They’ve played well on both ends of the ice. I like the Knights to bounce back from their loss on Wednesday with a win at home tonight against the Preds, who are on the second half of a back to back. I’ll take Vegas for a unit. I’d lean the under but not enough to bet on it.
Kings vs. Flyers (4:00)
The Kings have been rolling lately, playing easily their best hockey of the season. Coming off a 5-4 shootout win in Colorado on Thursday night, they’ve won six of their last seven games. They’ve picked up at least a point in all seven and in nine of their last ten games to improve to 21-12-6 on the season, sitting comfortably in second place in the Pacific Division. Their offense, which has been good as season, continues to play well and their defense and goaltending has improved over that win streak. On Thursday night the Flyers came back from a 3-1 deficit early in the third period, winning 4-3 in overtime in San Jose. That was just Philly’s fourth win in their last 24 games. They’ve been pretty terrible this season with a 12-17-7 record, struggling immensely on both ends of the ice, especially offensively. I like LA to win here at home, likely pretty easily tonight. I’ll take the Kings in regulation for a unit.
Capitals vs. Canadiens (4:00)
The Capitals five game win streak came to an end on Thursday night, as they blew a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3 in overtime at home to the Ottawa Senators. That was just Washington’s second loss in their last twelve games. They’ve played quite well on both ends of the ice this season and have really improved over that stretch of success. The Canadiens are in a big slump right now. Coming off a 7-2 blowout loss in Florida on Thursday, the Habs are on a four game losing streak with just one win in their last eight games to drop to 15-18-3 on the season. Montreal’s struggled on both ends of the ice this season, despite improving a ton from last season. In the first matchup between these teams in our nation’s capital on October 15th, the Caps won 3-1. I’d expect another win for them at home again today. I’ll take the Capitals in regulation for a unit.
Lightning vs. Coyotes (5:00)
On Thursday night, the Coyotes pulled off another hell of an upset at home, beating the Leafs 6-3 for their third straight win. Arizona hasn’t been as bad as most people expected them to be this season, coming into tonight’s game with a 13-16-5 record, picking up at least a point in four of their last five games. Despite being horrible on both ends of the ice, they’ve stayed close in a lot of games this season. The Lightning have been very good this season with a 22-1-1 record on the year. They’re coming off a 2-1 shootout win against the Rangers on Thursday in a hell of a goaltending battle between Vasilevskiy and Shesterkin. Although the Bolts defense hasn’t been as quite great as it was the last three years when they won their three straight Eastern Conference Championships and two Cups, its still very capable and their offense has still been spectacular. This should be an easy win for Tampa at home tonight. The moneyline is way too expensive at -345 and even the regulation line at -210 is pricey, but I’ll take the Lightning puck line here for half a unit.
Blues vs. Wild (6:00)
These two teams play their first rematch tonight of last season’s highly anticipated first-round playoff series in the Central Division that ended up turning out to be a dud of a series, as the Blues coasted through the Wild in that series. This season though, St. Louis has struggled and they’ve been very streaky, coming into tonight’s game with a 17-16-3 record. Their offense has been decent but their defense and goaltending has been a struggle. The Wild are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Stars at home on Thursday but they’ve played fantastic hockey. After their slow start to the season, they’ve won eleven of their last 15 games to improve to 20-13-2 on the season. They have played pretty good on both ends of the ice after their terrible start to the year. I’d expect the Wild to get their revenge with a win here on the road tonight and I’ll take them for half a unit. I’d slightly lean the under but not enough to bet it.
Avalanche vs. Maple Leafs (7:00)
I broke this game down in depth for my article on StatSalt. As I said in the article, I’d lean the Leafs get a win here on the road. I just don’t like it enough to bet it, so I’ll stay off a side in this game. Both teams have strongly trended towards to under though this season and I don’t expect much scoring in this game. I’ll take the alternate under 6.5 in this game for a unit.
Red Wings vs. Senators (7:00)
This is an interesting Atlantic Division matchup even though on paper it doesn’t look all that great. The Senators are coming off two overtime wins in a row after their 4-3 comeback win in Washington on Thursday night. With a 6-2-1 run in their last nine games, the Sens improve to a still lousy 16-16-3 on the season. Detroit has improved a lot from last season but they still aren’t great. Coming off a 6-3 loss in Buffalo on Thursday, they’re 15-12-7 on the season with two wins in their last three games, but those have been their only wins in their last nine games. Both of these teams have been okay offensively but have struggled on the back end. In the first game between these teams not long ago on December 17th, the Senators won 6-3 on the road in a high scoring game. I’d slightly lean Ottawa wins again, but not enought to bet on it. I like the over in this game, which I’ll take for half a unit.
Stars vs. Sharks (8:00)
This is another matchup that I broke down with an in depth article on StatSalt. I’d lean the Stars and the over here, expecting a very easy Dallas win. I’ll take the Stars in regulation here for 1.5 units and the Stars TT over 3.5 for half a unit.
Flames vs. Canucks (10:00)
This should be a fun game between two Pacific Division teams that are underachieving on the season but playing well lately. The Flames were my pick to win the cup this year but they’re just 17-13-7 on the season. They’ve played well lately, coming off a 3-2 win in Seattle on Wednesday, they have four wins in their last six games, picking up at least a point in eleven of their last 14 games. Calgary’s struggled a bit on both ends of the ice this season. The Canucks three game win streak came to an end on Thursday with a 4-2 loss in Winnipeg, dropping Vancouver to 16-16-3 on the year. They’ve been very good offensively this season but have been quite lousy defensively with bad goaltending. The first game between these teams this season on December 14th in Calgary needed a shootout to determine a winner, as the Canucks won 4-3 despite getting outshot 38-27. I’d expect the Flames answer back with win at home tonight but they’re definetely not worth the -220 price on this game, so I’ll stay off the side. I like the over in this game quite a bit, expecting both teams to score and will take it for a unit.
Oilers vs. Jets (10:00)
This is a fun matchup. The Oilers have played well as of late, picking up three wins in their last four games to improve to 20-15-2 on the year after their 7-2 blowout win in Seattle last night (which easily hit the over for me less than halfway through the game). Connor McDavid, who had a five point night yesterday and Leon Draisaitl are two of the most dominant played in the NHL and despite there not being a ton of offensive depth behind those two, the Oilers offense has been fantastic. Edmonton’s defense and goaltending on the other hand though has been quite poor this year. The Jets are having a great season, in second place in the Central with a 22-13-1 record. They are in a bit of a slump with just four wins in their last ten games but they ended a three game losing streka iwth a 4-2 win at home against the Canucks on Thursday. Winnipeg’s offense has been good this season and backstopped by one of the best goaltenders in the NHL in Connor Hellebuyck, their defense has been fanastic. I’ll take the Jets here as an underdog on the road for half a unit.
Game Bets
1u Bruins in regulation (-150)
1u Golden Knights ML (-165)
1u Kings in regulation (-136)
1u Capitals in regulation (-167)
.5u Lightning -1.5 (-134)
.5u Wild ML (-125)
1u Maple Leafs/Avalanche under 6.5 (-143)
.5u Senators/Red Wings over 6.5 (-120)
1.5u Stars in regulation (-143)
.5u Stars TT over 3.5 (-127)
1u Flames/Canucks over 6.5 (+100)
.5u Jets ML (-110)
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: 244-214-6 (-27.97 units)
Please follow me:
Instagram: @atownszone
Twitter: @atownszone
TikTok: @atownszone
If you like the site and my work, share it with your friends!
… and tell Dave Portnoy to hire me…
A Town's Zone 