I lost on yesterday’s small NHL slate, another lousy one, going 1-2 to lose 1.72 units. Gotta bounce back todday and we have tons of chances to do so with a big 13 game slate.

No video today. Got too much shit to do today.

Red Wings vs. Avalanche (1:00)

We have a prettty big cross-conference mismatch to start off the day. The Avalanche have been very good recently, as the cup champs have improved to 39-22-6 on the season, in third place in the Central Division. They’re coming off a 5-4 win in Ottawa on Thursday to extend their win streak to four straight games. Although their offense hasn’t been as great as it was last year, Colorado’s been scoring much more recently. Additionally their defense has still be fantastic. The Red Wings have struggled this season. Coming off a 2-1 loss in Nashville on Tuesday they’re 30-28-9 on the season with just two wins in their last ten games. Statistically they haven’t played well on either end of the ice. In Colorado on January 16th the first time these teams played, the Avs won easily, 6-3 at home. I expect them to win easily again today on the road and will take them for half a unit.

Wild vs. Bruins (2:00)

This should be a pretty entertaining game. The Bruins are far and away the best team in the NHL this season. Coming off a 3-0 shutout win in Winnipeg on Thursday, they lead the league with a 51-11-5 record, the first team to clinch a playoff spots having set an NHL record for the fastest team to 50 wins in history. They have the best defense in the NHL and the second best offense in the league. The Wild are having a great season, in second place in the Central Division with a 39-21-8 record, a point back from the Stars. They’re coming off an electric 8-5 win in St. Louis on Wednesday that saw plenty of fireworks including Fleury trying to fight Binnington. Minnesota’s defense has been fantastic all season and somehow their offense has come alive recently, shockingly without Karill the Thrill in the lineup. The first game between these teams in Boston needed overtime on October 20th with the Bruins winning 4-3. I give them the edge here to win again and will take them for half a unit. I’d lean the under but I’ll stay off the total.

Predators vs. Jets (4:00)

This game screams under to me. The Predators haven’t had a great season, with a 34-25-7 record and were sellers at the deadline. Despite that, they still have an outside shot at a Wild Card spot this season and even though they’re coming off a 2-1 loss at home to the Blackhawks on Thursday, they’ve played pretty well recently with an 8-4-1 record in their last 13 games and three wins in their last four. Nashville’s offense hasn’t been great, but their defense has been very good with Juuse Saros goaltending. The Jets are having a solid year, in the second Wild Card spots in the West with a 28-24-8 record. Coming off a 3-0 shutout loss to the Bruins on home ice on Thursday, they have been in a slump with just three wins in their last twelve games. Winnipeg’s played really well defensively this season with one of the best goalies in the league in Connor Hellebuyck and they’re around league average offensively. Both games between these Central Division teams were decided by 2-1 scores, with the Jets winning in overtime at home on December 15th and the Preds winning at home on January 24th. I’d lean the Jets win here on the road but not enough to bet on them. I do like the under though and will take the alternate under 6 here for half a unit.

Kraken vs. Oilers (4:00)

This should be a very fun Pacific Division matchup between these two playoff teams. I broke it down in depth with my article on StatSalt. As I said in that article, I’d lean the Oilers win here on the road and think there’s value to them in this matchup, but not enough to bet on it. I like the over quite a bit though, which I’ll take for a unit.

Flyers vs. Hurricanes (5:00)

I broke this Metro Division game down in depth with my article on StatSalt. As I said in that article, I love the Canes to win here on the road, especially with the Flyers in the second half of a back-to-back after they beat my Sabres last night. I’d lean the under but not enough to bet on it.

Panthers vs. Devils (6:00)

I’d expect this to be a really fun game in Florida tonight. The Panthers have played their best hockey of the season. Coming off a 9-5 win at home against the Habs on Thursday where they scored seven goals in a ten goal first period, Florida’s on a five game point streak with eleven wins in their last 17 games. Their offense hass been fantastic all season but their defense and goaltending has been quite poor. The Devils are having an awesome year, in second place in the Metro Division with a 44-17-7 record, just a point back from Carolina and they have an awesome 25-4-4 record on the road. New Jersey’s played great hockey on both ends of the ice but they’re coming into tonight’s game after two losses in a row to the Lightning, both at home, most recently a 4-3 shootout loss on Thursday night. These teams split their two previous games this year, both 4-2 wins for the road team. I think the Devils are much more well rounded of a team and would lean the win, but not enough to bet them. I do like the over here though and will take the alternate over 6.5 for half a unit.

Senators vs. Maple Leafs (7:00)

Pretty big mismatch between two Ontario rivals in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs are comfortably in second place in the Division, pretty much locked into a first round rematch against the Lightning. They’re in the second half of a back to back, coming off a big 5-2 win at home against the Hurricanes last night to improve to 41-18-9 on the season and they’ve played fantastic hockey on both ends of the ice. The Senators are on a four game losing streak after a 5-4 loss at home against the Avs on Thursday night. They’re 33-31-4 on the season and have been below league average on both ends of the ice. These teams split their first two games this season in Toronto with the Leafs winning 3-2 at home on October 15th and the Sens winning 6-2 on the road on January 27th. Even in the second half of a back to back, I’d expect an easy win for the Leafs here and the price is way cheaper than I expect. I’ll take them for ahlaf a unit.

Lightning vs. Canadiens (7:00)

Another huge mismatch in the Atlantic. The Lightning after going on a bit of a slump have since won three of their last four games, coming off two wins in a row in New Jersey, most recently beating the Devils 4-3 in a shootout on Thursday night. Tampa’s pretty much locked into a first round matchup against the Leafs, comfortably in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 41-22-6 record. Although their offense has still be awesome this season, their defense and goaltending has taken a significant step back. The Habs on the other hand are the worst team in the Atlantic with a 27-36-6 record. They got embarrassed in Sunrise on Thursday, getting blown out 9-5 by the Panthers, giving up seven goals in the first period. Montreal’s struggled immensely on both ends of the ice and they’ve only won one of their last nine games. Tampa easily won both previous games between these teams this season, winning 5-1 in Montreal on December 17th and then 4-1 at home on December 28th. I’d expect another very easy win for them tonight and the line at an unbettable -305 moneyline. I’ll lay the juice on the Bolts in regulation for half a unit along with the team total over 4 for half a unit.

Rangers vs. Penguins (8:00)

This should be a very fun matchup between two of the playoff teams in the Metro Division, the Rangers and the Penguins. They just played their third game of the season against each other on Thursday night with the Rags winning 5-2 at home after the Penguins had won the two previous games at home, 3-2 on December 20th and 3-2 in overtime on March 12th. The Rangers are in third place in the division with a 39-19-10 record, with four wins in their last five games, picking up at least a point in all five of those. They’ve played very well on both ends of the ice. The Penguins hold the first Wild Card spot in the East with a 34-24-10 record. They’ve played well recently with a 7-3-1 record in their last eleven games. Pittsburgh has been pretty good offensively this season but they’ve been inconsistent on the back end. I’d lean the Rangers and the under in this game but not enough to bet on either of those, so I’ll just stay off this game completely.

Flames vs. Stars (10:00)

The line on this game makes no sense to me. This isn’t the best game but it has the potential to be pretty entertaining. The Flames are coming off a surprising 7-2 win in Vegas on Thursday night and although they’ve had quite a disappointing season, with just a 31-24-14 record, they’ve played relatively well with a 4-1-1 record in their last six games. Calgary’s been pretty good defensively but they’ve struggled to score. The Stars lead the Central Division with a 37-19-13 record. They’re coming into tonight’s game off two losses in a row after a 4-1 loss in Edmonton on Thursday and a 5-2 loss in Vancouver on Tuesday. Dallas has played well on both ends of the ice this season. The Flames won both previous games on the road between these teams this year in Dallas, winning 6-5 on January 14th and 5-4 on March 6th. I’d lean the Stars win this one on the road and the over, but not enough to bet on either. I’ll stay off this game.

Kings vs. Canucks (10:00)

The Canucks have had a pretty lousy season, coming into tonight’s game with a 29-33-5 record and had a five game win streak come to an end on Thursday night with a 3-2 loss in Arizona. Vancouver’s been pretty good offensively but they’ve been horrible defensively. The Kings are having an awesome season, in second place in the Pacific Division with a 40-20-9 record, a point back from the Golden Knights for first place in the West. Coming off a 4-1 win against the Blue Jackets on Thursday, they have gone 7-0-1 in their last eight games. Although their defense and goaltending has been inconsistent, their offense has been very good this season. Vancouver won the first game between these teams this season 4-1 at home on November 18th. I think the Kings are the way better team here though and expect LA to answer back with a win tonight at home. I’ll take them for half a unit but I like the over more, which I’ll take for a unit.

Coyotes vs. Blackhawks (10:30)

Not a great Central Division matchup here between two of the teams in the Bedard sweepstakes. The Coyotes might be playing themselves out of it though, coming into tonight’s game on a seven game point streak with a 5-0-2 record in that span to improve to 26-32-11 on the season. They’ve played well at home at the Mullett with a 19-11-3 record in Tempe. The Blackhawks have been horrible with a 24-38-6 record, especially after the trade deadline. They come into tonight’s game off two big wins though, winning 2-1 in Nashville on Thursday and shocking the Bruins 6-3 at home on Tuesday. These have been statistically two of the worst teams in the NHL this season. The home team has won all three of the previous games between these teams, with the Blackhawks winning 2-0 in a shutout at home on January 6th, then winning 4-3 in overtime at home on February 10th before the Yotes got a 4-1 win at home on February 28th. I like the Coyotes to win tonight in Arizona to even the season series and I’ll take them for half a unit. I’d slightly lean the under but not enough to bet them.

Sharks vs. Islanders (10:30)

Huge cross-conference mismatch to end the night. The Islanders are in the second Wild Card spot in the East with a 35-27-8 record. They’re coming off a 6-3 win in Anaheim on Wednesday. The Isles have been good defensively this season but pretty lousy offensively for most of the year. The Sharks are horrendous, with a 19-36-14 record and only 6 home wins this season. Coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the Kraken at home on Thursday, they’re on a five game losing streak with just one win in their last eleven games. San Jose has been one of the worst teams in the league on both ends of the ice. The Isles won the first game between these teams easily, with a 5-2 victory at home on October 18th. I’ll lay the juice on the Isles here to win again on the road for a unit. I’d lean the over but not enough to bet it.

Game Bets

.5u Avalanche ML (-180)

.5u Bruins ML (-155)

.5u Jets/Predators under 6 (-141)

1u Oilers/Kraken over 6.5 (-137)

1u Hurricanes in regulation (-125)

.5u Panthers/Devils over 6.5 (-148)

.5u Maple Leafs ML (-135)

.5u Lightning in regulation (-190)

.5u Lightning TT over 4 (-130)

.5u Kings ML (-195)

1u Kings/Canucks over 6.5 (-110)

.5u Coyotes ML (-145)

1u Islanders ML (-190)

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 York Rangers – Stanley Cup Champions (+1300)

1u New Jersey Devils – Stanley Cup Champions (+1600)

Record: 575-488-23 (-66.05 units)

Can’t believe how brutal this season has been every time I look at that number, especially after being so profitable the last two years.

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