We have a three night win streak going on the NHL as I went 3-1 last night to win 1.51 units. Solid night. Tonight we have a huge 13 game slate after just three games last night. Let’s keep on rolling!
Sabres vs. Senators (7:00)
This matchup isn’t great with these teams both at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. My Sabres do have a ten point lead over the Sens, but they stink too. Coming off a 5-2 loss to the Kraken on Tuesday, we have three wins in our last five games. We’ve struggled on both ends of the ice. The Senators have been brutal and they’re the worst team in the East. Coming off a 6-3 loss in Calgary on Tuesday, they’re on a four game losing streak with just three wins in their last 19 games. One of those wins was a 5-1 win against the Sabres at home on New Year’s Eve. That was the second game this season between these teams with the Sabres winning 6-4 in the first matchup. Ottawa has been better offensively but have been worse defensively. I’d lean my Sabres win this game but not enough to bet on it. I’d also lean the over, but at 7 or with 6.5 priced up around -150, I don’t think thats worth betting on. I’ll stay off it.
Canadiens vs. Sharks (7:00)
This cross conference matchup blows. Both of these teams stink. The Habs are in the second half of a back to back, coming off a 3-2 shootout loss in Philly last night (win for me) and they have just two wins in their last seven games, struggling on both ends of the ice. The Sharks are the worst team in the NHL, by far, possibly even the worst team in history. On Tuesday they gave me an easy win as they got blown out 7-1 in Toronto for their twelfth straight loss in a row. On both ends of the ice, they’re the worst team in the league. Montreal needed a shootout but won the first game between these teams 3-2 on the road in San Jose. Even in the second half of a back to back, I expect a win for the Canadiens here and I’ll continue betting against the Sharks with half a unit on the Habs tonight. I’d slightly lean the over, but not enough to bet it.
Red Wings vs. Oilers (7:00)
This is a pretty solid cross conference matchup as both of these teams have been playing really well lately. The Red Wings after going on a pretty big slump, got right in their 3-0 California road trip, coming into tonight’s game with four wins in their last five games. Their offense has been very good all season, but their defense has struggled quite a bit. Their 3-2 win in Anaheim on Sunday was their first win all season where they scored less than four goals. The Oilers have been fantastic. Coming off a 2-1 win in Chicago on Tuesday, Edmonton’s on an eight game win streak with 16 wins in their last 19 games. McDavid and the offense has been awesome and although the defense has struggled at times, they’re clicking on the back end recently, not giving up more than two goals in any of their last six games, and they haven’t given up more than three goals since December 16th. I’d lean the Oilers keep rolling and get a win here on the road, but not quite enough to bet it at -170. I do like the over though. With the line set at 7 and buying it down the 6.5 being a pretty ridiculous price around -175, I’ll just stick with half a unit on this.
Lightning vs. Devils (7:00)
This should be a fun game despite a bit of the luster off of it with half the Devils out injured right now. Jersey’s right in the Wild Card mix in the East in a tight race. They’re coming off a 6-4 loss to the Canucks at home on Saturday (double winner for me) but they’ve won five of their last seven games. Although they’ve had a fantastic offense, their defense has struggled this season. The Bolts are hanging onto the second Wild Card spot in the East, coming off a 3-2 overtime win at home against the Kings on Thursday. Similar to the Devils, Tampa’s offense has been solid but they’ve had their issues on the back end. With all the injuries for the Devils, I like the Lightning to win here, which I’ll take for half a unit. I also like the over, which I’ll take for half a unit as well.
Panthers vs. Kings (7:00)
This is a solid cross conference game between two possible Cup contenders. They come into tonight’s game though on complete opposite trajectories. The Panthers have been phenomenal and have been even better this season than they were last year when they captured magic to run to the Cup Finals. This year they could win it. Coming off an easy 5-1 win in St. Louis on Tuesday, extending their win streak to eight straight games. Florida has one of the best defenses in the NHL and although their offense wasn’t all that great earlier on the year, they keep scoring and improving on that run, having scored at least four goals in each of their last six games. The Kings on the other hand, while still holding onto their third place spot in the Pacific, come into tonight’s game on a six game losing streak after a 3-2 overtime loss in Tampa on Tuesday. Statically, LA has been fantastic on both ends of the ice this season and have to find a way out of this slump. I like Florida to keep rolling here and I’ll take them for half aa unit. I like the under in this game as well with two of the best defenses in the show, which I’ll take at 6.5 for half a unit.
Penguins vs. Canucks (7:00)
This could be a fun cross conference game tonight. The Canucks, coming into tonight’s game on a three game win streak after their 5-2 win against the Isles on Long Island on Tuesday have been fantastic this season, just a point back from the Jets for first place in the West, leading the Pacific. Vancouver’s been spectacular on both ends of the ice. Coming off a 4-1 win against their rival Flyers on Monday night, the Penguins are right in the big Wild Card race in the East with a 9-3-1 record in their last 13 games. They’ve been really solid on the back end and have been decent enough offensively. I like the Canucks to win this game on the road and think there’s decent value on them as a dog here, so I’ll take them for half a unit. I would slightly lean the over, but not enough to bet on it. Should be a solid matchup to watch.
Capitals vs. Kraken (7:00)
Interesting matchup here with these cross conference teams tied in points. The Kraken while looking terrible in the first half of the year, have played themselves right in the midst of the Wild Card picture in the West. After a 5-2 win here in Buffalo on Tuesday against my Sabres, Seattle extended their win streak to seven straight with a 9-0-2 record in their last eleven games. Their defense with Joey Daccord (great interview with him on Chiclets this week) playing fantastic in goal has been solid all season, but their offense hasn’t gotten a whole lot going. The Capitals are in the Wild Card mix in the East, but they’ve struggled quite a bit lately. They’re coming off a solid 4-3 win at home against Kings, just their second win in their last eight games. Similar to Seattle, their defense and goaltending has been good but their offense has struggled. That makes me like the under here quite a bit. I’ll take the alternate under 6 here for half a unit. I like the Kraken to keep their hot run going as well, which I’ll take for half a unit too.
Hurricanes vs. Ducks (7:00)
Huge mismatch in this cross conference game tonight that I expect to be a pretty lousy matchup. The Hurricanes, after a bit of a slow start to the season have been cruising lately, holding the second place spot in the Metro Division. They had a five game win streak come to an end on Saturday with a 2-1 shootout loss at home to the Blues, but they’ve picked up at least a point in all but one of their last eleven games. Carolina’s been a solid team this year on both ends of the ice. The Ducks have stunk, only ahead of the Sharks in the Pacific. They ended their five game losing streak with a surprising (loss for me) 5-3 loss in Nashville on Thursday, just their fifth win in their last 25 games. Anaheim’s struggled on both ends of the ice. The Ducks actually won the first game between these games 6-3 at home in the first week of the season. I fully expect a Canes win tonight at home as this is a perfect spot for them. The moneyline is obviously way too expensive at -345, and even the regulation line is too pricey at -210. I’ll take their puck line for a unit. I think the total is a complete coin flip.
Islanders vs. Maple Leafs (7:00)
John Tavares and his Leafs head back to Long Island tonight to face the Isles. The first game between these teams this season was very entertaining with JT getting his 1000th career point with the primary assist on Morgan Rielly’s goal to tie the game up and force OT with seven seconds left in regulation, before Bo Hornet won it 4-3 in overtime at home. Toronto’s on a four game win streak to hold onto their third place spot in the Atlantic, coming off two wins in a home and home against the Sharks, blowing out San Jose 7-1 at home on Thursday. The Leafs have been good offensively this season but inconsistent defensively. The Islanders are in the first Wild Card spot in the East but in a slump lately. Coming off a 5-2 loss at home to the Canucks on Tuesday, with just one win in their last five games, with only four wins in their last twelve games. They’ve been decent on both ends of the ice. I’d lean the Leafs win here on the road and the over in this game, but not enough to bet on either, so I’ll lay off this game entirely.
Blues vs. Rangers (8:00)
This matchup isn’t all that great but I see a good amount of value on this game. The Rangers have been fantastic this season, leading the Metro Division and playing fantastic hockey on both ends of the ice. They’re struggling a little bit right now though, with just one win (against the Blackhawks) in their last four games as they’re coming off a 6-3 loss at home to the Canucks on Monday and a 4-3 shootout loss in Montreal on Saturday. The Blues are a mid to low tier team this season. They’re coming off a 5-1 blowout loss at home to the Panthers on Tuesday but have played pretty well recently with seven wins in their last eleven games. Statistically St. Louis hasn’t been great on either end of the ice. I like the value on the Rangers to win here. They’re the far better team in this matchup and have a nice price at -162 on the road, which I’ll take for a unit.
Jets vs. Blackhawks (8:00)
This is a pretty terrible mismatch between the two teams on opposite ends of the Central Division standings. The Jets are absolutely a Stanley Cup contender this season and have been incredible this year, leading the league and playing great on both ends of the ice. They’re coming off an easy 5-0 blowout, shutout win at home against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, extending their win streak to seven in a row and point streak to 13 games with a 15-1-2 record in their last 18 games. The Blackhawks have been horrendous, at the bottom of the Central by twelve points and they have just three wins in their last 15 games, coming off a 2-1 loss to the Oilers on Tuesday. They’re horrible on both ends of the ice, and they’re just going to get worse with Bedard out. These teams actually split their first two games, with the Jets winning 3-1 at home and the Blackhawks answering with a 2-1 overtime win a couple weeks ago. The prices on the moneyline and regulation line are way too expensive, but I’ll take the Winnipeg puck line for 2 units. I don’t hate the alternate puck lines here either, but I’ll just go with the -1.5 since that’s a pretty big bet.
Coyotes vs. Flames (9:00)
Interesting matchup tonight out West. The Coyotes pulled off a nice win to end their three game losing streak, beating the Bruins 4-3 in a shootout at home on Tuesday. Arizona’s been solid this season, especially at home in Mullett Arena. The Yotes have struggled offensively but have been good on the back end. The Flames after letting me down big time with their loss in Chicago on Sunday, bounced back with a good 6-3 win against the Sens on Tuesday. They haven’t been all that great of a team this season but haven’t been awful lately with seven wins in their last ten games. I’d lean the Yotes win at home here and would slightly lean the over, but neither enough to bet on. I’ll skip this one.
Golden Knights vs. Bruins (10:00)
Great cross conference matchup to finish off the night as the Stanley Cup Champions play the President’s Trophy winners from last year. Vegas is in a slump right now. They’re in the second half of a back to back tonight after a 3-0 loss on the road to the Avalanche last night (my only loss on the night was on the over of that game). They only have two wins in their last night games. The Bruins lead the East this season and although they’ve lost their last two games, a 4-3 overtime loss in Arizona on Tuesday and a 4-3 shootout loss in Colorado on Monday, they have a 5-1-2 record in their last nine games. Both of these teams have been good on both ends of the ice this year and I expect it to be a good game. I’d lean the B’s and the over in this game, but not enough to bet on either, so I’ll end my night early tonight.
Game Bets
.5u Canadiens ML (-150)
.5u Oilers/Red Wings over 7 (-108)
.5u Lightning ML (-148)
.5u Lightning/Devils over 6.5 (-120)
.5u Panthers ML (-134)
.5u Panthers/Kings under 6.5 (-132)
.5u Canucks ML (+110)
.5u Kraken ML (-122)
.5u Capitals/Kraken under 6 (-140)
1u Hurricanes -1.5 (-135)
1u Rangers ML (-162)
2u Jets -1.5 (-138)
Futures
4u Vegas Golden Knights – Stanley Cup Champions (+1000)
Record: 298-276-7 (-52.43 units)
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