Last night on a decent NHL slate with some surprising results, I went 2-4, losing 1.82 units. Let’s bounce back on a great ten game slate tonight!
Canadiens vs. Senators (7:00)
Fun game in the Atlantic Division to start off the night. The Habs are coming off a 7-2 loss on Saturday in Colorado, ending a three game win streak, and falling to a still pretty good 13-8-3 on the season. The Senators are 12-9-4, but struggling a bit lately. Coming off a 6-1 loss in Dallas on Sunday, they have just one win in their last four games. The first game between these teams this season went to overtime, with the Canadiens winning 4-3 at home. Both of these teams have been good offensively, but have struggled on the back end. Montreal’s been better offensively, but worse defensively. I’d slightly lean the Habs win at home, but don’t like it enough to bet on. I love the over in this game though, which I’ll take at 6 for a unit. I’ll also parlay Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Cole Caufield, and Nick Suzuki to each get a point for half a unit at a really nice price.
Red Wings vs. Bruins (7:00)
Interesting matchup in the Atlantic Division for the second half of a home and home. These teams just played on Saturday in Boston, with it going to a shootout for a 3-2 Bruins win at home. The Red Wings are in a slump right now, on a four game losing streak to fall to 13-11-2 on the season. They’ve played quite poorly on both ends of the ice. I don’t think the Bruins are much better though, with a 15-12 record on the year. This game’s pretty much a toss up to me. I’d lean the Red Wings answer back at home and the over, but not enough to bet either. I’ll lay off this game entirely.
Islanders vs. Lightning (7:00)
I wouldn’t be shocked if this is a decent, competitive game, but it’s still a pretty big mismatch to me. The Islanders are exceeding expectations with their 13-10-3 record and really solid defensive play, but they’re struggling offensively, coming into tonight on a three game losing streak after a 4-1 loss at home to the Capitals on Sunday (easy winner for me). The Lightning really turned it up after their slow start to the season, on a seven game win streak after a 4-1 win on the road against the Rangers on Saturday to improve to 16-7-2 on the year. They’re playing excellent hockey on both ends of the ice. I like Tampa to win here and I’ll take them for a unit, along with half a unit on the puck line. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet it.
Rangers vs. Stars (7:00)
Huge mismatch here. The Rangers have been horrendous at home, with just a 2-8-1 record at MSG, despite being 13-12-2 on the season. They’re coming off a 4-1 loss at home to the Lightning on Saturday, ending a three game win streak. New York has been very good defensively, but their offense is terrible this year. The Stars have been fantastic on both ends of the ice, in second place in the NHL with a 17-5-4 record, and an even more impressive 9-1-3 record on the road. They’re on a four game win streak, coming off a 6-1 blowout against the Senators on Sunday, with just two regulation losses in their last 20 games. This should be an easy win for Dallas in MSG and I’ll take the Stars for a unit. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet it at 5.5. I’ll also go back to my old reliable here and parlay Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen to each get a point for half a unit.
Panthers vs. Maple Leafs (7:30)
I’m sure the season won’t end this way, but it isn’t a great that this matchup between two Atlantic Division playoff teams (one of which is the back to back Stanley Cup champs and the threepeat Eastern Conference champs) is now a game between the two last place teams in the East since the Sabres won last night. Both of these teams have struggled. The Panthers are coming off two losses in a row, shockingly losing 5-3 at home to the Flames on Friday to fall to 12-11-1 on the season. They haven’t been awful on either side of the ice, but they’re not great either. The Leafs are coming off a much needed 7-2 blowout win in Pittsburgh on Saturday, just their third win in their last eleven games, and their first in regulation since November 5th, improving to a still lousy 11-11-3 on the year. Their offense has been as good as expected, but in typical Toronto fashion, their defense and goaltending has been horrendous. I’d lean Florida wins here at home, but I’m not touching it. I do like he over, which I’ll take for half a unit. I like two player prop parlays in this game too, which I’ll take each for half a unit was well, the first of Nylander, Reinhart, and Marchand to each get a point, and another adding Auston Matthews to juice it up.
Predators vs. Flames (8:00)
Horrible matchup here in the West between two of the worst teams in the NHL. The Predators have just four wins in their last 22 games, coming off a 5-2 loss at home to the Jets on Saturday night to fall to 8-13-4 on the season. Team’s a mess, playing awful on both ends of the ice. The Flames aren’t any better at 9-14-4, but they’ve played better lately, with a 4-1-1 record in their last six games, taking Carolina to overtime on the road tied 0-0 to lose 1-0 in OT (ruining my Canes in regulation bet on that game). Calgary’s defense and goaltending has been good, but they have the worst offense in the NHL. Nashville won the first game between these teams this year 4-2 at home. I’d slightly lean the better defense prevails for the Flames here on the road, but didn’t even consider betting this game. I’d slightly lean the over, but with how awful both of these offenses are, and the decent play on the back end from Calgary, I’ll stay off this game entirely.
Avalanche vs. Canucks (9:00)
Biggest mismatch on the slate tonight here out West. The Avalanche are far and away the best team in the NHL this season and easily the favorites to win the Cup this year. Coming off a 7-2 blowout win at home against the Habs on Saturday to bounce back from a 3-2 shootout loss in Minnesota on Friday that ended a ten game win streak for the Avs, they’re now an impressive 18-1-6 on the year and on a 14 game point streak. The Canucks have been terrible, with just two wins in their last ten games, falling to 10-13-3 on the season, losing 2-1 in overtime in LA on Saturday. They’ve struggled on both ends of the ice. The first game between these teams in Vancouver went to overtime, with the Avalanche winning 5-4 on the road. This should be an easy blowout win at home for the Avs, and I’ll take their puck line for a unit. I’d lean the over, but not enough enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Cale Makar to each get a point for a unit.
Oilers vs. Wild (9:00)
This is an interesting matchup, and the price seems wrong on it right off the hop. The Oilers have been terrible in their 11-10-5 start to the season, with the worst goaltending in the league, despite their offense being fine. They’re coming off a 4-0 shutout win in Seattle on Saturday, and have been very inconsistent. The Wild have been hot lately, playing great after their slow start to the year. Coming off a 3-2 shootout loss at home to the Sabres on Saturday night to end a seven game win streak, they’re now 14-7-5 on the season, on an eleven game point streak. Their offense hasn’t been great, but their defense and goaltending tandem have been spectacular. I like Minnesota to bounce back here on the road, and I’ll take them at + money for half a unit. The total’s a toss up to me with the opposite styles of hockey these teams are playing and I’d slightly lean the under, but wouldn’t even consider betting it. I will take McDavid, Draisaitl, Kaprivoz, and Boldy to each get a point, parlayed together for half a unit.
Golden Knights vs. Blackhawks (10:00)
Very interesting game here with both of these teams coming off ending lousy losing streaks. The Golden Knights ended a four game losing streak on Saturday with a 4-3 win at home against the Sharks, improving to 11-6-8 on the season. Carter Hart will be making his Golden Knights debut between the pipes tonight after long legal problems from Team Canada in the World Juniors, which I’m not gonna get into in this blog, but Hart was a fantastic goalie in Philly in his start to his career before that whole shit show started. The Blackhawks ended their five game losing streak on Sunday to improve to 11-9-5, beating the Ducks 5-3 at home, erasing an early 3-0 deficit in the first ten minutes of that game. Both of these teams have played pretty well on both ends of the ice this year. The Knight are definitely the better team here, but especially with Carter Hart not having played in the NHL for so long, the price on this game at -290 is ridiculous. I’ll stay off it. I’d slightly lean the under but not enough to bet it. I do like a player prop parlay here though, and will take Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, and Connor Bedard to each get a point for a half unit parlay.
Kings vs. Capitals (10:30)
Interesting, solid cross conference matchup to end the night. Both of these teams have been decent lately. The Kings, coming off a 2-1 overtime win at home against the Canucks on Friday are on a five game point streak despite only having two wins in their last six games, but have picked up at least a point in all but one of their last ten to come into tonight with a 12-6-7 record on the season. Their offense has been terrible, but their defense has been great. The Capitals are playing great on both ends of the ice, now 15-9-2 on the year and on a four game win streak after a big slump, coming off a 4-1 win on Long Island on Monday night (easy win for me there). The Caps won the first game between these teams 2-1 at home a few weeks ago, and I’d lean their offensive edge gets them the win tonight out in LA, but don’t like it enough to bet on. I’d also lean the under, but not enough to bet that either, so I’ll lay off this game entirely.
Bets
1u Canadiens/Senators over 6 (-121)
.5u parlay: Brady Tkachuk/Tim Stutzle/Cole Caufield/Nick Suzuki 1+ pt each (+301)
1u Lightning ML (-120)
.5u Lightning -1.5 (+198)
1u Stars ML (-125)
.5u parlay: Jason Robertson/Mikko Rantanen 1+ pt each (-125)
.5u Panthers/Maple Leafs over 6.5 (-108)
.5u parlay: William Nylander/Sam Reinhart/Brad Marchand 1+ pt each (+188)
.5u parlay: Nylander/Reinhart/Marchand/Matthews 1+ pt each (+330)
1u Avalanche -1.5 (-135)
1u parlay: Nathan MacKinnon/Martin Necas/Cale Makar 1+ pt each (-150)
.5u Wild ML (+125)
.5u parlay: Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl/Kirill Kaprivoz/Matt Boldy 1+ pt each (+206)
.5u parlay: Jack Eichel/Mitch Marner/Mark Stone/Connor Bedard 1+ pt each (+210)
Record: 184-178-1 (-24.78 units)
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