Slight winning night to turn it around in the NHL yesterday, going 3-3 to win .52 units. Let’s win again tonight with a big ten game slate!
Bruins vs. Blues (7:00)
Kind of a lousy cross conference matchup to start the night. The Bruins started the season way hotter than the hockey world expected, but they’ve come falling back down to reality. Coming off a 5-4 loss in Detroit in the second half of a home and home on Tuesday, they’re now 15-13 with three wins in their last eight games. The Blues have been awful all year, coming into tonight with a 9-11-7 record after a 4-1 loss at home to the Ducks on Monday. They’ve struggled big time on both ends of the ice. I’d lean Boston wins here at home, and I’d slightly lean the under, but I’m not touching this game whatsoever.
Senators vs. Rangers (7:00)
Solid matchup here in the East with two decent teams playing completely different styles of hockey this year. After two lousy losses in a row, the Sens bounced back on Tuesday with a 5-2 win (great double winner for me, cashing the over and a four pick player parlay) to improve to 13-9-4 on the season. Ottawa’s offense has been good, but their defense has struggled. In the opposite fashion, the Rangers defense and goaltending’s been very good, but their offense sucks. They’re playing way better lately, improving to 14-12-2 with four wins in their last five games, tying it up late and then beating the Stars 3-2 in OT on Tuesday at home. Although New York’s been horrible at home, they’ve been very good on the road, with an 11-4-1 record on the road. I’d lean the Sens win here at home and I’d slightly lean the under, but not enough to bet either. I looked at a few player props in this game (Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, and Artemi Panarin), but don’t like any enough at their prices to bet them, so I’ll lay off this game completely.
Lightning vs. Penguins (7:00)
Pretty good game here in the East. The Lightning have been very good after their slow start to the season, with 15 wins in their last 19 games to improve to 16-8-2 on the season after their 1-4-2 start to the year. They had a seven game win streak come to an end on Tuesday with a 2-1 loss in Long Island, and have played fantastic hockey on both ends of the ice. The Penguins have exceeded my expectations, playing much better on both end of the ice than I expected. They’re 13-7-5 on the season, coming off a 5-1 win in Philly on Monday, and after a lousy run, they’ve now won three of their last four games. I like Tampa to win this game at home tonight and I’ll take them for half a unit. The total’s a complete toss up to me. I’ll also parlay Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel, Jake Guentzel, and Sidney Crosby to each get a point for half a unit.
Panthers vs. Predators (7:00)
Despite both of these teams sitting at the bottom of their divisions and only separated by three points, I still think this is a pretty big cross conference mismatch. The Panthers are struggling big time with key injuries, on a three game losing streak, coming off a 4-1 loss at home to the Leafs on Tuesday to drop down to 9-13-4 on the season. The Predators are one of the worst teams in the NHL, playing awful on both ends of the ice. They’re just 9-13-4 on the season, but have won three of their last four games, coming off a 5-1 win at home against the Flames on Tuesday. Florida’s the way better team here and won the first game between these teams 8-3 on the road. Even with all their injuries, I think this is a big mismatch and the Panthers are the way better team. The price is a bit expensive at -185, so to make it easier to handle, I’ll parlay their money line with Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart to each get a point for half a unit. I’d slightly lean the under, but not enough to bet it.
Islanders vs. Avalanche (7:00)
Big cross conference mismatch here. The Islanders have been better than expected, coming into tonight with a 14-10-3 record, ending a three game losing streak on Tuesday with a 2-1 win at home against the Lightning (loss for me). Their offense hasn’t been great, but their defense has been fantastic, far better than I thought they’d be. The Avalanche, coming off a 3-1 win at home against the Canucks on Tuesday are the best team in the NHL, playing spectacular hockey, the best team in the league on both ends of the ice. they’re 19-1-6 on the season, with just one loss in their last 13 games, which came in a shootout on the road. Colorado won the first game between these teams pretty easily at home, winning 4-1. I like them to win again tonight on the road and I’ll take them in regulation for half a unit. I’d lean the under here, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay the three Avs stars; Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Martin Necas to each get a point for half a unit.
Hurricanes vs. Maple Leafs (7:00)
Solid game here in the Eastern Conference, but I still think this is a mismatch. The Hurricanes have been very good. They haven’t played since Sunday, winning 1-0 in overtime against the Flames, and they’re now 16-7-2 on the season, playing really well on both ends of the ice. The Leafs had a horrible start to the year, sitting towards the bottom of the Atlantic with a 12-11-3 record, but they’ve seemingly figured something out recently with three wins in their last four games, coming off a 4-1 win on the road against the Panthers on Tuesday. Carolina won the first game between these teams 5-4 on the road. I like them to win again here at home and I’ll take them in regulation for half a unit. I also like the over, but at 6.5 I don’t think its worth taking, especially with how many times Leafs overs have fucked me over this year. I like a few point prop parlays here too. I’ll parlay William Nylander and Sebastian Aho to each get a point for half a unit, and then I’ll take a .2 unit shot, adding Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Seth Jarvis to it.
Blue Jackets vs. Red Wings (7:30)
Lousy matchup here in the East. The Blue Jackets are 12-9-5 on the season and have just five wins in their last 15 games, ending a four game losing streak on Monday with a 5-3 win in Jersey. They have hung in games though, with a 5-2-5 record in their last twelve games. The Red Wings haven’t been much better. They won 5-4 at home in the second half of a home and home against the Bruins on Tuesday to end a four game losing streak. The first game between these teams went to overtime with the Red Wings winning 4-3 at home. These teams match up very closely, which should make it a pretty good game, but it’s also pretty much a coin flip to me. I like the over here though, which I’ll take for half a unit, and I’ll parlay Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, Zach Werenski, and Kirill Marchenko to each get a point for half a unit as well.
Flames vs. Wild (9:00)
Huge mismatch in the West here. The Flames are one of the worst teams in the league, with an awful offense and a pretty much average defense. They’re coming off a 5-1 blowout loss in Nashville on Tuesday. The Wild have been one of the hottest teams in hockey after their slow start. Coming off a 1-0 shutout win in Edmonton (nice + money win for me with them as the underdogs), they’re on a twelve game point streak with a 12-1-2 record in their last 15 games. Although their offense hasn’t been all that great, their defense and goaltending has been elite. I like Minnesota to win here on the road and I’ll take them for a unit. I also like the under, which I’ll take for half a unit. Additionally, I’ll parlay Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy to each get a point for half a unit.
Oilers vs. Kraken (9:00)
Not a great game here in the Pacific and the price is way off in my eyes. The Oilers have struggled big time this year, performing below expected offensively to go with some of the worst goaltending and defense in the league after they went to two straight Cup Finals. They’re coming off a 1-0 shutout loss at home against the Wild on Tuesday (nice + money win there for me on Minnesota) and have just two wins in their last seven games to drop to 11-11-5 on the year. The Kraken are on a three game losing streak, getting shut out twice in that span, including their last game when these teams met on Saturday with the Oilers winning 4-0 in Seattle. Seattle’s defense has been very good, but their offense doesn’t generate much. The Kraken did win the first game between these teams 3-2 at home in October, so the season series is tied heading into tonight. I think there’s value on the Kraken as +170 underdogs, but I’m not touching them. I’d lean the under, but at 5.5 and with how bad the Oilers have been on the back end, I don’t think that’s worth betting either. I looked at parlaying McDavid and Draisaitl to each get a point here, but that’s -195 and absolutely not worth betting on, so I’ll lay off this game entirely.
Kings vs. Blackhawks (10:00)
Neither of these teams have played all that well recently, but I think this could be a pretty solid team with both of them showing signs of being really solid at points this season. The Kings are 12-7-7, with a 2-2-3 record in their last seven games. They’ve been good defensively this year, but their offense has struggled. The Blackhawks are in a slump with only one win in their lsat seven games, coming off a 4-3 shootout loss in Vegas on Tuesday, falling to 11-9-6 on the season. Statistically they’ve been pretty good on both ends of the ice. LA won the first game between these teams 3-1 in Chicago in October. They’re the better team and I’d lean they win here at home, but the price is too expensive to bet on at -205. I’d slightly lean the under, but don’t like it enough to bet on. I will take a half unit shot on Connor Bedard, who’s been on fire, third in points and fourth in goals in the NHL this year to score a goal for half a unit.
Bets
.5u Lightning ML (-166)
.5u parlay: Kucherov/Hagel/Guentzel/Crosby 1+ point each (+212)
.5u parlay: Panthers ML/Brad Marchand over 0.5 pt/Sam Reinhart over 0.5 pt (+112)
.5u Avalanche in regulation (-115)
.5u parlay: MacKinnon/Makar/Necas 1+ point each (+103)
.5u Hurricanes in regulation (-145)
.5u parlay: Sebastian Aho/William Nylander 1+ point each (+107)
.2u parlay: Aho/Nylander/Matthews/Tavares/Jarvis 1+ point each (+434)
.5u Blue Jackets/Red Wings over 6.5 (-115)
.5u parlay: Raymond/Larkin/Werenski/Marchenko 1+ point each (+226)
1u Wild ML (-118)
.5u Wild/Flames under 5.5 (-105)
.5u parlay: Kirill Kaprivoz/Matt Boldy 1+ point each (-115)
.5u Connor Bedard over 0.5 goal (+175)
Record: 191-191-1 (-27.75 units)
Please follow me:
Instagram: @atownszone
Twitter: @atownszone
If you like the site and my work, share it with your friends!
… and tell Dave Portnoy to hire me at Barstool…
A Town's Zone 