Lost 1.12 units on a fun night of hockey yesterday, but annoyingly going 2-6. Plenty of chances to bounce back here today with a twelve game NHL slate.
Rangers vs. Avalanche (12:30)
Decent game, but I think this is still a pretty huge mismatch to start the day. The Rangers are playing much better, with five wins in their last six games, coming off a 4-2 win in Ottawa on Thursday to improve to 15-12-2 on the season. They’re still struggling at home though, with just a 3-8-1 record in MSG. The Avalanche are the best team in the NHL, easily Cup favorites with a 19-2-6 record and playing elite hockey on both ends of the ice. They had a 17 game point streak come to an end on Thursday on Long Island, losing 6-3 to the Isles. Colorado dominated the first game between these teams with a 6-3 win a home. I love the Avs to bounce back here on the road and I’ll take them for 1.5 units. I’d lean the over but not enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay Nathan MacKinnon (who was left off the score sheet in that loss to the Isles), Martin Necas, Cale Makar, and Artemi Panarin to each get a point for half a unit.
Panthers vs. Blue Jackets (3:30)
Not the best matinee in the East. The Panthers are struggling this year as they try to deal with all their big injuries. They’re just 12-12-2 on the season and are now on a four game losing streak, coming off a 2-1 overtime loss at home to the Preds on Thursday. The Blue Jackets are coming off two wins in a row, beating the Red Wings 6-5 in a shootout at home on Thursday (nice cash on a player prop parlay in that one for me), but haven’t been great either, with a 13-9-5 record on the year. I’d lean Florida wins here at home and the over, but not enough to bet on either. I will take a half unit parlay on Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart, Kirill Marchenko, and Zach Werenski to each get a point.
Bruins vs. Devils (7:00)
This Eastern Conference matchup isn’t all that great with how these two teams are coming into tonight. The Bruins, coming off a 5-2 win at home against the Blues on Thursday, have far exceeded my expectations for them this season, currently in second place in the Atlantic with a 16-13 record, but I still don’t think they’re a good team. I do think the Devils are a good team, but they’re struggling as of late without Jack Hughes, on a four game losing streak, getting shut out 3-0 in each of their last two games for losses to Vegas and Dallas at home, falling to 16-11-1 on the season. I still think Jersey’s the better team here and they should win on the road, but with their struggles as of late, and that they’re in the second half of a back to back, I’m not touching them. I’d lean the under slightly, but not enough to bet that either, so I’ll lay off this game entirely.
Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens (7:00)
This should be a fun rivalry matchup up in Canada in the Atlantic Division. These teams split their first two games, each winning 5-2 at home. The Leafs have seemingly figured something out lately, now on a three game win streak to improve to 13-11-3 on the season, coming off an impressive 5-1 was in Carolina on Thursday. The Habs are playing pretty well too, improving to 14-9-3 on the year, coming off a 3-2 shootout win at home on Wednesday against the Jets, and have won four of their last six games after a slump. I’d slightly lean the Leafs win this at home, but not enough to bet it. Both of these teams have been very good offensively, but their defenses and goaltending have been bad, so I do like the over, which I’ll take for half a unit. I’ll also parlay William Nylander, Cole Caufield, and Nick Suzuki to each get a point for a unit. I’ll add Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies to that for a .3 unit long shot parlay. Let’s get a ton of goals here.
Senators vs. Blues (7:00)
Pretty bad cross conference matchup here, but when these teams played the night before Thanksgiving, the Blues surprisingly won the first game between these teams 4-3 at home. The Senators have been pretty good this season, with a 13-10-4 record, but are in a little bit of a slump right now, with just one win in their last four games, coming off a 4-2 loss at home to the Rangers on Thursday. The Blues have been awful, with a 9-12-7 record, playing bad on both ends of the ice, coming off a 5-2 loss in Boston on Thursday. I like the Sens to answer back here at home and I’ll take Ottawa for a unit. I’d lean the over, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also take Brady Tkachuk to get a point for half a unit against his hometown team that Big Walt played for.
Lightning vs. Islanders (7:00)
Interesting Eastern Conference matchup here. The Lightning are very good, leading the Atlantic Division with a 16-9-2 record, but are coming off two losses in a row. On Thursday they thought they tied up their game against the Penguins late before the worst review from the situation room in Toronto led to that game tying goal coming off the board for an absolute bullshit phantom hand pass. Horrendous, and it exemplifies that the NHL can’t stay out of their own way with these insane reviews that have almost nothing to do with scoring plays. The Islanders have been way better than I expected them to be, coming off a shocking 6-3 win at home against the Avs on Thursday for their second win in a row, improving to 15-10-3 on the year. They’ve struggled offensively, but have been very good on the back end. These teams just played on Long Island on Tuesday, with the Isles winning 2-1 at home. I like the Bolts to answer back here at home and I’ll take Tampa for half a unit. I’d slightly lean the under, but didn’t even consider betting it. I considered a parlay on Guentzel and Hagel to each get a point, but don’t think it’s worth the -135, so I’ll just stick with the moneyline in this game.
Hurricanes vs. Predators (7:00)
Huge cross conference mismatch here, but the way these teams have played lately makes it a bit more interesting. The Hurricanes are having a great year, playing great hockey on both ends of the ice, but they’re coming off a pretty bad loss, losing 5-1 at home to the Leafs on Thursday. Meanwhile the Predators have been one of the worst teams in the NHL this season, but are playing pretty good lately with four wins in their last five games, coming off a 2-1 overtime win on the road against the Panthers on Thursday. Statistically they’ve been bad on both ends of the ice though, and this little winning run doesn’t mean much to me. I like Carolina to win here at home and I’ll take them in regulation for a unit. I’d slightly lean the under, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis to each get a point for half a unit.
Flames vs. Mammoth (7:00)
Pretty bad match here in the West. The Flames are coming off a surprising 4-1 win at home against the Wild on Thursday, but they’re still a bad team with one of the worst offenses in the NHL, and are 10-15-4 on the season. The Mammoth are coming off two wins in a row, beating the Canucks 4-1 last night after a 7-0 win in Anaheim on Wednesday after going on a bad run with only three wins in their previous 14 games. Utah’s been pretty solid on both ends of the ice. The first time these teams played early in the season, the Mammoth won 3-1 at home. I’d lean they win here on the road again, but I don’t like it enough to bet on with them in the second half of a back to back. I’d also lean the under, but not enough to bet it. I’ll lay off this game entirely.
Kings vs. Blackhawks (9:00)
Not the best Western Conference matchup here for the second time in three days. These teams split their first two games this season, each winning on the road, with LA winning 3-1 in Chicago in October and the Blackhawks answering back with 2-1 win on the road on Thursday night. The Kings have struggled lately, with just two wins in their last eight games, falling to 12-8-7 on the season. Their defense has been elite, but their offense has been bad all season. The Blackhawks have played surprisingly well on both ends of the ice, but have struggled recently too, with just two wins in their last eight games. I’d lean the Kings answer back at home here tonight, but the price at -218 is insane. They should be around -150 favorites, and I’m not touching it at that price. I’d lean the under too, but not enough to bet it at 5.5. I like Connor Bedard to light the lamp though, which I’ll take for half a unit.
Oilers vs. Jets (10:00)
This should be a pretty solid game out West. The Oilers have struggled all year defensively, but their offense has been good, as expected. They won 9-4 in a blowout at home against Seattle on Thursday for their third win in their last five games, improving to a still lousy 12-11-5 record on the season. The Jets are in the second half of a back to back tonight, beating my Sabres 4-1 at home to answer back for their 5-1 loss in Buffalo on Monday. They’ve struggled recently without Connor Hellebuyck, with just two wins in their last eight games to fall to 14-12-1 on the season. Edmonton should definitely be favored in this game with the Jets on the road for the second half of a back to back, but the price is way off here. The -200 is way too expensive to me, so I’ll stay off the side. I’d slightly lean the over, but not enough to bet that either. I will take a play prop parlay in this one though with half a unit on Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl to each get a point.
Canucks vs. Wild (10:00)
Lousy mismatch here on West. The Canucks are the worst team in the Western Conference now, falling behind the Preds and Flames with their 10-15-3 record. They’re on a four game losing streak with just one win in their last eight games, in the second half of a back to back tonight, coming off a 4-1 loss at home to Utah last night. Vancouver’s struggled big time on both ends of the ice. The Wild have struggled offensively this season, but their defense and goaltending has been elite. They’re coming off a 4-1 loss in Calgary on Thursday, which was quite surprising, but are still a solid 15-8-5 on the season, with a 12-2-2 record in their last 16 games. The Wild won the first game between these teams on November 1st 5-2 at home. I like Minnesota to bounce back here on the road and I’ll take them for a unit. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet it at 5.5. I’ll also parlay Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy to each get a point here for half a unit, which has been a very reliable combo this year.
Kraken vs. Red Wings (10:00)
Not the best game here, but kind of an interesting matchup to end the night. The Kraken have struggled lately, on a four game losing streak after home and home losses to the Oilers, getting blown out 9-4 on the road in their worst loss of the season on Thursday to fall to 11-8-6 on the season. Seattle’s been good defensively this year, not giving up much, but their offense hasn’t done shit. The Red Wings are 14-11-3 on the year, struggling on the back end. They’ve bad lousy lately too, with just one win in their last six games, coming off a 6-5 shootout loss in Columbus on Thursday. Detroit won the first game between these teams 4-2 at home. I think they’re the better overall team and I’d lean they win this one, but didn’t even consider betting it. The total’s a complete toss up to me. I thought about parlaying Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond to each get a point here, but it’s not worth the -165, so I’ll lay off this game entirely.
Bets
1.5u Avalanche ML (-170)
.5u parlay: MacKinnon/Necas/Makar/Panarin 1+ point each (+191)
.5u parlay: Marchand/Reinhart/Marchenko/Werenski 1+ point each (+296)
.5u Maple Leafs/Canadiens over 6.5 (-115)
1u parlay: Nylander/Suzuki/Caufield 1+ point each (+138)
.3u parlay: Nylander/Suzuki/Caufield/Matthews/Knies/Tavares 1+ point each (+440)
1u Senators ML (-155)
.5u Brady Tkachuk over 0.5 point (-170)
.5u Lightning ML (-148)
1u Hurricanes in regulation (-155)
.5u parlay: Sebastian Aho/Seth Jarvis 1+ point each (-142)
.5u Connor Bedard over 0.5 goal (+170)
.5u parlay: Scheifele/Connor/McDavid/Draisaitl 1+ point each (+185)
1u Wild ML (-148)
.5u parlay: Kaprivoz/Boldy 1+ point each (-125)
Record: 196-208-1 (-33 units)
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