Pretty much broke even last night, just losing a few dollars as I went 7-8. Big NHL slate today for a Sunday with eight games (again this league can’t stay out of its own way). Let’s win!
Flyers vs. Avalanche (1:00)
Pretty big cross conference mismatch here, but I could see this being a decent game as it competes with a full NFL slate. The Flyers have played well this season, exceeding my expectations defensively, but they’re still not great offensively. Coming off a 5-2 win at home against the Sabres on Wednesday, they’ve won six of their last eight games. The Avalanche are the best team in the NHL, in the second half of a back to back, coming off an electric finish from Nathan MacKinnon to beat the Rangers 3-2 in overtime on the road in yesterday’s matinee, getting me a nice double winner. Colorado’s elite on both ends of the ice, easily the Cup favorites with a 20-2-6 record. Even in the second half of a back to back, I like Colorado to win here and I’ll take them for a unit. I’d slightly lean the under at 6.5, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also go back to my old reliable on the Avs and parlay MacKinnon, Makar, and Necas to each get a point for half a unit.
Panthers vs. Islanders (5:00)
Interesting Eastern Conference matchup here with both of these teams in the second half of back to backs, both coming off wins yesterday. The Panthers are struggling with a ton of injuries this year, and are just 13-12-2 on the season. Yesterday they ended a four game losing streak with an electric 7-6 overtime win at home against the Blue Jackets (easy +296 winner on that game for me on a four leg player point parlay). The Islanders have impressed me, playing far better defensively than I expected. They’re on a three game win streak, coming off a 2-0 shutout win in Tampa last night (loser for me) to improve to 16-10-3 on the season. I still think Florida’s the better team here, but not a shot I’m betting it at the -170 price. I do like the under in this game though with two underperforming offenses, which I’ll take for half a unit. For half a unit as well, I’ll also parlay Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand to each get a point.
Hurricanes vs. Sharks (5:00)
Huge cross conference mismatch here, even with the Canes in the second half of a back to back. Carolina’s been very good this year with a 17-8-2 record. Last night they dominated the Predators, getting out to a 5-0 lead to go on to win 6-3 at home for their third win in their last four games. The Sharks are 13-13-3 and haven’t been great, with just one win in their last four games, coming off a 4-1 loss in Dallas on Friday night that was far closer than that score looks. Late in the game, Macklin Celebrini had his goal that would’ve made it 3-2 taken off the board for yet another bullshit offsides call (and lost me another player prop parlay). Statistically San Jose hasn’t been great on either end of the ice. The Canes won the first game between these teams with a 5-1 blowout win on the road in the first week of the season. I like Carolina to win again here and I’ll take their puck line for half a unit with the moneyline at -325 and regulation line at -205. I’d lean the over, but not enough to bet it at 6.5 or buy down. I’ll also parlay Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, and Macklin Celebrini to each get a point for half a unit.
Stars vs. Penguins (6:00)
This should be a really fun cross conference game here. The Stars have been elite on both ends of the ice, with a 19-5-5 record, only trailing Colorado in the NHL standings. Coming off a 4-1 win at home against the Sharks on Friday night, they’re on a nine game point streak with a 12-1-2 record in their last 15 games. The Penguins, coming off a 4-3 win in Tampa on Thursday (that included the worst call and review I’ve ever seen for a phantom hand pass on what would’ve been the Lightning’s game tying goal late) they have four wins in their last five games to improve to 14-7-5 on the season. They’ve impressed me this year when I thought they’d be in the basement of the league, but instead have played well on both ends of the ice. I like Dallas to win here at home and I’ll take them for half a unit. I’d slightly lean the under, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, Sidney Crosby, and Wyatt Johnston to each get a point for half a unit. I’ll also take Evgeni Malkin to get a point as well.
Canadiens vs. Blues (7:00)
Not the best game here, with both of these teams in the second half of back to backs, both with wins as underdogs last night. The Habs have been so much fun to watch this year, with an electric offense of their young stars, but pretty lousy defensive play. Coming off a 2-1 shootout win in Toronto last night, they’ve won five of their last seven games to improve to 15-9-3 on the season. The Blues have been terrible all season on both ends of the ice, but coming off an impressive goaltending performance from Joel Hofer last night in Ottawa to win 2-1, they’ve won three of their last five games to improve to 10-12-7 on the year. I like Montreal to win here at home and I’ll them for half a unit. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet it with how poorly both of these teams have played defensively. I’ll also parlay Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki to each get a point for half a unit.
Rangers vs. Golden Knights (7:00)
This cross conference matchup should be a fun game. The Rangers have played far better lately, improving to 15-12-3 on the season with a 5-1-1 record in their last seven games. They’re still struggling at home though, where they’re just 3-8-2, in the second half of a back to back tonight, coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Avalanche in a matinee at home yesterday. The Golden Knights are very good, on a three game win streak coming off a 3-0 shutout win in Jersey on Friday to improve to 13-6-8 on the season. Especially with the Rags at home and in the second half of a back to back, I like Vegas to win here and I’ll take them for half a unit. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and Artemi Panarin to each get a point for half a unit.
Capitals vs. Blue Jackets (7:00)
Pretty huge mismatch here in the Metro Division. This is already the third meeting between these teams this season, with the Caps winning both previous games 5-1, on the road in October and at home in November. The Caps are playing awesome hockey on both ends of the ice. They had a six game win streak end of Friday night with a 4-3 shootout loss in Anaheim and have a 9-1-1 record in their last eleven games to improve to 17-9-3 on the season. The Blue Jackets have been terrible with a 13-9-6 record, but have have been hanging in games. They’re on a five game point streak with just two wins in their last seven games, but have a 6-2-6 record in their last 14 games, in the second half of a back to back tonight, coming off a 7-6 OT loss on the road against the Panthers yesterday. I love the Caps to win here at home, and I’ll take them in regulation for a unit. I’d lean the over, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay Kirill Marchenko, Zach Werenski, Alex Ovechkin, and Tom Wilson to each get a point here for half a unit.
Ducks vs. Blackhawks (8:00)
Pretty fun game here for the last meeting of the season between these young and upcoming teams. The Ducks have been so much fun this year, led by their young core. Coming off a 4-3 shootout win at home against the Capitals on Friday night, they lead the Pacific Division with a 17-10-1 record. Their offense has been very good, but the defense has been quite the struggle, and that’s been made worse with both of their top two goalies out injured. The Blackhawks are in the second half of back to back, getting shut out 6-0 in LA last night to fall to 12-10-6 on the season, with just two wins in their last nine games. Statistically they’ve been pretty good on both ends of the ice. Chicago won both previous games between these teams, 2-1 in overtime in October at home and then 5-3 at home in November. I’d lean the Ducks win here at home for sure to avoid the season sweep, especially with the Blackhawks on the road for the second half of a back to back, but the price is way too expensive with the goaltending issues, so I’ll lay off it. I do like the over though, which I’ll take for half a unit. I’ll also parlay Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson, and Cutter Gauthier to each get a point for half a unit. I considered adding Troy Terry to that too, but I’ll just stick with those three.
Bets
1u Avalanche ML (-146)
.5u parlay: MacKinnon/Makar/Necas 1+ point each (+113)
.5u Panthers/Islanders under 6.5 (-135)
.5u parlay: Marchand/Reinhart 1+ point (+102)
.5u parlay: Aho/Jarvis/Celebrini 1+ point each (+145)
.5u Stars ML (-178)
.5u parlay: Robertson/Rantanen/Crosby/Johnston 1+ point each (+224)
.5u Evgeni Malkin over 0.5 point (-125)
.5u Canadiens ML (-142)
.5u parlay: Caufield/Suzuki 1+ point each (-150)
.5u Golden Knights ML (-170)
.5u parlay: Eichel/Stone/Panarin 1+ point each (+172)
1u Capitals in regulation (-135)
.5u parlay: Marchenko/Werenski/Ovechkin/Wilson 1+ point each (+286)
.5u Ducks/Blackhawks over 6.5 (-110)
.5u parlay: Bedard/Carlsson/Gauthier 1+ point each (TBD)
Record: 203-216-1 (-33.13 units)
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