Lost my only bet for half a unit last night with Connor Bedard getting two points but not lighting the lamp. Today we have a huge 13 game NHL slate, let’s crush it!!
Devils vs. Ducks (12:30)
Interesting matinee to get the day started with this cross conference game. The Devils are struggling big time right now, still missing Jack Hughes. They’ve fallen to 17-13-1 on the season with just one win in their last seven games, coming off an 8-4 blowout loss at home to the Lightning on Thursday (easy winner for me). The Ducks young stars on their offense have been a ton of fun to watch this year. They’re tied at the top of the Pacific Division with Vegas with a 19-11-1 record, coming off a 5-2 loss on Long Island on Thursday to end a three game win streak. Anaheim won the first game between these teams last month 4-1 at home. I’d lean they win again here as a road dog, but don’t like it enough to bet on. I’d slightly lean the over as well, but not enough to bet that either. I will go back to my pretty reliable player props on the Ducks here though and I’ll parlay Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and Troy Terry to each get a point for half a unit. The prices on Gauthier and Terry are cheap enough too, that I’ll take them each individually for half a unit as well.
Wild vs. Senators (2:00)
This isn’t a great cross conference matchup. The Wild have been fantastic lately. Coming off a huge 5-2 win at home against the Stars on Thursday (triple loser there for me), they’re now 17-9-5 on the season with a 14-3-2 record in their last 19 games. In a blockbuster deal yesterday they acquired Quinn Hughes from the Canucks. A huge addition for a Cup contender. The Senators have been struggling lately. They ended a three game losing streak on Thursday with a 6-3 win on the road in Columbus (easy win on the over). I like Minnesota to win at home here and I’ll take them for a unit. I’d slightly lean the over at 5.5, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy to each get a point for a unit, and I’ll take Drake Batherson to get a point for half a unit.
Penguins vs. Sharks (3:00)
This game isn’t great, but I could see it being pretty fun. The Penguins are on a three game losing streak, falling to a still decent 14-8-7 on the season, coming off a 4-2 loss at home to the Habs on Thursday. They’ve been good on both ends of the ice, and made an interesting trade this week, sending Tristan Jarry to Edmonton in exchange for Stuart Skinner and a few other pieces. I think that move’s not great for the Pens right now, but guess we’ll see how Skinner does with a change of scenery. The Sharks have been fun and are 15-14-3 on the year, coming off a 3-2 overtime win in Toronto on Thursday, tying it with 1:25 left in regulation to erase a 2-0 deficit with Alexander Wennberg completing the comeback in OT. Pittsburgh won the first game between these teams 3-0 on the road in October. I’d lean they win here again, but don’t like the -162. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet that either. The only play I have on this one is I’ll parlay Sidney Crosby and Macklin Celebrini to each get a point for half a unit.
Islanders vs. Lightning (3:30)
This should be a pretty solid matchup in the East between two teams that have both played really well. The Islanders have surprised me this year, with an 18-11-3 record and even though their offense hasn’t been great, their defense has been very good. They have five wins in their last six games, coming off a 5-2 win at home on Thursday against the Ducks. They’ll be without their highest scorer today though with Bo Horvat out injured. The Lightning lead the Atlantic with their 18-11-2 record, coming off two big wins on the road, blowing out the Devils 8-4 on Thursday after dominating the Habs 6-1 on Tuesday. The Isles have won both previous matchups this month between these teams, 2-1 at home on the 2nd, then with a 2-0 shutout on the road in Tampa on the 6th. I like the Bolts to avoid the season sweep here and I’ll take them for half a unit. I thought about juicing that up a little bit with Kucherov to get a point, but that’s not worth it to me with him at -400. I’d lean the under with how low scoring both of these prior games were, but not enough to bet it.
Maple Leafs vs. Oilers (7:00)
Great cross conference matchup here between two very similar teams to start the evening slate. Coming off blowing a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 in overtime at home to the Sharks on Thursday, the Leafs are on a six game point streak, with four wins in their last six games to improve to 14-11-5 on the season. The Oilers are on a four game point streak, coming off a 4-1 win at home on Thursday against the Red Wings, bouncing back from their 4-3 overtime loss to the Sabres on Tuesday to improve to 14-11-6 on the year. They made a solid move, trading Stuart Skinner to the Penguins on Friday for Tristan Jarry, which should help them. The side on this game’s a complete toss up to me. With two great offenses and two bad defenses in this one, I’d definitely lean the over, but both of these teams have trended under quite a bit lately so I’ll lay off it. I will parlay Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and William Nylander to each get a point for a unit. I thought about taking Connor to get over 1.5 himself, but don’t like that enough at even money to take it.
Rangers vs. Canadiens (7:00)
I’d anticipate a pretty fun game here tonight in the East, even though I don’t really think either of these teams are great. The Rangers are 15-13-4 on the season and have been brutal at home, with just a 3-8-3 record at MSG. They’re on a three game losing streak, getting shut out 3-0 in Chicago on Wednesday night. Their offense has been terrible, but their defense and goaltending has been elite. The Habs are playing the complete opposite style of hockey with a fun, solid offense but they’ve been garbage on the back end. Coming off a 4-2 win in Pittsburgh on Thursday, they’re now 16-11-3 on the season. In the first game between these teams in Montreal in October, the Rangers got a 4-3 win, scoring three goals in the first 5:51 of the third period, fueled by a four point night from Artemi Panarin. With how bad the Rags have been at home this year, I’d lean the Canadiens win here, but not enough to bet it. I’d slightly lean the under, but didn’t consider touching the total in this game. I’ll parlay Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Artemi Panarin to each get a point for half a unit.
Flyers vs. Hurricanes (7:00)
Not the best matchup here in the Metro, although these teams are only separated by four points in the standings. I don’t think the Flyers are all that great of a team, but they’re playing much better than I expected this year. Coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to Vegas on Thursday, they’re 16-9-4 on the season, with a lousy offense but a pretty good defense. I do think the Canes though are very good. They’re 19-9-2, playing well on both ends of the ice. They have five wins in their last seven games, coming off a 3-2 shootout win in DC on Thursday. These teams met in the first week of the season in Carolina, with the Canes needing overtime for a 4-3 win at home. I like them to win again here on the road and I’ll take them for half a unit. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet it. I considered parlaying Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis to each get a point, but anticipating a lower scoring game and neither of those guys (who I keep betting on) averaging over a point per game, so I’ll just stick with the Hurricanes moneyline.
Blue Jackets vs. Golden Knights (7:00)
Big mismatch for this cross conference game, and I love the price on it. The Blue Jackets have been terrible. Coming off a 6-3 loss at home to the Senators on Thursday, they’re on a four game losing streak with just two wins in their last ten games to drop to 13-12-6 on the season. The Golden Knights lead the Pacific with a 15-6-9 record, on six game point streak coming off a 3-2 overtime win in Philly on Thursday, with the only loss in that span coming in a shootout on the road on Long Island on Tuesday. Vegas has seemed to figure out their overtime woes lately too, with three of those five wins needing more than 60 minutes. I love the Knights here and I’ll take them for a unit. I’d very slightly lean the under, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and Zach Werenski to each get a point (I considered adding Kirill Marchenko to that, but decided not to) for half a unit, and I’ll take Eichel to get over 1.5 points for half a unit as well.
Jets vs. Capitals (7:00)
This would’ve been a great game, but without Connor Hellebuyck, who’s getting ready to make his return from injury soon, in between the pipes for the Jets, they’ve been an awful team, taking the luster off this game. Coming off a 6-3 loss at home to the Bruins on Thursday, Winnipeg’s on a three game losing streak, now just 14-15-1 with only two wins in their last eleven games. The Capitals on the other hand have been on fire, tied with Carolina at the top of the Metro with an 18-9-4 record. They’re coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to the Canes on Thursday, but on a nine game point streak with an impressive 10-1-2 record in their last 13 games. The Caps won the first game between these teams 4-3 at home last month and I like them to win again here on the road in a good bounce back spot for them. I’ll take Washington for a unit. I’d lean the over, but not enough to bet it at 6.5. I will also take a shot on Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Ovi, and Tom Wilson to each get a point for half a unit.
Blackhawks vs. Red Wings (8:00)
I wouldn’t say this is a great cross conference matchup by any means. The Blackhawks are in the second half of a back to back, coming off a 3-2 loss in St. Louis last night, but the bigger impact from that game is that Connor Bedard injured his shoulder on the final faceoff of the game with a second to go. Chicago’s struggling right now after their better than expected start to the year, with just three wins in their last twelve games to fall to 13-12-6 on the season. The Red Wings are coming off a 4-1 loss in Edmonton on Thursday that ended a three game winning streak for them, and they’ve been decent lately to improve to 17-12-3. They got embarrassed in the first game between these teams at home, getting blown out 5-1 on November 9th. Especially without Bedard in the lineup tonight, I like Detroit to answer back here. I’ll parlay the Red Wings moneyline with Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond, and Dylan Larkin to each get a point for half a unit. I’d lean the over a bit, but not enough to bet it.
Stars vs. Panthers (8:00)
This cross conference game should be pretty solid. The Stars have been a great team this year, second in the NHL behind the Avalanche with a 21-6-5 record. They’re coming off a 5-2 loss that despite the Wild being very good too, was a bit surprising to me (and I went 0-3 on that game), ending a four game win streak and eleven game point streak, just their second regulation loss in their last 18 games. The Panthers have struggled with some many injuries this year, and they’re 15-13-2 on the season, having a three game win streak end with a 6-2 loss in Colorado on Thursday (I should’ve doubled my parlay on that game). Florida did win the first game between these teams though, 4-3 in a shootout at home on November 1st. I like the Stars to answer back here at home and I’ll take them for a unit. I’ll also parlay Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, and Brad Marchand to each get a point for half a unit. I’d slightly lean the over, but I’m not touching it.
Avalanche vs. Predators (9:00)
Huge mismatch here. The Avalanche are the best team in the NHL and easily the Stanley Cup favorites. They’re 22-2-7 on the season, and perfect in regulation at home, with a 12-0-2 record in Denver, coming off a 6-2 win at home against the Panthers on Thursday. This teams ELITE on both ends of the ice. The Predators are playing much better lately, improving to a still lousy 12-14-4 record with six wins in their last eight games, coming off a 7-2 blowout win against the Blues on Thursday. They’ve been awful on both ends of the ice though. Shockingly these teams split their first two games in Nashville. As expected, the Avs won the first game with a 3-0 shutout on the road in November, but I was shocked with the results of their game on Tuesday. Cale Makar tied up the game (and hit a nice player prop parlay for me) on the power play with eight seconds to go in regulation, but the Preds still figured out a way to win it 4-3 in a shootout. I love Colorado to answer back here with a blowout win at home. The price makes sense on it too at -355. The way I’m going to play this is with a unit parlay on the Avs moneyline with Cale Makar and Martin Necas to each get a point. I’ll also take the Avs puck line for half a unit, and the Nathan MacKinnon to get over 1.5 points for half a unit.
Kings vs. Flames (10:00)
Boring Pacific Division matchup to end the night. The Kings are 14-8-8 on the season, but not playing all that great lately. Coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Kraken that fucked me on Wednesday night, where they gave up the game tying goal on the power play with 26 seconds left in regulation and then took another penalty in OT, losing on that power play. The Flames have improved a bit lately with seven wins in their last eleven games to move to 12-16-4 on the year. They had a three game win streak get snapped with a 4-3 loss at home to the Red Wings on Wednesday night, falling short of their comeback effort when they were down 4-0 after the second period. I think the Kings are the far better team here, and they should win at home, but the price is too inflated at -185, so I’ll stay off it. With two decent defenses and two lousy offenses I like the under though, which I’ll take for half a unit.
Bets
.5u parlay: Leo Carlsson/Cutter Gauthier/Troy Terry 1+ point each (+194)
.5u Cutter Gauthier over 0.5 point (-155)
.5u Troy Terry over 0.5 point (-155)
1u Wild ML (-122)
1u parlay: Kirill Kaprizov/Matt Boldy 1+ point each (-145)
.5u Drake Batherson over 0.5 point (-145)
.5u parlay: Sidney Crosby/Macklin Celebrini 1+ point each (-116)
.5u Lightning ML (-130)
1u parlay: Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl/William Nylander 1+ point each (+116)
.5u parlay: Cole Caufield/Nick Suzuki/Artemi Panarin 1+ point each (+140)
.5u Hurricanes ML (-170)
1u Golden Knights ML (-148)
.5u parlay: Jack Eichel/Mark Stone/Zach Werenski 1+ point each (+164)
.5u Jack Eichel over 1.5 points (+180)
1u Capitals ML (-125)
.5u parlay: Kyle Connor/Mark Scheifele/Alex Ovechkin/Tom Wilson 1+ pt each (+284)
.5u parlay: Red Wings ML/Larkin/Raymond/DeBrincat 1+ point each (+172)
1u Stars ML (-148)
.5u parlay: Rantanen/Robertson/Johnston/Marchand 1+ point each (+246)
1u parlay: Avalanche ML/Martin Necas point/Cale Makar point (-145)
.5u Avalanche -1.5 (-130)
.5u Nathan MacKinnon over 1.5 points (-140)
.5u Kings/Flames under 5.5 (-115)
Record: 240-253-1 (-32.77 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 