It’s been unbelievable how bad my NHL picks have been this year and yesterday was no different as I went 1-6 to lose 3.34 units. It’s been brutal and then I look back on my picks afterwards every night and I feel like I read those games fine, and they didn’t work out, but now here we are two months in the season in a gigantic hole. It’s fucked. Tonight we have a solid five game slate, let’s see if we can buck this losing.
Lightning vs. Panthers (7:00)
The Battle of Florida’s always awesome and with how these teams are playing right now, this should be a pretty fun game. The Lightning are struggling a bit lately, falling to a still Atlantic Division leading 18-11-3 on the year. Coming off a 3-2 shootout loss on Long Island on Saturday, they just have two wins in their last seven games after they had went on a seven game win streak. The Panthers are still in the midst of a ton of injuries, but have impressed me lately. Coming off a shocking 4-0 shutout win in Dallas on Saturday, they have four wins in their last five games to improve to 16-13-2 on the year. Tampa won the first game between these teams 3-1 on the road in November. I still think the Bolts are the better team here and should win at home against their in-state rivals, but with Florida playing well and Vasilevskiy still out for this big rivalry matchup, I’ll stay off it. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet that either. I was going to parlay Kucherov and Marchand to each get a point here, but with Kucherov being -430 and the Marchy only being -148, I’ll just take Marchand over 0.5 point straight up for half a unit.
Rangers vs. Ducks (7:00)
Interesting cross conference matchup here. The Rangers have been a complete mixed bag this year. They’re 16-13-4 after ended a three game losing streak with a 5-4 overtime win at home against the Habs on Saturday, just their fourth win at MSG this year where they’re 4-8-3. New York’s been great on the back end, but they’ve struggled offensively all season. The Ducks are coming off two losses in a row, falling 4-1 in Jersey on Saturday. They’ve played the opposite hockey with good offense led by their young core but a struggling defense. This game’s a complete toss up on the side to me, and I don’t even have a lean on it. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet it. I do like a good handful of player props here and have a few ways I’m going to bet them. I’ll parlay Artemi Panarin, Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and Troy Terry to each get a point for half a unit. Then I’ll also parlay just Panarin and Carlsson for half a unit, and I’ll individually take Gauthier and Terry for half a unit each.
Jets vs. Senators (7:30)
This cross conference game is interesting to me since I think they’re both good teams, but they’re both struggling quite a bit lately. The Jets are 15-15-1, ending a three game losing streak on Saturday in an impressive 5-1 win in Connor Hellebuyck’s return between the pipes, just their third win in their last twelve games. The Sens are 14-13-4 with just two wins in their last eight games, losing 3-2 in Minnesota on Saturday afternoon when they allowed the game winner with just 24 seconds left in regulation. With the best goalie in the world back, I’d lean Winnipeg wins here at home, but not quite enough to bet them. I’d like to see how they play again with their leader in goal, since they looked so broken without him on both ends of the ice. The total at 5.5 is a toss up to me, which I’ll stay off. Even in their losing run, I have been winning nicely on the parlay of Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor to each get a point that I keep running back. I considered adding in Tim Stutzle to that to juice it up, but I’ll just stick with those two Jets, and lay the -157 for half a unit.
Blues vs. Predators (8:00)
Both of these teams have been awful all year, but their both playing their best hockey right now, which should amount to this being a fun, yet shitty game. The Blues are coming off a 3-2 win against the Blackhawks on Friday night, and with three wins in their last five games, they’re now a still lousy 12-14-7 on the season. The Predators have improved to 12-15-4 on the year, with six wins in their last nine games, coming off a 4-2 loss in Colorado on Saturday (easiest bet of all time that I got a little too cute on structuring and ended up breaking even). These teams just played last Thursday in Nashville with the Preds dominating for a 7-2 win at home. I’d slightly lean the Blues answer back here and the over, but not enough to bet on either, so I’ll lay off this game entirely.
Stars vs. Kings (8:00)
Solid Western Conference matchup between two likely playoff teams to end the night. The Stars are coming off two pretty surprising losses in a row, getting shut out 4-0 at home by the Panthers on Saturday after a 5-2 loss in Minnesota on Thursday after a 14-1-2 run, falling to a still fantastic 21-7-5 on the season. They’ve played spectacular hockey on both ends of the ice. The Kings have been bad offensively all season, but quite good on the back end. They’re 14-8-9 on the year, coming off two bad OT losses in a row, 2-1 at home to the Flames on Saturday and 3-2 in Seattle last Wednesday. The first game between these teams went to overtime, with the Kings getting a 3-2 win on the road in October. I like the Stars to answer back here and I’ll take them for a unit. I also love the under, which I’ll take for a unit as well. I’ll also parlay Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, and Wyatt Johnston to each get a point for half a unit.
Bets
.5u Brad Marchand over 0.5 point (-148)
.5u parlay: Panarin/Carlsson/Gauthier/Terry 1+ point each (+338)
.5u parlay: Panarin/Carlsson 1+ point each (+110)
.5u Cutter Gauthier over 0.5 point (-135)
.5u Troy Terry over 0.5 point (-160)
.5u parlay: Scheifele/Connor 1+ point each (-157)
1u Stars ML (-135)
1u Stars/Kings under 5.5 (-135)
.5u parlay: Rantanen/Robertson/Johnston 1+ point each (+129)
Record: 251-272-1 (-40.99 units)
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