I FINALLY got a winning night in the NHL yesterday, going 5-4 to win 1.25 units. I’ll take it, MUCH needed. Let’s win again on tonight’s big ten game slate!
Bruins vs. Mammoth (7:00)
Solid cross conference matchup to start the night. The Bruins are playing way better than I expected with a 19-14 record. They had a four game win streak end on Sunday with a 6-2 loss in Minnesota. Utah’s been inconsistent after their hot start to the season, now 16-15-3 coming off two wins in a row after a 5-4 overtime win in Pittsburgh on Sunday. In the first game between these teams in Utah back in October, the Mammoth won 3-2 at home. I’d slightly lean their better defense gets them the win here on the road but didn’t even consider betting the side in this matchup. I’d lean the over, but don’t see any value in betting it at 6.5. On the Boston side, I do like a player prop parlay and I’ll take David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie to each get a point for half a unit. I considered adding Nick Schmaltz or Clayton Keller from the Utah side to that, but don’t see any value in it, so I’ll just stick with the two Bruins.
Maple Leafs vs. Blackhawks (7:00)
Kind of a lousy cross conference matchup here. The Leafs have really struggled this season, with just a 14-12-5 record, coming off a 6-3 loss at home to the Oilers on Saturday. The Blackhawks have fallen off as well, dropping to 13-13-6 on the season with just three wins in their last 13 games, coming off a 4-0 shutout loss to the Red Wings on Saturday with Patrick Kane putting on a show in a return to Chicago. More significant to the Blackhawks though, by far their best player, Connor Bedard, who’s having a great year, was placed on the IR for a shoulder injury he sustained in their loss to St. Louis on Friday. The Blackhawks won the first game between these teams 3-2 at home last month. Especially without Bedard in the lineup, I like the Leafs to answer back to win this one at home, but the price is too high at -205. To bring that down, rather than just taking them in regulation, I’ll parlay the moneyline with William Nylander to get a point for half a unit. I’d slightly lean the under, but not enough to bet it.
Canadiens vs. Flyers (7:00)
I wouldn’t say this is a great matchup in the Eastern Conference, but I’d expect it to actually be a really fun game to watch. The Habs are 17-11-4 on the year, and they’re on a three game point streak, coming off a big 4-1 win at home against the Oilers on Sunday night. They played pretty inconsistently though, with a really good offense, but plenty of struggles on the back end. The Flyers have had the opposite problem, with a great defense but not a great offense, yet they’ve been pretty solid this year with a 16-9-6 record. They’re on a four game point streak, but have lost their last three in a row, losing both games in shootouts in a home and home against Carolina on Saturday and Sunday. The first game between these teams in Montreal went to a shootout with the Flyers getting a 5-4 win on the road. The side of this one’s a total toss up to me, and I’ll stay off it. With the total at 5.5, I’d lean the over, but not enough to bet it. I’ll go back to my old reliable on the Canadiens though and parlay Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield to each get a point for half a unit.
Red Wings vs. Islanders (7:00)
When I first looked at this game, my first thought was boring, but then the more I looked at it, this should actually be a really solid matchup. The Red Wings have played fantastic lately, tied with Tampa at the top of the Atlantic Division with an 18-12-3 record. Coming off a 4-0 shutout win in Chicago on Saturday, they’ve won four of their last five games, with a 5-1-2 record in their last eight. I don’t think they’ve been spectacular on either end of the ice though this year. The Islanders are playing great too, impressing me after my preseason expectations for them. They’re now 19-11-3, on a three game win streak coming off a 3-2 shootout win at home against the Lightning on Saturday and they’ve now won six of their last seven games. The defense for the Isles and Ilya Sorokin between the pipes have been great, but their offense isn’t all that good. They also don’t have their leading scorer Bo Horvat, who’s out with injury. The Isles dominated the first two games between these teams, winning 7-2 at home in October and with a 5-0 shutout on the road in November. I’d lean the Red Wings avoid the season sweep with a win at home tonight, but not enough to bet it. I’d also slightly lean the under, but not enough to bet that either. I will take a little bit of a shot here and take a half unit parlay of Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond, and Dylan Larkin to each get a point.
Rangers vs. Canucks (7:00)
Terrible cross conference matchup. The Rangers have been complete dogshit at home, with a 4-9-3 record in MSG, in the second half of a back to back tonight, coming off a 4-1 loss at home to the Ducks to fall to 16-14-4 on the season. They have just one win in their last five games, but have a 5-3-2 record in their last ten games. New York’s been great defensively and Igor Shesterkin, who had a meltdown after last night’s loss, has been fantastic, but their offense is garbage. The Canucks on the other hand, who just made a huge blockbuster deal last week, sending their captain and easily best player Quinn Hughes to the Wild, are complete garbage. They’re the worst team in the NHL with a 12-17-3 record, and I only expect them to get worse. Coming off a 2-1 win on Sunday in Jersey, they have just four wins in their last 16 games. The Rags won the first game between these teams with a 2-0 shutout on the road in October. Even with all their problems at home, I’d lean they bounce back with a win at MSG tonight, but not a fucking shot I’m betting them, especially in the second half of a back to back. I do like the under though since neither of these teams can score, and I’ll take it for half a unit. I wanted to take Artemi Panarin to get a point here, but at -235, it isn’t worth taking straight up, and with him averaging a point per game I don’t think its worth taking the over 1.5, and there’s no one else to parlay him with since these teams are both filled with bums.
Blue Jackets vs. Ducks (7:00)
Not a great cross conference matchup, but this should be a pretty fun game to watch. The Blue Jackets have struggled this year. They’re 13-13-6 and on a five game losing streak with just two wins in their last eleven games, coming off a 3-2 loss at home to the Golden Knights on Saturday. The Ducks are in the second half of a back to back, coming off a 4-1 on the road against the Rangers last night, now tied with the Golden Knights at the top of the Pacific Division with a 20-12-1 record. Even in the second half of a back to back, I’d lean Anaheim wins here on the road, with a great offense but a struggling defense, but don’t like it enough to bet on. I do like the over in this one though, which I’ll take for half a unit. I keep getting screwed on one of the three players on the Ducks I keep taking to get points, Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and Troy Terry, but I’ll go right back to them all here and parlay those three, along with Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko to all get a point for a .2u long shot parlay at a nice +573 number. I thought of taking Gauthier and Terry individually to get a point, but you have to go 2-0 to make a profit on those, so then I thought about parlaying them, which I don’t love, so I’ll just stick with the small longer shot.
Penguins vs. Oilers (7:30)
This wouldn’t be a great cross conference matchup normally, but these teams just made a big trade last week swapping goaltenders, which makes it quite interesting to me. Stuart Skinner will be making his Penguins debut against his old team vs. Tristan Jarry against his old team. Overall though it isn’t a great game. The Penguins are struggling lately, blowing a bunch of leads late and now on a five game losing streak to drop to 14-8-9 on the season, with four of those losses coming past regulation. The Oilers are playing much better as of late. They’re now 15-12-6 on the season, with a 4-1-1 record in their last six games, coming off a 4-1 loss in Montreal on Sunday. I’d slightly lean Edmonton wins here on the road and shells Skinner, but don’t like it enough to bet on. I love the over, even though it let me down in that game against the Habs for the Oilers, and I’ll take it for a unit. I’ll also parlay Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Sidney Crosby to each get a point tonight for a unit. Additionally, I’ll take McDavid to get over 1.5 points on his own for half a unit.
Wild vs. Capitals (8:00)
This is a great cross conference matchup. The Wild have been one of the best three teams in hockey (who are all sitting at the top of the Central Division) and have been on fire. Coming off a 6-2 win at home against the Bruins in Quinn Hughes’ debut on Sunday, they’re on a four game win with a 14-2-2 record in their last 18 games. The Capitals are having a good year as well with a 18-10-4 record, coming off a 5-1 loss in Winnipeg on Saturday. They’ve played well on both ends of the ice this year. Washington won the first game between these teams 5-1 early in the season. I like the Wild to answer back here at home and I’ll take them for half a unit. I’d lean the under with two elite defenses here, but don’t like it enough to bet it at 5.5. I’ll also parlay Kirill Kaprivoz (who was inches away from hitting a big one of these their last game for me), Matt Boldy, and Quinn Hughes to each get a point for half a unit. I considered adding Ovi or Tom Wilson to that, but I’ll just stick with the Minnesota guys since both of them have averaged less than a point per game (ignoring that stat on Hughes since his Canucks team was garbage).
Sharks vs. Flames (10:00)
Terrible Pacific Division matchup on paper here, but both of these teams have played pretty well lately. The Sharks are 16-14-3 and have three wins in their last four games, winning their last two in a row in comeback fashion on the road. On Saturday they erased a 5-1 deficit in the third period to beat the Penguins 6-5 in overtime on the road. The Flames looked horrendous to start the season, but they’ve played much better as of late. Coming off a 2-1 overtime win in LA on Saturday night, they’ve won four of their last five to improve to 13-16-4 on the season. The Flames won the first game between these teams with a 2-0 shutout on the road a little over a month ago. I’d slightly lean the Sharks answer back at home, but it wasn’t even a though in my mind to bet it. I’d lean the under since both of these offenses suck, but don’t like it enough to bet on a 5.5. I do have one play on this game though, and I’ll take Macklin Celebrini to have over 1.5 points tonight for half a unit. I considered just taking him to score, but I like the point prop better.
Kraken vs. Avalanche (10:00)
HUGE mismatch to end the night out West. The Kraken have been horrible lately, with just one win in their last nine games, falling to 12-12-6 on the year, coming off a 3-1 loss at home to my Sabres on Sunday night. Their defense has been decent, but their offense is one of the worst in the NHL, and lately they haven’t been great on the back end either. The Avalanche on the other hand are far and away the best team in the NHL, with a 23-2-7 record. I’d be absolutely shocked if this team doesn’t lift the Stanley Cup this year. They’re elite on both ends of the ice, leading the league both offensively and defensively. This should be an easy win for Colorado on the road, and the -325 price completely makes sense to me. I’ll take their puck line for a unit. I’d slightly lean the over at 5.5, but not enough to bet it. I have a handful of pretty reliable player props I like here too. I’ll parlay the Avs moneyline with Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Martin Necas to each get a point for a unit, and I’ll take the Nate Dawg to get over 1.5 points on his own for half a unit. Go Avs Go!
Bets
.5u parlay: Pastrnak/Geekie 1+ point each (-120)
.5u parlay: Maple Leafs ML/William Nylander over 0.5 point (-130)
.5u parlay: Suzuki/Caufield 1+ point each (-140)
.5u parlay: DeBrincat/Raymond/Larkin 1+ point each (+155)
.5u Rangers/Canucks under 5.5 (-102)
.5u Blue Jackets/Ducks over 6.5 (-125)
.2u parlay: Carlsson/Gauthier/Terry/Werenski/Marchenko 1+ point each (+573)
1u Oilers/Penguins over 6.5 (-110)
1u parlay: McDavid/Draisaitl/Crosby 1+ point each (+116)
.5u Connor McDavid over 1.5 points (-110)
.5u Wild ML (-120)
.5u parlay: Kaprizov/Boldy/Hughes 1+ point each (+111)
.5u Macklin Celebrini over 1.5 points (+155)
1u Avalanche -1.5 (-120)
1u parlay: Avalanche ML/MacKinnon/Makar/Necas 1+ point each (+116)
.5u Nathan MacKinnon over 1.5 points (-125)
Record: 256-276-1 (-39.74 units)
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