Losing night on some great hockey last night for me, going 2-5 on the NHL to lose back 4.33 units. Still up a decent amount over this week though, so let’s bounce back on tonight’s big ten game slate!
Bruins vs. Oilers (7:00)
Pretty solid cross conference matchup to start the night with both of these teams playing well right now. The Bruins are way better than expected, 20-14 on the year with five wins in their last six games, coming off a 4-1 win against the Mammoth at home on Tuesday night. The Oilers have improved quite a bit lately with a 5-1-1 record in their last six games to improve to 16-12-6 as they beat the Penguins 6-4 on the road on Tuesday in a battle of traded goaltenders facing their former teams. I think Edmonton’s the better team here, but I’d lean the Oilers get the win here on the road. I’ll stay off the side. I do like the over, which I’ll take for half a unit. I like some player props here too. I’ll parlay Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and David Pastrnak to each get a point for a unit. Additionally, I’ll take McDavid to get over 1.5 points, and Morgan Geekie to get a point for half a unit each.
Canadiens vs. Blackhawks (7:00)
Kind of a lousy cross conference matchup. The Habs are coming off a 4-1 loss at home to the Flyers on Tuesday night and have fallen to 17-12-4 on the season with just two wins in their last six games. Their offense is very good, but their defense and goaltending stinks. The Blackhawks are struggling big time. They gave up three goals in the third period on Tuesday, including two in the span of eight seconds late to lose 3-2 in Toronto. They’re now on a three game losing streak with only three wins in their last 14 games, falling to 13-14-6 on the year. Montreal won the first game between these teams 3-2 on the road in the first week of the season. Especially with Bedard still out of the lineup, I like the Canadiens to win here tonight at home and I’ll take them for half a unit. I’d lean the over, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield to each get a point for half a unit.
Senators vs. Penguins (7:00)
This isn’t a great matchup with the way these teams have been playing, but it should be fun to watch. The Senators are coming off a 3-2 overtime win on the road in Winnipeg on Monday, tying it up late to force OT and then Brady Tkachuk won it in overtime. They haven’t played great lately though, with just two wins in their last six games to drop to 15-13-4 on the season. The Penguins are 14-9-9 on the season, but struggling even more, on a six game losing streak, coming off a 6-4 loss at home to the Oilers in the goalie swap battle of Jarry and Skinner on Tuesday. I think Ottawa wins here at home, but the -165 is a bit too steep for me to bet on. I like the over though, which I’ll take for half a unit. I’ll also parlay Sidney Crosby and Tim Stutzle to each get a point for half a unit. I considered adding Brady Tkachuk to that, but don’t think it’s worth it.
Lightning vs. Kings (7:00)
Pretty boring cross conference game here between two good teams that have both been a bit inconsistent at times, and they’re both struggling right now. The Lightning are one of the best teams in the East with an 18-12-3 record, but coming off a 5-2 loss at home in the Battle of Florida on Monday they have just two wins in their last eight games. The Kings have struggled even more. They’re now 14-10-9 and come into tonight on a four game losing streak, in the second half of a back to back after a 3-2 loss on the road to the Panthers last night. I like Tampa to win this one at home, and to get the price cheaper since the -205 is way too high, I’ll parlay it with Nikita Kucherov to get a point for half a unit. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet it at 5.5.
Capitals vs. Maple Leafs (7:00)
This should be a decent game in the East. The Capitals have been very good, with an 18-11-4 record, but they’re in a bit of a slump lately. Coming off getting shut out 5-0 in Minnesota (easy double winner for me) on Tuesday, they’re on a three game losing streak, but Washington has been really solid on both ends of the ice. The Leafs haven’t been great this year. They’re 15-12-5, coming off a 3-2 win at home, scoring twice in eight seconds late in the game to beat the Blackhawks 3-2. Their offense is good, but their defense stinks. The Caps won the first game between these teams 4-2 at home last month and I like them to end this losing streak with another win at home, I’ll take them for half a unit. I’d lean the under, but don’t like it as much at 5.5 with how bad the Leafs are on the back end. I considered a few player props in this game, but really the only one I like is William Nylander to get a point and that’s too expensive to bet straight up at -205, so I’ll stay off him and all other player props in this game.
Blue Jackets vs. Wild (7:00)
Huge mismatch for this cross conference game. The Blue Jackets stink, and have just a 14-13-6 record, ending a five game losing streak with a 4-3 overtime win at home against the Ducks on Tuesday night. The Wild on the other hand have been spectacular, and now with Quinn Hughes in the mix they’re even better. This team’s been dominating, on a five game win streak coming off a 5-0 shutout win at home against the Caps on Tuesday, and with a 13-2-1 record in their last 16 games, they’re now 20-9-5 on the season. These teams met in Minnesota in the first week of the season, with the Jackets shockingly winning 7-4 when you look back on it now. Minnesota’s playing at a whole other level though right now, and I love them to answer back here. I’ll take the Wild for a unit at a way better price than I thought they’d be. I’ll also parlay Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Quinn Hughes, and Zach Werenski to each get a point for half a unit. I’d slightly lean the under with the line at 6.5, but don’t like it enough to bet on.
Sabres vs. Flyers (7:30)
Pretty terrible matchup in the East. My Sabres made a big organizational change this week, FINALLY firing Kevyn Adams and hiring Jarmo Kekäläinen to be the new GM. Although I still am skeptical in them because Terry Pegula’s the worst owner in the league, I do like that move. Jarmo built that Blue Jackets team that swept the best regular season team ever (at that point) in Tampa, so I have hope he could turn this shit bag organization into something. We’ll see. Buffalo comes into tonight on a really good three game win streak to finish off their western conference road trip, off a nice 3-1 win in Seattle on Sunday. We’re not a good team though, still last in the Eastern Conference with a 14-14-4 record. The Flyers suck offensively, but their defense has led to them to a pretty solid 17-9-6 on the season. Coming off a 4-1 win in Montreal on Tuesday that ended a three game overtime losing streak, they’re on a five game point streak. Philly pretty much dominated the first game between these teams earlier this month after a horrible challenge from Lindy Ruff early that changed the game flow, winning 5-2 at home. I’d lean the Flyers win here again on the road tonight, but don’t love it enough to bet them. The line also doesn’t really make sense to me. I feel like it should be closer to a pick’em with the Sabres at home, they don’t deserve to be -150 favorites. I’d also lean the under, but not enough to bet that, so I’ll just stay off this game entirely. Let’s Go Buffalo!
Blues vs. Rangers (8:00)
Horrendous cross conference matchup. The Blues are horrible, with just a 13-15-7 record, struggling immensely on both ends of the ice. They’re in the second half of a back to back, coming off a surprising 1-0 shutout win at home against the Jets (double loser for me) last night. The Rangers are terrible too at 16-15-4, but they have been way better on the road, with a 12-5-1 record outside of MSG. Their goaltending and defense has been great, but their offense is pathetic. Coming off a 3-0 shutout loss at home to the lowly Canucks on Tuesday, they have just one win in their last six games. New York did get a rare home win in the first meeting between these two teams, winning 3-2 at home last moth. With the way better defense for the Rags and St. Louis in the second half of a back to back, I like the Rangers to win here on the road and I’ll take them for half a unit, parlayed with Artemi Panarin to get a point to bring the price down to even money. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet on.
Flames vs. Kraken (9:00)
This Pacific Division matchup is horrible between two of the worst teams in the league. Calgary’s coming off a 6-3 loss in San Jose on Tuesday night, but have played better lately with four wins in their last six games to improve to a still horrible 13-17-4 on the year. Although their defense has been good, their offense is terrible. The Kraken started the season better than expected with their solid defense, but their offense is horrible too, and lately they’ve come crashing down. They hung in with Colorado through the first two periods on Tuesday night, with a 3-2 lead going into the third, but then Nathan MacKinnon and the Avs came flying back to get the 5-3 win as Seattle fell apart against the best team in the league (beautiful triple winner for me). They’re now on a three game losing streak with just one win in their last ten games. I’d lean the Flames win this one at home, but no shot am I trusting this team at -175. Way too high. I’d slightly lean the under with two bad offenses, but with both teams trending over recently, I’ll lay off this game entirely.
Sharks vs. Stars (10:00)
Huge mismatch in the West to end the night. The Sharks have been much better than I expected them to be, and that’s credited to one guy, Macklin Celebrini, who’s been SPECTACULAR in his sophomore season, the only player in the league not named Nathan MacKinnon or Connor McDavid to pass 50 points already this year. In a three point, two goal night (including a beautiful spin-o-rama highlight reel goal) for Celebrini on Tuesday night, the Sharks beat the Flames 6-3 for their third straight win to improve to 17-14-3. The Stars are one of the best teams in the league. They bounce back from two bad losses in a row with a big 4-1 win at home against the Kings on Monday to improve to 22-7-5 on the season. This team’s fantastic on both ends of the ice. Dallas won the first game between these teams 4-1. I like the Stars to win here again tonight on the road and I’ll take them in regulation for a unit. I’d lean the over, but not quite enough to bet it, even at 5.5. I’ll also parlay Celebrini with Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, and Wyatt Johnston to each get a point for half a unit.
Bets
.5u Oilers/Bruins over 6.5 (-108)
1u parlay: McDavid/Draisaitl/Pastrnak 1+ point each (-110)
.5u Connor McDavid over 1.5 points (-110)
.5u Morgan Geekie over 0.5 point (-154)
.5u Canadiens ML (-176)
.5u parlay: Cole Caufield/Nick Suzuki 1+ point each (-148)
.5u Senators/Penguins over 6.5 (-110)
.5u parlay: Crosby/Stutzle 1+ point each (-107)
.5u parlay: Lightning ML/Nikita Kucherov over 0.5 point (-165)
.5u Capitals ML (-155)
1u Wild ML (-120)
.5u parlay: Kaprizov/Boldy/Hughes/Werenski 1+ point each (+212)
.5u parlay: Rangers ML/Artemi Panarin over 0.5 point (+102)
1u Stars in regulation (-125)
.5u parlay: Celebrini/Rantanen/Robertson/Johnston 1+ point each (+180)
Record: 271-284-1 (-36.36 units)
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