Slight winning night for me on the NHL yesterday coming out of the Christmas break, going 8-6 to win 0.68 units. Tonight we have just a quick five game Sunday slate, let’s win again!
Lightning vs. Canadiens (5:00)
Fun Atlantic Division matchup to get the night started. The Lightning came out of the break last night, beating the Panthers 4-2 on the road in the Battle of Florida for their third straight win, improving to 21-13-3 on the season. Tampa’s been very good on both ends of the ice this year, two points behind Detroit for the division lead. The habs have been inconsistent, but good, with a great offense but a struggling defense. They went into the break on a four game point streak, bouncing back from a shootout loss in Pittsburgh with a dominant 6-2 win in Boston on Tuesday. Tampa won the first game between these teams in a 6-1 blowout on the road earlier this month. I like them to win again at home, even in the second half of a back to back and I’ll take them for half a unit. I’d lean the over, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also take a player prop parlay here on Nikita Kucherov, Nick Suzuki, and Cole Caufield to each get a point, and I’ll take another half unit shot on Kucherov to have over 1.5 points.
Blue Jackets vs. Islanders (5:00)
Pretty lousy matchup here in the Central Division. The Blue Jackets have been pretty bad this year, in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 15-15-6 record. They’re coming off a 3-1 win in LA last Monday, just their second win in their last nine games. The Islanders have exceeded my expectations defensively, and came out of the break with a 2-0 shutout win at home against their rival Rangers last night to improve to 21-13-4 on the season. The Isles won the first game between these teams 3-2 in November. I’d slightly lean they win again here on the road, but not enough to bet them in the second half of a back to back. I’d also lean the under with two struggling offenses and a solid defense for New York, but not enough to bet that either. I’ll lay off this game completely.
Red Wings vs. Maple Leafs (7:00)
Fun matchup here in the Atlantic Division. The Red Wings have been very good despite not being all that great statistically on either end of the ice, leading the Atlantic Division with a 22-14-3 record. Last night they had a three game win streak come to an end as they lost 5-2 in Carolina to come out of the break. The Leafs have struggled this year, but have won their last two in a row, with a big 7-5 win at home against the Senators in the Battle of Ontario last night. Detroit won both previous games between these teams in October, 6-3 at home and then 3-2 on the road two days later. I like the Red Wings to win again here and I’ll take them for half a unit. I like the over as well, especially with both teams in the second half of back to backs, which I’ll take for half a unit too. I like a few player props in this game too, and I’ll parlay Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat to each get a point for half a unit.
Blackhawks vs. Penguins (7:00)
Pretty awful cross conference game here. The Blackhawks shocked me last night, coming out of the break with a huge upset, beating the Stars 4-3 in a shootout on the road to end a six game losing streak with just their fourth win in their last 18 games. They’re 14-17-6 on the season, struggling on both ends of the ice, especially without Bedard in the lineup. The Penguins haven’t been much better. They’re only 15-12-9 on the year with just one win in their last ten games, also struggling on both ends of the ice. I’d lean Pittsburgh wins here on the road, but not enough to bet them at almost -170. I’d lean the over slightly with the total at just 5.5, but not enough to bet that either on two lousy offenses. I considered a few props on Crosby (both points and goal), but don’t think the prices on them are worth betting, and there’s absolutely no one else to parlay him with to bring that price down in this matchup, so I’ll stay off this game completely too.
Kraken vs. Flyers (8:00)
Both of these teams are playing decent their last few games, but this is a ridiculously boring cross conference matchup. After a stretch of just one win in eleven games, the Kraken coming out of the break tonight on a three game win streak, sweeping their California road trip, capped off by a 3-2 win in LA on Tuesday night to improve to a still lousy 15-14-6 on the season. Seattle’s still struggling big time offensively., but their defense has been pretty good. The Flyers have exceeded my expectations this year with a really good defense, and although their offense is much better than Seattle’s, it’s still not great. They’re 19-10-7 on the year, coming off two wins in a row, heading into the break on Tuesday with a 3-1 win in Chicago. I like the Flyers to win here on the road and I’ll take them for half a unit. I love the under here as well, which I’ll take for a unit.
Bets
.5u Lightning ML (-144)
.5u parlay: Kucherov/Suzuki/Caufield 1+ point each (+145)
.5u Nikita Kucherov over 1.5 points (+128)
.5u Red Wings ML (-125)
.5u Red Wings/Maple Leafs over 6.5 (-108)
.5u parlay: Raymond/DeBrincat 1+ point each (+102)
.5u Flyers ML (-125)
1u Flyers/Kraken under 5.5 (+100)
Record: 315-346-1 (-48.79 units)
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