Slight winning night again yesterday on the NHL, going 4-4 to win 0.48 units for the second winning day in a row out of the break. Let’s make it three in a row on tonight’s eleven game slate!
Senators vs. Blue Jackets (7:00)
This Eastern Conference matchup to start the night isn’t great. The Senators came out of the break with a 7-5 loss in Toronto on Saturday night (that I’m glad I stayed off, although the player props I liked all hit) and they’ve been alright this season with an 18-14-5 record. Their defense hasn’t been great, but their offense has been solid. The Blue Jackets have struggled on both ends of the ice this year, coming into tonight with a 16-15-6 record. They are coming off two wins in a row though, beating the Islanders 4-2 last night to come out of the break. Ottawa won the first game between these teams 6-3 earlier this month on the road. Especially with Columbus on the road in he second half of a back to back, I like the Sens to win here tonight. The price is steep at -218, so I’ll parlay them for half a unit with Tim Stutzle to get a point, which he’s done in each of his last nine games. I’d lean the over, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also take another prop parlay on this game, of Kirill Marchenko, Brady Tkachuk, and Tim Stutzle to get a point each for half a unit.
Panthers vs. Capitals (7:00)
Fun game here between two solid teams in the East. The Panthers have played well recently with eight wins in their last eleven games, coming out of the break with a 4-2 loss at home to the Lightning on Saturday in the Battle of Florida to drop to 20-15-2 on the season. The Caps have been pretty good as well, with a 20-13-5 record. They went into the break on a three game losing streak, but came out of it with a 4-3 overtime win in Jersey on Saturday. Florida won the first game between these teams 6-3 at home in November. I’d lean they win again here at home, but not enough to bet them. I’d also slightly lean the over, but not enough to bet that either. I do like some player props here, and I’ll parlay Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand to each get a point for half a unit. I considered Marchand to get over 1.5 points on his own, but don’t think it’s worth betting against a really solid Caps defense.
Hurricanes vs. Rangers (7:00)
This Metro Division matchup isn’t great. The Hurricanes are the best team in the East with a 23-11-3 record. They’re struggling with injuries to key players in Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin among others, but have still been very good on both ends of the ice. Carolina ended a three game losing streak heading into the Christmas break, coming out of it with a big 5-2 win at home against the Red Wings on Saturday. The Rangers aren’t great. Their defense and goaltending is fantastic, but their offense is horrible. They’re 19-17-4 on the season, but have been much better on the road with a 14-7-1 record outside of MSG. These teams split their first two games, each winning on the road, with a 3-0 Hurricanes win in New York and a 4-2 Rangers win in Carolina. I like the road team trend to end here, and I’ll lay the -175 on the Canes for half a unit. I’d lean the under with two good defenses and a lousy offense for the Rangers, but with Carolina trending heavily to the over, I’ll stay off the total in this game.
Jets vs. Oilers (7:30)
Not the best Western Conference matchup here with how poorly the Jets are playing. Coming off a 4-3 overtime loss at home to the Wild on Saturday to come out of the Christmas break they have just three wins in their last 17 games to fall to 15-17-4 on the season. I thought Hellebuyck coming back from his surgery would solve a lot of their problems, but after winning his first game back, they’re now on a five game losing streak. The Oilers have struggled defensively this year, but their offense has been very good. They’re now 19-14-6 with an 8-3-1 record in their last twelve games, coming out of the break with a 3-2 loss in Calgary in the Battle of Alberta on Saturday night. Edmonton dominated the first game between these teams with a 6-2 win at home earlier this month. I like them to win again here and the price is cheaper than I expected, so I’ll take them for a unit. I’d slightly lean the over, but definitely not enough to bet them. I’ll also parlay Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Kyle Connor, and Mark Scheifele to each get a point for a unit along with half a unit on McDavid to have over 1.5 points.
Blues vs. Sabres (8:00)
Pretty bad cross conference game in this one. The Blues have played better lately with a 4-2-1 record in their last seven games to improve to a still lousy 15-16-8, coming out of the break with a 3-2 win at home against the Predators on Saturday. This team’s been awful on both ends of the ice. My Sabres are the hottest team in the NHL, on an eight game win streak. Coming off a dominant second period to lead them to a 4-1 win at home against the Bruins to come out of the break on Saturday, improving to 19-14-4 on the season and getting them in the playoff mix. The Blues won the first game between these teams with a 3-0 shutout win on the road in Buffalo in November. I love the Sabres to stay hot and I’ll take my boys to answer back here on the road for a unit to keep the streak rolling. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also take Tage Thompson to get a point for half a unit.
Avalanche vs. Kings (9:00)
Huge mismatch out West. The Avalanche are far and away the best team in the NHL with a 28-2-7 record, one of the best teams, if not the best team I’ve ever seen with a 15-0-2 record at home. This team is elite on both ends of the ice, leading the league both offensively and defensively. Colorado erased a 4-2 deficit in the third period in Vegas on Saturday night in electric game to come out of the break, with Nathan MacKinnon having three points in the third period and capping it off with the shootout winner to beat the Golden Knights 6-5 and keep their win streak rolling with their seventh straight win. The Kings have been awful offensively, but really solid on the back end, beating the Ducks 6-1 on Saturday for just their second win in their last eight games to improve to 16-12-9. The Avs won the first game between these teams 4-1 on the road in LA in the first week of the season. I love Colorado to win here again at home. I’ll take them in regulation for a unit. I’d lean the under, but with it at 5.5, I don’t think it’s worth betting. I’m right back on my player props here too. I’ll parlay MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Cale Makar to each get a point for half a unit, and I’ll take the Nate Dogg to have over 1.5 points for a unit as well.
Mammoth vs. Predators (9:00)
Pretty lousy game here in the Central. The Mammoth are 18-18-3 on the season. They went into the break with a 1-0 loss in Colorado last Tuesday and after a bad run, they’ve won four of their last seven games. The 16-17-4 Predators have been brutal, but they’ve definitely improved lately. Prior to coming out of the break with a 3-2 loss in St. Louis on Saturday, they were on a a three game win streak with ten wins in their prior 14 games. The first game between these teams in Nashville in the first week of the season went to overtime with Utah winning 3-2 on the road. I think their superior defense gets them the win again here at home and I’ll take them for half a unit. I also like the under with two lousy offenses, which I’ll take for half a unit as well.
Flames vs. Bruins (9:00)
Boring cross conference game with these teams on opposite trajectories lately. The Flames are playing pretty well after their horrible start to the season with seven wins in their last ten games to improve to 16-18-4 on the year, coming off a 3-2 win at home against the Oilers on Saturday in the Battle of Alberta. The Bruins have been pretty good this year, shocking the hockey world, but they come into tonight on a five game losing streak after. 4-1 loss in Buffalo on Saturday. I’d slightly lean Boston bounces back here on the road, but didn’t even consider betting them. I’d also lean the over, but not enough to bet that either. I do like a player prop parlay though and I’ll take David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie to each get a point for half a unit.
Golden Knights vs. Wild (10:00)
Great game here between two really good teams in the West. The Golden Knights can’t escape their overtime issues, with a 17-8-11 record and they’ve struggled lately without Jack Eichel in the lineup. On Saturday coming out of the break, they blew a 4-2 third period lead to lose 6-5 in a shootout at home to the Avalanche and they have just on win in their last five games after going 6-0-1 prior to that. The Wild are one of the best teams in hockey, with a 23-10-6 record. They bounced back from two losses in a row going into the break with a 4-3 overtime win in Winnipeg on Saturday coming out of it. The first game between these teams went to overtime with the Wild winning 3-2 at home in November. Especially with Jack still out, I like Minnesota to win here on the road and I’ll take them for half a unit. I like the over too, which I’ll take for half a unit. Additionally, I’ll parlay Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Quinn Hughes, and Mark Stone to each get a point for a unit (which I used a nice boost I have on).
Ducks vs. Sharks (10:00)
The first game between these California teams was electric in San Jose, with the Ducks coming back to force overtime and win 7-6 on the road, but both of these teams are struggling now, taking a bit of the luster off this one. The Ducks have been good this season, with a 21-15-2 record, just a point behind Vegas for the Pacific Division lead. They’re struggling big time right now though. Coming out of the break with a 6-1 blowout loss in LA on Saturday, they have just two wins in their last eight games. The Sharks haven’t been great, but ended a three game losing streak with a 6-3 win on the road against the Canucks on Saturday to come out of the Christmas break to improve to 18-17-3. I like the Ducks to win here at home, but the price at -192 is way too expensive, so I’ll stay off it. I do like the over though, which I’ll take for a unit. I like two player props in this game too. Macklin Celebrini’s had an incredible sophomore season and I’ll take him to get over 1.5 points for half a unit, and I’ll parlay him to get a point with Leo Carlsson to get a point for half a unit.
Kraken vs. Canucks (10:00)
Awful game in the Pacific to end the night. The Kraken after going on a stretch of just one win in eleven games now coming into tonight on a four game win streak, improving to 16-14-6. They’re in the second half of a back to back after a really solid night from Grubauer in goal to get them a 4-1 win at home against the Flyers last night. Seattle’s defense has been really solid, but their offense is terrible. The Canucks are the worst team in the league with a 15-19-3 record, playing horribly on both ends of the ice. They lost 6-3 at home to the Sharks on Saturday coming out of the break. If Seattle wasn’t in the second half of a back to back, I’d probably take them here, but this is a game I’ll stay off of completely. I’d lean the under slightly, but not enough to bet that either.
Bets
.5u parlay: Senators ML/Tim Stutzle over 0.5 point (-120)
.5u parlay: Tim Stutzle/Brady Tkachuk/Kirill Marchenko 1+ point each (+218)
.5u parlay: Sam Reinhart/Brad Marchand 1+ point each (+107)
.5u Hurricanes ML (-175)
1u Oilers ML (-120)
1u parlay: McDavid/Draisaitl/Scheifele/Connor 1+ point each (+122)
.5u Connor McDavid over 1.5 points (-125)
1u Sabres ML (-115)
.5u Tage Thompson over 0.5 point (-155)
1u Avalanche in regulation (-145)
.5u parlay: Nathan MacKinnon/Martin Necas/Cale Makar 1+ point each (-125)
1u Nathan MacKinnon over 1.5 points (-120)
.5u Mammoth ML (-142)
.5u Mammoth/Predators under 5.5 (+102)
.5u parlay: David Pastrnak/Morgan Geekie 1+ point each (-105)
.5u Wild ML (-105)
.5u Golden Knights/Wild over 5.5 (-135)
1u parlay: Kirill Kaprizov/Matt Boldy/Quinn Hughes/Mark Stone 1+ point each (+260)
.5u Macklin Celebrini over 1.5 points (+176)
.5u parlay: Macklin Celebrini/Leo Carlsson 1+ point each (-102)
Record: 319-350-1 (-48.31 units)
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