Another winning day for me on the NHL yesterday, going 10-11 but profiting 1.83 units. Tonight we have another big eight game slate, let’s keep rolling!
Canadiens vs. Wild (7:00)
This should be a really fun cross conference matchup to start off the night. The Habs are having a solid season, in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 27-15-7 record and have been playing solid hockey all season, coming off a 6-5 overtime win in Ottawa on Saturday. Their young offense has been very good, but their defense has struggled quite a bit at times through the year. The Wild are fantastic, comfortably in second place in the Central, trailing only the Avalanche, with a 27-13-9 record. After a bit of a slump they’ve won their last two games in a row, in the second half of a back to back tonight, following up their 5-4 overtime win in Buffalo on Saturday with a 6-3 win in Toronto last night. I’d lean Minnesota wins here on the road, but in the second half of a back to back, I don’t like it enough to bet on. I love the over in this game, which I’ll take for a unit. I’ll also parlay Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Kirill Kaprizov to each get a point for a unit. Additionally, I’ll take the same parlay with Quinn Hughes added to it for half a unit.
Lightning vs. Sharks (7:00)
Pretty big cross conference mismatch, but this should be a fun, entertaining game. The Lightning have been spectacular, tied with the Red Wings at the top of the Atlantic Division with a 30-13-4 record. They’re on a 13 game point streak, bouncing back from their 3-2 shootout loss in St. Louis that ended the eleven game win streak with a big 4-1 win in Dallas on Sunday. Tampa’s been very good on both ends of the ice this year, despite all their injuries they’ve dealt with. The Sharks are in the second half of a back to back tonight, coming off a heated 4-1 win on the road against the Panthers last night that featured a goalie fight for the first time we’ve seen in a while. Although their defense has been pretty bad this year, Macklin Celebrini’s 72 points and 24 goals has made their offense very good. This San Jose team’s exceeded a ton of expectations as they’re currently sitting in third place in the weak Pacific Division with a 25-20-3 record. The Bolts dominated the first game between these teams earlier this month, winning 7-3 on the road. I like them to win again tonight at home and I’ll take them in regulation for a unit. I’d lean the over in this game, but not enough to bet it. I love a few players props in this game. I’ll parlay Nikita Kucherov and Macklin Celebrini to each get a point for a unit, and I’ll parlay them each get two points for half a unit. Additionally I’ll take Kucherov to get 2 points for a unit individually and Celebrini to get 2 points for half a unit.
Blue Jackets vs. Senators (7:00)
Pretty lousy matchup in the East, but I’d expect this to be a pretty fun game. The Blue Jackets have been having a terrible season, but after firing Dean Evason, they’re now on a four game win streak to improve to 22-19-7 on the year, coming off a 4-3 shootout win in Pittsburgh on Saturday. They’ve struggled on both ends of the ice. The Senators have been pretty lousy too, with that same 22-18-7 record. Their offense has been pretty good, but their defense and goaltending is awful. Coming off a 4-3 overtime loss in Detroit on Sunday, they’re on a four game point streak, losing two high scoring overtime games back to back over the weekend. These teams split their first two games in December, each winning on the road, with a 6-3 Sens win in Columbus and the Jackets answering with a 4-1 win in Ottawa. I think Ottawa’s the better team here, but I’d slightly lean the Blue Jackets win at home, but definitely not enough to even consider betting the side on this one. I do like the over though, which I’ll take for half a unit. I’ll also parlay Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Kirill Marchenko, and Zach Werenski to each get a point for half a unit.
Stars vs. Bruins (7:30)
Pretty interesting matchup here considering how these teams are coming into this game. The Stars have been very good this season, comfortably in third place in the Central Division with a 27-13-9 record, but they’re struggling right now. Coming off a 4-1 loss at home against the Lightning on Sunday, they’re on a three game losing streak with just two wins in their last twelve games. The Bruins are playing great right now, surprising a lot of people (myself included this year). They’re in the first Wild Card in the East with a 28-19-2 record, and they’re on a six game win streak coming off a 5-2 win in Chicago on Saturday, with eight wins in their last nine games. Dallas is still the better team here, and I’d lean they get out of this slump at home, but no shot I’m betting them. I’d lean the under, but not enough to bet that either. I do like a few player props here, which I am a bit hesitant on. I’ll parlay my usual go-to’s here, and take Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, and David Pastrnak to each get a point for half a unit. I considered taking Pasta and Rantanen to get 2 points each, but don’t love either, so I’ll just stick to the one play here, especially expecting it to be a lower scoring game.
Predators vs. Sabres (8:00)
Solid cross conference matchup here with both of these teams playing well right now, but coming off losses as they’re right in their Wild Card races. The Predators started the season horribly, but have really turned it around lately. They’re coming off a 7-2 blowout loss in Vegas on Saturday that ended a three game win streak, but they’ve won 17 of their last 26 games. My Sabres have been one of the hottest teams in hockey, with a 15-3-1 record to get into the second Wild Card spot in the East with a 26-17-5 record. We’re coming off our first two losses in a row since early in December, following up a 5-4 overtime loss at home to the Wild on Saturday afternoon, yesterday afternoon we lost 2-1 in Carolina, where we haven’t won since 2016. We got robbed with an incredible goaltending performance from Brandon Bussi, in a game I thought we played well enough to win. Statistically the Sabres are better on both ends of the ice, but that takes into account the whole season. This might be a bit of a homer pick here, but I don’t really see my boys losing three in a row, even in the second half of a back to back on the road. I’ll take a half unit shot on Buffalo to win here as an underdog. I’d lean the over, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also parlay Tage Thompson and former Sabre, Ryan O’Reilly to each get a point for half a unit.
(Note that no one cares about: no Sabres blog for me tonight, I have a lacrosse game.)
Jets vs. Blues (8:00)
Lousy game here between the two teams at the bottom of the Central Division. The Jets after seemingly finding something with a four game win streak after an eleven game losing streak, have now lost their last two in a row with a 4-3 overtime loss at home against the Leafs in a great game on Saturday with a 2-0 shutout in Chicago last night in Jonathan Toews’ emotional return to the city he was the captain for a three Stanley Cup dynasty. They’re now 19-23-6 on the season, playing lousy on both ends of the ice. The Blues have been brutal on both ends of the ice as well, struggling bit time this year. They’re 19-22-8 on the season, following up two shocking wins against the Lightning and Canes at home with a 5-0 shutout loss in Edmonton on Sunday. The first game between these teams was a 1-0 shutout win at home for St. Louis in December. I’d slightly lean the Jets win and the under here, but not a chance I’m touching either. I do like a couple player props though as usual on this struggling Winnipeg team though, and I’ll parlay Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor to each get a point for a unit.
Oilers vs. Devils (10:00)
Lousy cross conference matchup here. The Oilers are 25-17-8 on the season, playing very consistently this year, two points back from the Golden Knights in second place in the weak Pacific Division. They’re coming off two blowout, shutout wins in a row over the weekend, beating the Blues 5-0 at home on Sunday after a 6-0 win in Vancouver on Saturday. Their offense has been obviously very good all season, but their defense and goaltending stinks. I’m not putting a ton of stock into those two shutouts, considering that the Blues and Canucks are two of the worst teams in the league on both ends of the ice. The Devils have struggled quite a bit this year with a 25-22-2 record, but have three wins in their last four games, in the second half of a back to back tonight, coming off a 2-1 overtime win in Calgary last night. Jersey did win the first game between these teams in October, winning 5-3 at home. I like Edmonton to win here at home to answer back and I’ll take them for a unit, parlayed with Connor McDavid to get a point. I’d slightly lean the under, but not enough to bet it. I’ll also take McDavid to get over 1.5 points for a unit.
Kings vs. Rangers (10:00)
Boring cross conference game to end the night with both of these teams being pretty awful this year. The Kings come into tonight on a four game losing streak with just one win in their last six games, falling to a pathetic 19-16-3 on the season. They’re coming off three straight overtime losses including home and home against the Ducks over the weekend, losing 2-1 in OT on the road on Saturday after losing 3-2 in a shootout at home on Saturday. Their defense has been good all year, but that offense is horrendous. The Rangers were pretty similar, playing very well defensively, but horrible offensively, but with Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox on IR, their defense has been terrible too lately. They’re now 21-23-6 on the season, but do have a winning record on the road, going 16-10-2 outside of MSG. New York’s in the second half of a back to back tonight, coming off a 5-3 loss in Anaheim yesterday, and they have just two wins in their last eleven games. I’d lean LA wins here at home, but at -185, that’s impossible to bet on with how bad the Kings are offensively. This matchup should scream the under, but the Rags have been terrible on the back end lately, so I don’t like that either. I do like two player props here though. I’ll parlay Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad to each get a point for half a unit, and I’ll take Panarin to get over 1.5 points for half a unit.
Bets
1u Canadiens/Wild over 6.5 (+100)
1u parlay: Nick Suzuki/Cole Caufield/Kirill Kaprizov 1+ point each (+127)
.5u parlay: Suzuki/Caufield/Kaprizov/Hughes 1+ point each (+200)
1u Lightning in regulation (-175)
1u parlay: Nikita Kucherov/Macklin Celebrini 1+ point each (-180)
.5u parlay: Nikita Kucherov/Macklin Celebrini 2+ point each (+350)
1u Nikita Kucherov over 1.5 points (-125)
.5u Macklin Celebrini over 1.5 points (+175)
.5u Senators/Blue Jackets over 6.5 (-125)
.5u parlay: Stutzle/Tkachuk/Marchenko/Werenski 1+ point each (+315)
.5u parlay: Rantanen/Robertson/Johnston/Pastrnak 1+ point each (+212)
.5u Sabres ML (+110)
.5u parlay: Tage Thompson/Ryan O’Reilly 1+ point each (+114)
1u parlay: Mark Scheifele/Kyle Connor 1+ point each (-145)
1u parlay: Oilers ML/Connor McDavid over 0.5 point (-155)
1u Connor McDavid over 1.5 points (-135)
.5u parlay: Artemi Panarin/Mika Zibanejad 1+ point each (-105)
.5u Artemi Panarin over 1.5 points (+210)
Record: 514-526-1 (-26.23 units)
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