Thursday night's slate gives us ten games to choose from, so I have picked four matchups that I feel hold the best value for NHL bettors. Check out my NHL picks for these games, as we try to maxamize out our NHL betting payouts.
Lets check out some of tonight's biggest games and cover the NHL picks I find to have the best chance of in cashing for us as the sportsbooks.
Toronto Maple
Leafs vs. Philadelphia Flyers
NHL Odds: Over/Under 5.5
The Philadelphia Flyers have been struggling lately but
goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov has done his part. His performance has been
noticeably better of late and he’s been especially strong at home.
He’s allowed just two goals in his last four home games,
although one of those games he didn’t start. He’s won all four of his starts
against Toronto while posting a 1.55 GAA in those contests.
James Reimer is likely to be back in net for the Leafs
after Jonas Gustavsson took the loss in Winnipeg on Tuesday. Reimer has allowed
just three goals in his last three games and just five in two career meetings
with Philadelphia.
The Flyers offense is struggling right now as they’ve
scored just two goals in their last two games. Bet the under.
NHL Picks: Under
Montreal Canadiens
vs. New York Islanders
NHL Odds: Islanders -120
Stop us if you’ve seen this before: the Montreal
Canadiens have won two straight games. They’ve only done it five times since
the start of November but the problem is that they haven’t been able to win
three straight since October 26th – November 4th.
They have all sorts of problems these days and a matchup
with a decent Islanders team could end their latest two-game streak.
The Islanders have won three of four and are 6-1-2 in
their last nine games. It might surprise you, but if you look at the standings,
you’d find the Islanders (52 points) ahead of the Habs (51 points) and the
Isles actually have two games in hand.
It just goes to show you the type of season Montreal is
having. They are only two points better than the worst team in the conference.
A bet on the Isles holds the best sports betting value in this matchup.
NHL Picks: Islanders
Winnipeg Jets vs. Washington Capitals
NHL Odds: Capitals -170
Washington has been in a bit of a funk lately (3-3-2 in
their last eight games) but most of that has come on the road. They have been
one of the better home teams in the NHL this season. On the year, the Caps are
19-7-1 at the Verizon Center. Those 19 home wins are the most in the Eastern
Conference.
Tomas Vokoun is coming off a 4-0 shutout win over the
Florida Panthers and is 16-5-0 at home this season. His goals-against average
of 2.07 is much better than the 3.02 he gives up on the road.
As for the Jets, they have won just six of their last 17
games. Scoring is a big problem these days with just eight goals in their last
seven games.
The Caps have won 10 of the last 15 meetings overall and
six of the last seven in Washington.
NHL Picks: Capitals
Nashville
Predators vs. Ottawa Senators
NHL Odds: Predators -120
Although this will be a bit of a heat-check for
Nashville, they are still worth a play on Thursday. They are one of the hottest
teams in the NHL as they have gone 14-3-2 in their last 19 games, but they have
lost two of three. On the other hand, Ottawa has hit a brick wall and has lost
seven straight and have scored only nine goals in that span. A matchup with
goaltender Pekka Rinne, who has won 11 of his last 12 starts, is not ideal.
With a cheap price on the board, take the Preds, who have
been much better than the Sens recently.
NHL Picks: Predators
As
a side note, I wanted to give a shoutout to Mudrac and Mike Z, who are not just
dedicated commenters at bottom of this daily column but two excellent NHL
handicappers in their own right. Thanks for the comments guys, and lets keep the discussions going as we try to rob the
sportsbooks.