Carolina is absolutely rolling right now winning 8 in a row and 9 of 10. Pittsburgh is not and blew a 3-1 lead two nights ago to the Islanders losing the game in a shootout. The season is playing out the way it has two years ago when we finished the season up 260u. We’re at a point where we need to keep playing the teams who are rolling and stick with what is trending and then assess after the first loss. Carolina should score tonight but their 3.5 team total is -160 so I want to keep this to a two or three unit play. You have two teams here who one is top in the league in scoring facing the other who is top in the league in scoring against. Bryan Rust and Kevin Hayes will be out for the Penguins.
The Devils have won 3 of 4 and have had two shutouts in those games. The Devils are going with Jacob Markstrom in net instead of giving Jake Allen the start against his former team. Montreal has lost four in a row and eight of ten. The Devils offense should be able to dominate tonight but the books are going to make us pay for it. The 3.5 total comes in at -175 and the books are trying to make up for the complete mismatch between the top and bottom teams in the league. If this continues we are going to start seeing more pregame totals of 4. As much as I want to play the Hurricanes and Devils tonight you will find yourselves in a much better situation if you are able to alt line parlay. The key will be finding the undervalued teams in much more favorable matchups where their team totals are suppressed down to 2.5 and 3.
The Rangers are one of the most dominant teams in the league right now getting the best goaltender play giving up a league best 2.13 GA/G, top offensive play averaging 4 goals per game, they have given up only three power play goals against on the season, are second in the league on the penalty kill, are 8-2-1 on the year, but sit fourth in their own division. The Rangers should be able to pick apart the Sabres tonight and have the cheapest line of the three metro teams with only a -135 3.5 team total.
The Flyers are in disarray in net with Sam Ersson. Aleksei Kolosov (0-3 3.93 GAA) injured himself during the pregame warmups today and won’t be in net. The Flyers are left with Ivan Fedotov (0-3 5.35 GAA) to face the Lightning. Brayden Point is out for the Lightning so this game so the emphasis on Nikita Kucherov is amplified. Kucherov leads the Eastern Conference with 22 points and is tied for 10 goals so I expect a big game out of him with the Flyers goaltending situation and their 3.85 GA/G.
Official Plays:
- 7 pm New York Rangers Team Total over 3.5 -135: 3u
- 7:30 pm Tampa Bay Team Total over 3.5 -120: 3u
- 7:30 pm Nikita Kucherov 2+ goals +550: .5u
- 7:30 pm Nikita Kucherov 3+ goals +3000: .5u
- 10:30 pm Minnesota Wild Team Total over 3.5 -120: 2u
