Monday has a loaded 11-game slate of NHL action that presents plenty of opportunities for us to hit it big with our Best Bets. We look to get back into the win column after a rough Saturday but have hit on some big profit bets lately and hope to continue that on Monday.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Bet: Nathan MacKinnon anytime goal (+130), Avalanche Lightning Over 6.5 goals (-105)
The league’s leading scorer with 35 points hasn’t scored a goal in six straight games. MacKinnon has surprisingly taken up the role of being more of a distributor early on this season.
The Cole Harbour native is coming off back-to-back seasons with 40 or more goals and makes his current scoring drought the longest since the beginning of last season when he went seven games without a goal.
He should get a solid chance to do so against a Lightning team that has dropped two straight and have allowed 11 goals in the process. Legendary netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to start for the Bolts and has seen some rough starts in the past versus Colorado.
The 2019 Vezina trophy winner has allowed three or more goals in seven of his ten career starts against the Avalanche. The Bolts and Aves have combined for seven or more goals in three of their last four meetings which means it should be another high-scoring affair.
Bet: Flyers ML (+120)
This is one of those games where the betting lines don’t make sense. The Vegas Golden Knights are 13-6-2 on the season and are facing off against a Philadelphia Flyers team that is 9-10-2 and have one regulation win over their last ten games.
To be fair, the Flyers won four games in extra time but it still doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense that the betting line for this one is so close. It may be a result of the Flyers keeping things routinely close with good teams.
They covered the puck line in games against the Avalanche and Panthers while beating teams like the Lightning and Senators outright. The Golden Knights are 5-4-2 on the road this season but have walked away with losses in three of their last four trips to Philadelphia.
The Flyers are getting no love in this one with 85 per cent of the moneyline bets being placed on the Golden Knights which makes me feel very confident in a public fade in this spot. Philly confirmed that they will start Ivan Fedotov in net, who has won three of his last four starts.
Bet: Sharks +1.5 (-125), Kings Sharks Under 5.5 goals (-105), Mackenzie Blackwood 25+ saves (Line not yet listed)
The Sharks have disappointed us that last few times we’ve taken them but they still are a solid betting team. They have a 14-9 record against the spread this season and have covered in six of their last eight games.
The Kings are a very good team, placing top six in the West with a 11-7-3 record but haven’t been the road warriors they were last season with a 5-5-2 road record.
The only time to take San Jose is when they are at home with a 4-5-1 record this season and are 8-4-1 in their last 13 home matchups against the Kings. The Sharks are due for a big offensive performance after losing three consecutive games, with each defeat seeing them score two or fewer goals.
They will need to be opportunistic with their scoring as the Kings allow very few goals with a 2.67 goals against average. San Jose’s Mackenzie Blackwood will get the crease and has done his best to keep his team competing lately with 25 or more saves in seven of his last eight starts.
