Mark Lammey
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You may only see 3 NHL games on the board, but we are far from being void of skating talent. The New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche are both full of stars and are 2 teams with reasonable aspirations for a deep postseason run. They’re the clear favorites in their matchups, which can make it difficult to find value. However, that’s what we’re here for. By targeting the player prop market, we’ve come up with our favorite ways to have a play on 2 of the best teams in the NHL. Along with our player props, be sure to check out all of our NHL picks for today’s action.
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Mikko Rantanen over 0.5 goals (-145)
Our headlined skater won’t be facing off until the last game of the night, but we have an earlier play coming up. Rantanen may not be the Avs’ primary faceoff man, but he’s certainly their leading goalscorer. In fact, his 47 are the 3rd-most in the NHL. He may not record a 60-goal season like Connor McDavid just did, but he’ll be out to reach that 50-goal mark with Colorado’s remaining 12 games. Rantanen is likely excited to inch closer to that coveted number with an ideal matchup. He and the Avs will be facing the Arizona Coyotes.
We just picked on the Coyotes 2 nights ago, which was ironically enough for McDavid to notch a goal. He recorded 2 in that game to reach 60 as well. Rantanen will need a hat-trick to reach his mark, but we only need him to record 1 goal for this play. Another reason he should be chomping at the bit for tonight’s matchup is his success against the Coyotes. In his last 10 games against them, he’s scored a goal in 8 of them, including a stretch of 7 games in a row. With that type of history, we’ll back Rantanen to score a goal on home ice with confidence tonight.
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Jack Hughes over 0.5 goals (+115)
We have another goalscorer prop for our 2nd play with another well-known skater. Hughes may not have the career resume of Rantanen, but the 21-year-old is having a stellar season. He’s been leading one of the best teams in the NHL, the New Jersey Devils, in points all season with 81. Similarly, his 37 goals are the 10th-most in the league. So, like Rantanen, he’s a hat-trick away from a milestone of a 40-goal season. While he hasn’t had a hat-trick against the Buffalo Sabres before, he has scored a goal in each of his last 3 games against them. That trend should continue with how terrible Buffalo’s goaltending has been.
The Sabres just allowed 7 goals to a very mediocre Nashville Predators offense, which marked back-to-back games allowing 7 goals, and they’ve allowed at least 5 goals in 4 straight games. No matter how you slice it, the Sabres’ goaltending is awful. Hughes will be looking to use that to bounce back from a frustrating night. He and the Devils faced the stout goaltending of the Minnesota Wild. Hughes had a ridiculous 10-shot night without finding the back of the net. We don’t expect nearly as many unlucky bounces and deflections and if anything, those tend to go in against Buffalo.
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