Mark Lammey
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It’s been an exciting first week of NHL action and we had a great 10-game slate last night. Unfortunately that leaves us with just 4 games going tonight, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start the weekend out with winners. Even if none of the sides seem like great plays, there is still plenty of value in the player prop market. We’ve broken down the best matchups and targeted our favorite plays for Friday night. Along with our player props, be sure to check out all of our NHL picks for today’s action.
Let’s take a closer look at my 2 favorite player props.
Victor Hedman over 0.5 assists (-105)
The Tampa Bay Lightning opened up their season with a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals, but fell to the New York Rangers. The sting of that revenge loss should have Victor Hedman and the Lightning getting off to an electric start against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight. It will be the second game for both teams, and the Carolina Hurricanes were able to score 4 goals on the Jackets on Wednesday.
Hedman has been one of the biggest and best defenseman throughout this Tampa dynasty run. The 6’6″ monster was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner for the MVP of the postseason when the Lightning won their 2020 Stanley Cup. He’s been just as dominant since, as his 65 assists last season were the 8th-most in the NHL. Hedman also enjoyed facing the Jackets last season, recording at least 1 assist in all 3 meetings. Columbus acquired superstar Johnny Gaudreau in the offseason, but did nothing to bolster their goaltending. They allowed the 5th-most goals in the league last season, so expect Hedman to help Nikita Kucherov and others find the net tonight.
Be sure to check out our Tampa Bay Lightning vs Columbus Blue Jackets predictions
Andrei Svechnikov over 2.5 shots on goal (-125)
After hitting our +150 play last night, we were on the prowl for another great plus-money spot. The small 4-game slate didn’t provide the opportunity and we’re never going to force a play. Instead, we’re going to target one that actually burned us just 2 days ago.
However, there’s still plenty of reason to trust the Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov to come through tonight. The San Jose Sharks are coming off quite a disappointing season and lost back-to-back games against the Nashville Predators to open up this year. Their best defenseman last season, Brent Burns, is actually a member of the Hurricanes now. He’ll be looking to put a storm on the Sharks alongside Svechnikov, who is much more of a goalscorer, as he had 1 in their season opener. The Hurricanes took 43 shots in total in that opening game and Svechnikov had success against the Sharks last season. They only played each other twice, but he recorded 7 shots across those 2 games. Although he fell just a shot short 2 nights ago, believe in the bounce-back.
Be sure to check out our Carolina Hurricanes vs San Jose Sharks predictions
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