Mark Lammey
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We went 2-0 last night, so let’s get a little streak going. With a solid 9-game slate, we’ve got plenty of NHL action on the board to do so. There’s some great matchups between Eastern Conference teams who expect to see each other again in the postseason and the leaders of the Western Conference who are looking to bounce back. Several games are set to be close contests. With that in mind, predicting sides can be difficult. Thankfully, we have the player prop market for another way to attack these games. We’ve pinpointed some great spots for skaters to perform and for you to target to make it a profitable night.
Along with our player props, be sure to check out all of our NHL picks for today’s action.
Roman Josi over 0.5 points (-140)
If there has ever been a spot for a player to be licking his chops, this is it. The Nashville Predators host the Minnesota Wild tonight for a Central Division clash. Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has not looked like his younger years throughout the first month of the season, and the team has even elected to go with backup goalie Filip Gustavsson at times. That’s great news for Nashville’s Roman Josi. He’s a former Norris Trophy winner for the NHL’s best defenseman, and is coming off an incredible season. Josi recorded 96 points last season, 73 of which were assists. Both of those marks were the most by a defenseman, and his 73 assists were the 5th-most in the league overall.
He only has 6 so far this season, but the Wild provide a great opportunity for him to have a big night. In 4 meetings against them last season, he had at least an assist in each game. Not only that, he had 3 assists in their first matchup, and 2 more in each of the next 2 contests. Josi totaled a whopping 12 points in those 4 games, and we’re getting a great price on his overall point prop tonight. He skates alongside Filip Forsberg, who is an elite goalscorer that finished with 42 of them last season despite missing 13 games. Even if he doesn’t send a helper to Forsberg, Josi is on the ice for over 24 minutes per game. He’s in the top 15 in the NHL in that regard, so he’ll have plenty of time to help any of the Preds skaters to find the back of the net if he doesn’t just do so himself.
Be sure to check out our Minnesota Wild vs Nashville Predators predictions
Jeff Skinner over 2.5 shots on goal (-170)
Our original second play was on Patrik Laine of the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, he is once again dealing with health issues. If you’d like to still target that game, we like Johnny Gaudreau’s shots on goal prop. However, we’re going to pivot to another advantageous matchup. We’re still sticking with the same prop market as well. When deciding between Buffalo Sabres’ Tage Thompson or Jeff Skinner, we were burned earlier in the season. Our analysis was spot on as Skinner’s prop was listed at 3.5 for that game.
We’re getting him with the much more friendly 2.5, despite him having an even better matchup tonight. It’s worth paying the extra juice, as we’ve already seen that 1 shot can make all the difference. Regardless, the Sabres are taking on the Vancouver Canucks tonight, where Skinner has feasted. In their 2 meetings last season, he recorded 4 and 5 shots in those games. That was when the Canucks were a much stronger defensive team, which they have not been this year. They’re allowing the 9th-most shots per game to left-wingers, exactly where Skinner will be for this matchup. We also love fellow Sabre Rasmus Dahlin for this same prop, but we’re going to trust the history with Skinner tonight.
Don’t miss our NHL mega parlay for tonight at +1027 odds
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