Mark Lammey
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Friday night will be far from a party with just 4 games on the slate. Thankfully, there are still plenty more individual skaters on each team to focus on. Let’s take advantage of the player prop market to rollover our winnings into the larger weekend slate. Specifically, the Capitals continue their road trip out west and the Wild are out to sink the Kraken. Along with our player props, be sure to check out our full game previews for tonight’s matchups.
John Carlson over 0.5 assists (-130)
While the Capitals are known for skater Alex Ovechkin, more credit should be given to John Carlson. The duo will look to link up in Arizona as Washington has been on a road trip out west. They lost in Vegas on Wednesday night, but the Coyotes are the perfect team for a bounce-back game. They’re also the perfect team to give up goals, and Carlson can help out in doing so. Arizona has the 2nd-worst goaltending in the league, allowing 3.79 goals per game.
Carlson is tied with Evgeny Kuznetsov for the most assists on the team with 53. He has 68 total points on the season, so it’s clear he’s more focused on dishing out apples than finding the back of the net himself. It certainly helps skating alongside Ovechkin, who just scored his 50th goal Wednesday night. Carlson also gets more opportunities than many simply due to time on the ice. He is the team leader by far with an average of nearly 24 minutes of ice time per game. There should be no concern of rest with a playoff spot clinched; he was on the ice for 23 minutes in that last outing against the Golden Knights. Given a much better goaltending matchup and knowing Ovechkin will always take his shots, Carlson should be in line for an assist tonight.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for the Washington Capitals vs Arizona Coyotes
Brady Tkachuk over 0.5 goals (+160)
After seeing his brother, Matthew, score a goal for the Flames last night, Brady is in line to do so himself on Friday night. He and the Senators take on the Blue Jackets in Columbus. While it may not be a battle for a playoff spot, these teams are of similar caliber. One area in which the Jackets are worse is goaltending. They’re worse than the majority of the league as they are currently ranked 4th-worst, allowing 3.68 goals per game. Tkachuk is the leading point scorer for the Sens and should be able to take advantage of the matchup.
He may be 2nd on the team in goals, but he is 1st in shots by a mile. His 268 shots in 74 games is good for an average of 3.6 per game and is one of the tops in the league. It’s just his 4th season in the NHL and he’s already going for a 30-goal season. His opportunities are also enhanced as he skates alongside Ottawa’s next best skaters in terms of points per game. Both Josh Norris and Drake Batherson are just below an average of a point per game. The majority of Batherson’s points have been assists, a great situation for Tkachuk. Norris has goalscoring ability as well, but takes nowhere near the number of chances as Brady. Look for Tkachuk to match his brother’s stat line from last night and record a goal.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for the Ottawa Senators vs Columbus Blue Jackets
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