Mark Lammey
Show Bio
As the season winds down, the penultimate Sunday is upon us. Several teams are on the 2nd night of a back-to-back and playoff seedings are still up for grabs. With some teams having everything to play for and others having very little, sides and totals can be tricky. Instead, we can find value in the player prop market with the Ducks returning to Anaheim and the Panthers traveling up to Detroit. Along with our player props, be sure to check out our full game previews for tonight’s matchups.
Trevor Zegras over 0.5 points (-150)
The Ducks have had a disappointing season, but they are clearly still playing as hard as ever. They just finished off an east-coast road trip in which they took the Panthers and Lightning into overtime. Those teams are among the Stanley Cup favorites and Anaheim was expected to lose by a landslide. A primary factor for any success the team has had is youngster Trevor Zegras. He has been a real bright spot for the entire NHL as he has brought more casual eyes into the game.
He’s been a regular on SportsCenter with his Michigan-style wrap-around goals and his Dodgeball-themed trick shot at the all-star game. Not only is he flashy, he is productive. Zegras is a top candidate for the Calder Trophy (best rookie) due to his play alongside Troy Terry. He’s recorded 55 points in his 69 games played and now faces a Blue Jackets team on the 2nd night of a back-to-back. Columbus will have a backup goaltender in net and it may be J-F Berube if not Joonas Korpisalo. Berube has just 4 games played on the season and 27 in his career. Regardless of which goalie Zegras faces, a fatigued Blue Jackets team is the perfect candidate for him to get in the point column on Sunday night.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for the Columbus Blue Jackets at Anaheim Ducks
Aleksander Barkov over 1.5 points (+135)
The Panthers are looking to inch closer to the coveted #1 seed and should be able to use a Red Wings team on a back-to-back to help their cause. This game will host the league’s top goalscoring team in Florida against the league’s 2nd-worst goaltending team in Detroit. The Red Wings saved starting goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic for this game but he is not a netminder the Panthers will be concerned with. Such a lopsided matchup should lead to several opportunities for Aleksander Barkov to record multiple points.
Jonathan Huberdeau leads the team, and nearly the NHL, with his 108 points, but Barkov is elite in his own right. He has 80 points in his 61 games and has recorded multiple points 25 times this season. This season is no fluke, either. Barkov has averaged above or just below a point per game for 7 straight seasons. Two of those multiple-point games came in both the games against the Red Wings earlier this season. He recorded 3 points on 3 assists at home and 2 points on 2 goals in Detroit. The Wings’ goaltending has got even worse since then and should allow Barkov to repeat those performances.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for the Florida Panthers at Detroit Red Wings
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