Mark Lammey
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We have 4 games on the board tonight, with each one an interesting matchup. The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers each won their respective conferences last season and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals have been bitter rivals since Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin entered the league. The Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens wage a battle north of the border and the Minnesota Wild and Anaheim Ducks have most fans expecting a lopsided game.
I have targeted my 3 favorite plays out of the 4 games to piece together for a parlay with mega odds to boost your bankroll. Before we dive in, be sure to check out our NHL picks for today’s action.
Pittsburgh Penguins -1.5 (+195) over Washington Capitals
As we mentioned, the Penguins and Capitals have engaged in 1 of the best rivalries over the best decade. That has primarily been due to Crosby and Ovechkin living up to the hype. Crosby was the #1 overall pick in 2005 and Ovechkin was the same top pick the year prior. Nearly 20 years later and here they are still dominating the league. However, neither team is having a great start to their season. In fact, they are above only the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Metro Division. Despite the Pens’ current losing streak, their extended rest should help them take down the Caps.
Pittsburgh hasn’t played since last Saturday, while Washington just had to face a strong Edmonton Oilers team 2 nights ago. This play is also about how depleted the Capitals are. Outside of Ovechkin, they remain without 4 key skaters. Tom Wilson, Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson are each on injured reserve, while T.J. Oshie is out indefinitely. That’s a lot to overcome against a Penguins team that kept the core of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang intact over the offseason. It also helped that Crosby has feasted on the Caps in his career. The future Hall of Famer has 84 points in 64 games against Washington. It hasn’t been great in Pittsburgh so far this year, but this is a great opportunity to turn things around.
Be sure to check out our Pittsburgh Penguins vs Washington Capitals predictions
Vancouver Canucks 3-way ML (+110) over Montreal Canadiens
We don’t have quite the superstar matchup for our next game. What we do have is 2 teams on the second night of a back-to-back. Both the Canucks and Canadiens are under .500, but that situation certainly favors the Canucks. Playing on consecutive nights takes a larger toll in terms of defense and goaltending, where Montreal has consistently been poor. In goalie Carey Price’s absence the Habs have fallen off a cliff. They allowed the most goals per game in the NHL last season and are still sliding out Jake Allen in net.
As such, it’s no surprise the Canadiens are still allowing nearly 3.5 goals per game — and that’s an improvement for them. Being at home hasn’t done them many favors either. Not only will they be traveling in from Detroit after last night’s game, but they have also lost each of their last 3 home games. In those losses they have allowed 14 goals. While Vancouver has not been incredible, either, it is starting to get things figured out with defenseman Quinn Hughes back healthy. The Canucks have won 4 of their last 6 games and defeated the Canadiens by multiple goals in their most recent meeting. This may not be the matchup of the night, but it doesn’t mean we can’t use it for our mega parlay.
Minnesota Wild vs Anaheim Ducks – Over 6.5 (+100)
Let’s wrap things up by transitioning to a total. Most fans would agree that the Wild are clearly the superior team. However, they have been too inconsistent and will be the ones on a road back-to-back for us to back them in terms on the side. Instead, we’re going to use their goaltending struggles to our advantage. Starting goalie Marc Andre-Fleury has not looked nearly as strong so far this season, and they won’t even get to have him in net. After using him in Los Angeles against the Kings last night, it will be backup Filip Gustavsson between the pipes.
Gustavsson is 0-3 on the year with an abysmal .878 save percentage. He is certainly part of the reason the Wild have allowed the 8th-most goals per game so far this year. That’s all without mentioning how terrible the Ducks have looked. At over 4.5 goals allowed per game, they are the absolute worst goaltending team in the NHL. Each of their last 5 games has gone over the total, even when they are able to pull off the rare win. They aren’t just barely going over, eithe; their last 4 games have ended with totals of 8, 9, 13 and 11 goals. While Minnesota has been inconsistent due to its goaltending, Kirill Kaprizov remains 1 of the best goal-scorers in the game. With that in mind, I expect both teams to have no issues finding the back of the net tonight.
Wednesday’s NHL mega parlay (11/9)
Penguins -1.5 (+185)
Canucks 3-way ML (+110)
Wild vs Ducks – Over 6.5 (+100)
Parlay odds +1139
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