Ryan Hodges
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Thursday’s 12-game slate in the NHL delivered in a big way. Friday is a bit quieter with just 4 matchups before another huge 14-game schedule on Saturday. After that, there is a 3-day holiday break in the NHL. Teams are sprinting through to this break and providing great entertainment along the way. Although Friday has just 4 games on tap, it sets up to bring more of the same as there are some great matchups in store. You can find out our best NHL player prop bets below, but make sure you also read our NHL predictions for today’s games.
Pavel Zacha over 0.5 points (-130)
Boston looks to be a regular-season juggernaut once again while Winnipeg is competing for the Central Division lead. These are a couple of very good teams that could make for a close game with a thin margin of error. In that case, look for top players to carry a little extra weight and log more ice time. For the Bruins, that would mean even more ice time for their top line which includes Pavel Zacha.
Zacha has worked great with David Pastrnak this year, who is 4th in the NHL in points. Zacha has 21 points in 27 games this season and is coming off a 2-point game against the Wild. He plays top-line minutes with Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, as well as top power play minutes. In what has the makings of a good, close game, look for Zacha to have plenty of opportunities to produce.
Robby Fabbri over 0.5 points (+124)
Detroit has just 1 win in their last 8 games and has lost ground in a very competitive Eastern Conference playoff race. They really need a win and in a game with raised stakes, it is a similar situation as mentioned prior where the top lines should log more important minutes. At +124, Red Wings top-line left winger Robby Fabbri has great value to tally a point.
Fabbri has 9 goals and 15 points in 20 games played this season. He has cooled off slightly, but again, so have the Red Wings as a whole. But Fabbri has played well enough to earn a spot on the team’s top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, as well as on the second power play. A good player who has been performing well, plays with good players, logs important minutes and is in a somewhat high-pressure game is a good spot for this at plus-money odds.
Read our full Philadelphia Flyers vs Detroit Red Wings predictions
