Expert NHL Best Bets and Predictions for Friday, February 16

NHL Best Bets

I expected a much better outcome with last night’s plays, especially in New Jersey. But when things don’t go your way, you just have to put it behind you. Luckily, there is only one NHL game on tonight, so we can put our entire focus on that for our NHL best bets. 

Carolina at Arizona (+170, 6)

Since Christmas, there haven’t been many teams playing better hockey than the Carolina Hurricanes. In this window, they have gone 13-4-1 and looked like the Canes team we’ve watched dominate over the past few seasons. 

Carolina’s biggest struggle this season has been finding consistent goaltending, and despite losing his most recent game, Pyotr Kochetkov has put together a pretty solid stretch of play. In his last five starts, Kochetkov has gone 4-1-0 with a 2.10 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. 

Their opponent, the Arizona Coyotes, have had a rough go as of late. They’re currently stuck in a seven-game losing streak. Outside of Clayton Keller, who has four goals and seven assists in the team’s last 10 games, the Coyotes have been struggling to get any offense going. That was the case when they played the Hurricanes on January 27th, as they lost by the score of 3-1, and I expect that to be a pretty similar outcome in tonight’s game. 

Both Arizona goalies have been struggling as of late. Karel Vejmelka is 0-2-0 in his last two starts, with a 3.64 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. Connor Ingram is 2-4-2 in his last eight appearances while skating to a 3.56 goals against average and a .889 save percentage. 

The Hurricanes have really picked up their game offensively. Since Christmas, they’re averaging 3.44 goals per game and have been converting on the power play at 33.9%. What’s been driving them is their 5-on-5 play. The Canes are generating the sixth most high-danger chances per 60 (11.89), while the Coyotes are allowing the seventh most high-danger chances against per 60 at 5-on-5. 

This is certainly a mismatch. I have a ton of faith in the Hurricanes, and I have a couple of different plays for this one. 

Bet(s): Carolina Hurricanes to win in regulation -140 (play to -150) | Under 6 -122 (play to -135) | Coyotes Team Total Under 2.5 -125 (play to -140)