NHL Best Bets
This Eastern Conference race for the second wild card spot just continues to get more dramatic. Tonight, there are two massive games that will have significant implications. The Philadelphia Flyers take on the Washington Capitals, and the Detroit Red Wings play the Montreal Canadiens, two great games for NHL best bets.
Some other things to highlight are Auston Matthews seeking his 70th goal against the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights looking to jump the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific division standings.
Let’s get into it.
Detroit at Montreal (+145, 6.5)
Both teams will be playing the second leg of a home-and-home series after an incredible game last night. The Montreal Canadiens were up 4-1, but the Detroit Red Wings came back to win in overtime.
That’s back-to-back 5-4 overtime wins for the Red Wings, who are keeping their season alive. Tonight is another must-win game for them, and they have to be feeling pretty good after that win last night.
Lucas Raymond continues to come up in the clutch. He had the game-tying goal and the overtime-winning goal in last night’s game, which were his 30th and 31st of the season. Raymond now has seven goals and 11 points in his last 10 games.
The Red Wings top-six has been money for them as of late. This team is scoring 3.10 goals per game over their last 10 and their power play is clicking at a 25.9 rate. Detroit has now scored a minimum of five goals in three straight games and Montreal has allowed 3+ goals in four straight games.
The Bell Centre is a tough place to play, but Montreal hasn’t been all that great at home this year. They’ve skated to a 16-20-4 record at home this season, but they will definitely look to play spoiler.
It’s going to be hard to bet against the Red Wings tonight, and I’m willing to go down with the ship.
NHL Best Bet: Detroit Red Wings ML -175 (play to -185)
Washington at Philadelphia (-155, 5.5)
This game is going to be the most exciting one of the evening. The Washington Capitals are the only team in this playoff race that has a “win to get in” situation. The only way for the Philadelphia Flyers to even have a chance of getting into the playoffs is if they win in regulation, so they will have to take a few risks tonight.
The Flyers have won two straight games but are playing against the Capitals on the second leg of a back-to-back. Washington played a really strong game at home last night, taking down the Boston Bruins by the score of 2-0 and defeating Tampa Bay 4-2.
I am anticipating a very tight-knit game, and both goalies have been playing well in their previous couple of starts. The goaltending matchup should be Charlie Lindgren for Washington and Sam Ersson for Philadelphia. Lindgren is 3-1-1 in his last five starts while boasting a 1.81 goals against average and a .931 save percentage while also having one shutout. Ersson has only allowed one goal in his last two starts while facing a total of 45 shots on goal. Ersson is feeling it right now.
Since April 1st, both of these teams have been struggling offensively. The Flyers have been averaging 2.50 goals per game over their last six and the Capitals have only been scoring 2.13 in their last eight games.
The Flyers haven’t scored a power-play goal in eight straight games.
This game is going to be all about the goalies even if it’s not the most exciting matchup on paper.
NHL Best Bet(s): Under 1.5 1P +100 (play to -110) | Under 5.5 +100 (play to -110)
April Record: 15-5 (+9.60 units)
2023-24 record: 144–137 (-19.11 units)
