NHL best bets and expert picks
Last night was an absolutely wild one. Even though we went 2-0 on the evening, it took extra time for both of those bets to win. Talk about a night of sweating.
The Maple Leafs/Panthers ending was one of the crazier finishes that I’ve ever seen to a hockey game. I turned the game off after what I thought was the game winning shootout goal by Evan Rodrigues. I found out about five minutes later on Twitter (or X) that they called back the goal, and the players came back on the ice, leading to a Toronto victory. Absolute chaos.
Tonight, there are only three games on the NHL slate, but I’m going to focus on the game of the night—the Original Six matchup between the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings.
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Detroit at NY Rangers (-205, 6)
I’m taking a bit of a different approach to this game tonight. Instead of picking a side or total, I’m going to focus on a player.
The Detroit Red Wings have the 10th-most penalty minutes in the NHL and have committed 10 separate crimes over their last three games. This is important because tonight, the Rangers are expected to have their Norris Trophy-winning defenseman, Adam Fox, return to the lineup for the first time since November 2nd.
Before Fox was injured, the Rangers had the third-best power play percentage at 32.4%. They haven’t necessarily missed a beat without him, considering they’re at 30.2% right now and are still third in the NHL. But this isn’t even about Fox; it’s about what Fox brings. My eyes are on Artemi Panarin, who will benefit a ton on the power play with the return of Fox.
Panarin has recorded 13 power-play points in the 20 games he’s played this season, and the last time these two teams met, he recorded an assist on the man-advantage.
The Red Wings don’t have a very strong penalty kill. Right now, they’re 17th in the league, skating to a 79% success rate, but they struggled mightily against the Rangers in the first meeting of the season, giving up two power-play goals on only three attempts.
Panarin has been a point machine this season, tallying 30 in only 20 games, which has him at seventh in the league.
He has power-play points in back-to-back games, and now, with Fox back, he should be able to produce on the man-advantage again.
Bet: *2 Units Artemi Panarin Over 0.5 Power Play Points +100 (play to -110)
2023-24 record: 42-48-0 (-11.71 units)
