NHL Tuesday betting preview: Expect Flyers to win 10th straight
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If you blindly followed Monday's betting preview, you raked. We went 2-0 with our official bets and produced two more winners with our trend of the night. Fun was had and money was made.
Let's go for another perfect night - and our seventh best-bet winner in a row - on Tuesday.
GOATs and scapegoats
The Winnipeg Jets found themselves down 2-0 at the end of the first period on Monday, which meant our best-bet streak was hanging by a thread. Then Nikolaj Ehlers happened. He scored early in the second to kick-start the comeback and then assisted the next two goals before a Mark Scheifele empty-netter sealed the deal. It was beautiful.
It's hard to have a scapegoat when you don't lose a bet, but Mikko Koskinen tried his very best to stop us. He made an astounding 45 saves but couldn't make the 46th, as the Vegas Golden Knights won in overtime.
Tuesday bets
Nashville Predators/Montreal Canadiens over 5.5 (-110)
The Predators are coming off a home-and-home with the Dallas Stars in which they scored three goals and allowed none. The Canadiens just finished a short Florida trip in which they scored one goal in two games. I think the floodgates will open tonight for these two frustrated offenses. Nashville is on an 8-0 run to the over in away games against Eastern Conference teams (with those contests averaging 8.9 total goals), while Montreal is on a 4-0 run to the over at home.
New York Islanders/Vancouver Canucks under 5.5 (-110)
The Islanders have lost six in a row and 10 of their last 11 while playing easily their worst hockey of the season. The Canucks haven't been much better, losing five of their last six overall and four of their last six on home ice. Meanwhile, both teams are desperately fighting to stay in the playoff picture. The Islanders have lost 10 of their last 11 games away to Western Conference teams and have scored two or fewer goals in 10 of those.
On the surface, it looks like the Canucks are the play, but this line is fishy at just -120 and dropping, which is enough to give me pause. The under looks like the better target, as it's cashed in six of Vancouver's last seven home games against Eastern Conference teams. I expect a really tight game on Tuesday as both teams try to stop the bleeding with points at a premium.
Ottawa Senators (+120)
The Senators are playing some really good hockey right now, winning four of their last five, including a victory in San Jose on Saturday. Coach D.J. Smith is doing a great job and a number of these players are fighting hard for their jobs. The Ducks have been playing some competitive hockey as well, but their blue line is just so banged up. I can't pass up this sort of value with Ottawa in a game between two bad teams, and I certainly won't be laying -140 with the Ducks.
Best bet
Philadelphia Flyers (-105)
The best team in hockey right now is the Philadelphia Flyers. They've won nine in a row and now sit just one point out of first in the Metropolitan Division with a game in hand. The Flyers have also won seven in a row on home ice and 10 of their last 11 in Philadelphia, but even before this insane run, they were a juggernaut at Wells Fargo Center, posting a 25-5-4 record there overall this season.
A visit from the NHL's top team shouldn't be enough to scare you off the Flyers. The Boston Bruins are playing their typically strong hockey these days, winning nine of their last 11 on the road, but they've lost six of their last seven games in Philadelphia. The Bruins also have some breathing room atop the Atlantic Division, so I expect just a bit more intensity from the Flyers.
Trend of the night
The Tampa Bay Lightning have won three straight games in Toronto and six of their last seven there.
But the Maple Leafs are desperate for a get-right performance, and the Panthers' win in St. Louis on Monday probably served as quite the wake-up call. There's a short price on the Bolts at -115, but I'm staying far away from this game.
Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.