NHL Wednesday best bets: Bruins to roar on road vs. Flyers
We have a very light schedule tonight, as there are just four teams slated to play.
Let's take a look at the best way to attack this small slate.
Bruins (-140) at Flyers (+120)
These teams saw a lot of each other while playing in the East Division last season, and the action was rather one-sided.
The Boston Bruins won six of eight games, picked up a point in one of the other two, and dominated in every sense of the word. They outscored the Flyers by 11 and controlled more than 56% of the expected goals across all game states.
I expect the Bruins' success to continue Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers, who added some good pieces during the offseason - most notably Ryan Ellis - but also a couple of players who could cause more harm than good.
Martin Jones posted a sub-.900 save percentage in three straight years prior to hitting the open market. There's no reason to believe he's a competent NHL goaltender, and yet he was the Flyers' solution to their backup woes. Jones will get his first start against a very good Boston team that features arguably the best top line in the NHL.
Meanwhile, Rasmus Ristolainen - objectively one of the worst defenders in the league for years - is expected to make his Flyers debut. He's set for extended minutes, which is likely problematic for Philadelphia.
The Bruins have more high-end talent and are a better defensive side, and Jeremy Swayman is more likely to provide a quality start than Jones.
Even on the road, I'm comfortably backing the Bruins as clear favorites.
Bet: Bruins -140
Blues (+110) at Golden Knights (-130)
This game isn't in range for me to play on either side.
The St. Louis Blues aren't priced as well as I hoped considering Pavel Buchnevich is suspended. That's a big loss for them, especially on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Vegas is also missing some heavy artillery with Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone. Even so, its forward group is competent, and it has plenty of high-end talent on the backend.
This is a line we'll have to watch throughout the day. If the Blues get into the +120 or +125 range, I'd be happy to pull the trigger.
On the flip side, the Golden Knights - or perhaps the over of six goals - would deserve serious consideration if Ville Husso gets his first start of the campaign.
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.