NHL Tuesday best bets: Bruins to beat up stumbling Senators
Monday was a mixed bag on the ice. We rightfully saw value on the New York Rangers as home underdogs against a banged-up Florida Panthers side. Unfortunately, we couldn't complete the double-dip as Florida netted a pair of goals inside the final 90 seconds to spoil the under.
We'll look to improve Tuesday as we comb through our best bets for an action-packed 10-game slate.
Kraken (+100) @ Golden Knights (-125)
We've been fading the Golden Knights - and backing the Kraken - quite often of late, so it'd only make sense for that trend to continue with the two sides set to meet Tuesday.
The Golden Knights remain without four top-nine forwards, and that's not including the newly acquired Jack Eichel. They have very little scoring pop, play-driving ability, or depth due to all the injuries.
This has proven to be problematic, as Vegas ranks 28th in expected goals share at five-on-five over the last 10 games.
That's less than ideal when heading into a date with the Kraken. Seattle is controlling better than 55% of the xG at five-on-five over the last 10 contests, which ranks fifth during that span.
The Kraken play a smothering brand of hockey. The reason they haven't been successful to this point is, by and large, goaltending. Philipp Grubauer owns a .886 save percentage through 10 starts and has conceded more goals above expectation than all but Marc-Andre Fleury and Carter Hutton. Not good.
Luckily, Chris Driedger, one of the NHL's save percentage leaders since entering the league, appears healthy and is expected to get the nod in goal Tuesday. He doesn't need to be a savior, though. If he can just make the saves he's supposed to, the Kraken should be in good shape, considering they're likely to get the better of the chances at five-on-five.
Bet: Kraken (+100)
Senators (+250) @ Bruins (-300)
The Senators enter play on a four-game losing skid, and it's tough to envision that ending in Boston.
Ottawa is playing terrible hockey right now. The Senators rank 29th in expected goals against per 60 at five-on-five during this losing streak and have controlled only 43% of the xG.
By comparison, the Bruins have controlled a whopping 58% of the xG over the same period of time. They're dominating the run of play, which should continue at home in such a favorable matchup.
This is also a fantastic spot for Boston's power play to get on track. Only the injury-plagued Golden Knights have given up scoring chances at a higher clip on the penalty kill than Ottawa.
The Bruins have advantages across the board, which will become even more evident with the Senators a little undermanned due to an internal COVID-19 outbreak. That means a few regulars - headlined by Connor Brown - will be unavailable for this game.
Expect Boston to take care of business with relative ease.
Bet: Bruins -1.5 (-115)
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.