NHL Wednesday best bets: Flames to pounce on sitting Ducks
The best bets were good to us on Tuesday night. The Blues picked up a multi-goal regulation win against the Senators, while the Stars and Avalanche gave us a relatively sweat-free under, combining for five goals in a game with a 6.5 total.
We'll aim for another 2-0 night with our best bets.
Panthers (-105) @ Hurricanes (-115)
This game is going to be incredible. By all accounts, we're looking at two of the best teams in the NHL. The Panthers and Hurricanes are tied for second in wins (32) and sit among the league leaders in several key underlying metrics.
There isn't much separating the two, but I have to give the edge to Florida.
At five-on-five, no team has controlled a larger share of the shot attempts or goals than the Panthers. They rank a tad lower (third) in expected goals, but they remain slightly ahead of the Hurricanes in that category as well.
Florida should hold at least a slight advantage during five-on-five play. While the top half of the two sides should essentially cancel each other out, I like the Panthers' depth a little more.
Florida also figures to have an edge in terms of team discipline. Only the Predators have spent more time killing penalties than the Hurricanes this season.
Carolina is an elite team on the penalty kill, but you're playing with fire if you give a team like Florida plenty of power-play opportunities.
This should be a back-and-forth affair, and when all is said and done, I expect the Panthers to leave the ice with two points.
Bet: Panthers (-105)
Ducks (+170) @ Flames (-205)
Remember a few weeks ago when the Flames were treading water in the standings? Their underlying process remained remarkably strong and suggested a big breakout was coming. Well, it's here!
The Flames have won nine of their last 10 games and are full value for it. They have controlled nearly 61% of the shot attempts and 64% of the high-danger chances at five-on-five. Unsurprisingly, both totals rank first in the NHL by several percentage points.
Even in a back-to-back situation, I expect them to heavily dictate play against the Ducks. Anaheim ranks 25th in shot share and 27th in high-danger chance share over the last 10 games.
There's always the possibility that John Gibson steals a game. He's played great this season, stopping 10.4 more goals than expected. Unfortunately for the Ducks, the same can be said of Calgary's netminder.
The Flames rested Jacob Markstrom on Tuesday night so he'd be available for this divisional clash. As well as Gibson has performed, Markstrom looks even better in terms of goals saved above expectation (+11.4). He might well cancel Gibson out.
That's bad news for Anaheim, considering all the edges this Calgary team has elsewhere. The Flames should be able to take care of business inside 60 minutes.
Bet: Flames in regulation (-135)
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.