NHL Thursday player props: Ovechkin to feast on sitting Ducks

Wednesday night was a tough one for our NHL shot props, with Josh Morrissey and Jason Robertson both coming up a puck shy - despite advantageous matchups and ideal game scripts.

We'll look to rebound with a full three-play card for Thursday's slate.

Alex Ovechkin over 4.5 shots (-125)

Ovechkin makes his return to the lineup Thursday in a mouthwatering matchup against the NHL's last-place team.

The Ducks remain inept defensively, giving up shots and chances at extreme rates against any and every opponent. Things are not improving one bit. In fact, they're probably getting worse.

Anaheim has allowed an average of 42 shots per 60 minutes over its last 10 games. Only one other team is giving up more than 36. The Ducks are easily the worst shot-suppression team in the league, and there's nobody who should benefit more than Ovechkin.

The Capitals superstar has been generating shots at an absurd rate lately, even for a player of his caliber. Ovechkin has attempted 100 shots in his last 10 games at Capital One Arena, going over the total on seven occasions.

Expect him to pick up where he left off against the Ducks.

Connor McDavid over 4.5 shots (+100)

McDavid is one of the hottest shot generators in the league right now. Perhaps the hottest; he's posted a league-leading 53 shots on target over his last 10 games.

The Penguins, meanwhile, have quietly allowed more shots per game over the last 10 contests than every team except the Ducks and Coyotes. Pittsburgh is not a strong defensive squad and gives up a ton of shots to opposing centers. In fact, only the Ducks have allowed more per game this season.

With the Penguins struggling against centers at the best of times, it's hard to believe they'll be able to slow the best player in the league at a time when he's firing at will.

Look for McDavid to have another big performance in what figures to be a high-event game.

Matt Boldy over 3.5 shots (+110)

We've targeted the Blue Jackets with great success all season, and we're not going to stop now.

Boldy is a road warrior. At home, Kirill Kaprizov gets the softer matchups and is the Wild's best shot generator. But he faces top competition when on the road, which opens things up for a player like Boldy.

Boldy has taken advantage throughout the season, averaging 3.6 shots per road game while going over the total at a 54% clip. That's a stark contrast to what he's accomplished at Xcel Energy Center, where he's averaged 2.8 shots per contest and hit the over just 38% of the time.

The 21-year-old finds himself in a great spot against Columbus: He's facing a bottom-five shot-suppression team in an environment where he won't get all the attention.

With Minnesota in the middle of the wild-card race and struggling to score, Boldy figures to get every opportunity to exploit this juicy matchup.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.