Johnston to shine in Game 2 vs. Golden Knights
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There are three games scheduled Wednesday night with no shortage of value in the player prop markets. Let's take a closer look.
Morgan Rielly: Over 0.5 assists
Rielly is coming off an impressive offensive season where he produced 51 assists over 72 games played. He was far more productive at home: Rielly recorded an assist in 44% of his road games, a far cry from the 68% hit rate he posted when playing in Toronto.
He tends to skate behind the Auston Matthews line a lot at five-on-five. That's invaluable when playing at home because head coach Sheldon Keefe can control the matchups and get his best players extra shifts away from the opposition's best defensive personnel.
That should lead to less time against stingy Hampus Lindholm, who the Bruins tried to attach at the hip of Matthews over the first two games of the series.
Rielly will share the ice with Matthews a lot at even strength, he'll quarterback the power play, and he'll likely see upwards of 25 minutes.
Look for him to pick up an assist along the way.
Odds: -105 (playable to -125)
Noah Hanifin: Over 0.5 points
Hanifin is playing some of the best offensive hockey of his career. He has eight points over the last six games and found the scoresheet in five of them.
The production comes after a role change: Hanifin was moved up to the top power-play unit in place of Shea Theodore, and is now running point alongside stars like Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl, and Jonathan Marchessault, providing plenty of opportunity to help facilitate a goal.
The Stars are a very strong defensive team but Jake Oettinger isn't getting it done in the playoffs of late. He posted a putrid .895 save percentage last year and allowed four goals on only 15 shots in the series opener.
Vegas has more than enough weapons to be opportunistic with its finishing. If it is, Hanifin stands a good chance of hitting the scoresheet.
Odds: +115 (playable to -115)
Wyatt Johnston: Over 2.5 shots
Johnston recorded only one shot against Vegas in Game 1 but it wasn't for a lack of chances. He attempted seven shots during five-on-five play, which tied him for the team lead, but he couldn't hit the net.
Generally speaking, that kind of volume is going to lead to success. Johnston averaged 4.3 shots per game and went over his total in 18 of 20 tries during the regular season when attempting seven shots or more.
Johnston enjoyed success against the Golden Knights in last year's playoffs, recording 21 shots over six games. That's 3.5 per contest while playing about 15 minutes.
Johnston has a much bigger role on this version of the Stars - he logged more than 19 minutes in Game 1 - so it stands to reason he can maintain that sort of production.
Odds: -130 (playable to -145)
Adrian Kempe: Over 2.5 shots
Kempe is a certified Oilers killer. He's faced them 26 times over the past few seasons and gone over his total all but three times. Kempe isn't just grinding his way to three shots, either, he's consistently soaring over the number.
He's averaged 4.7 shots over the 26 meetings and recorded at least four in 10 of the past 11, including a five-shot performance in Game 1 of the series.
With 55 shots on goal and 13 points over his last 11 games against Edmonton, Kempe's clearly shown he's the Kings' best option to try and keep up with the high-powered Oilers.
He should see 18-20 minutes in Game 2 and generate at least a few shots along the way.
Odds: -140 (playable to -160)
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.