After a busy Thursday night in the NHL, there are another 8 games on tap this evening. Of these 8 games I have found 2 sharp bets that I like for this evening.
The Calgary Flames travel to Minnesota tonight to take on Martin Havlat and the Wild. Both teams are battling just outside of a playoff position making this an important game for both squads.
After a strong start to the season the Flames have lost their last 3 games, allowing 15 goals in this span. Each of these losses came at home so the Flames may be eager to leave the Scotiabank Saddledome to start this 4 game road trip. Calgary has been a very streaky team this season and they will need an elite Kiprusoff in net tonight along with some team defense that has been missing.
The Wild held the high powered offense of the San Jose Sharks scoreless on Wednesday in a 1-0 win at home. The Flames are another team that knows how to score goals so the Wild will look to once again shut down a high scoring NHL team. Nicklas Backstrom played amazing against the Sharks and the Wild would love this to continue into tonights game. The Wild are (4-3-1) at home this season and they have a history of playing poorly on the road. Playing so many home games this early in the season it is vital that they put some wins on the board for when they have to make their long road trips later on. Mikko Koivu has done everything expected of him and is leading the team with 12 points in 11 games. Look for him, Havlat and Cullen to lead the offense as the Wild try to run up another score on the Flames.
Calgary Flames +105 (Bookmaker.com)
Minnesota Wild -125 (Bookmaker.com)
Minnesota has looked good of late and the Flames have looked very messy giving up a ton of goals. I’m expecting the streaks to continue tonight with the Wild having home ice advantage.
My Pick: Minnesota Wild -125
The Hurricanes are coming off of a 7-2 thumping of the lowly Islanders on Wednesday night. They will look to continue this success when the travel to Florida tonight to take on the Panthers. On that same night the Panthers lost a tight 4-3 decision at home to the Atlanta Thrashers.
The Hurricanes (6-6-0) have not won or lost more than two games in a row this season, with the majority of their games going back and forth between wins and losses. The ‘Canes will look to stop this trend as they look for a second win in a row tonight. Jeff Skinner is the Hurricanes leading scorer to this point in the season with 10 points in 12 games. The 7th overall pick from this years draft has really turned some heads with his skill and speed.
Florida (4-6-0) have been up and down this season as well. Vokoun started the season off with 2 shutouts in the Panthers first two wins and it seems like for the Panthers to win a game their opposition has to be kept to a goal or less. Vokoun is an elite goaltender in this league, but asking him to play incredibly every night is a little too much.
Carolina Hurricanes +125 (Bookmaker.com)
Florida Panthers -145 (Bookmaker.com)
Florida are the favourites in this one due to the fact that they are playing at home. That being said the Hurricanes have a .500 record on the road, while the Panthers also have a .500 record at home. The Hurricanes will win this game more than 45% of the time, making a wager on the Hurricanes a sharp bet in this one.
My Pick: Carolina Hurricanes +125
Check back daily for free NHL betting predictions. The NHL Betting Tips record to this point in the season is (13-5) for +8.24 units.
Written by: Niko de Jonge
Tagged with: Calgary Flames • Carolina Hurricanes • Florida Panthers • Minnesota Wild