It seems like every nights a busy one in the NHL these days and tonight is no different. There are 8 games on tap tonight, but I only found two sharp moneyline bets that I will be taking this evening to get back on track.
Boston Bruins +100 (TheSportsbook.com)
Tampa Bay Lightning -110 (Sportsbook.com)
The Bruins are (7-1-0) on the road this season, while the Lightning are just (4-2-1) at home. With this statistic, right off the bat you would expect the Bruins to be favourites in this matchup, but oddsmakers are still more likely to see the home team as favourite regardless of the teams home vs away records this season.
Rask is getting the start for the Bruins, which could be a reason the Lightning are the favourites. Rask is (1-4-1) on the season, but he did earn a 41 save shutout in his last outting and will look to continue to get back on track against an offensively skilled Lightning team. Mike Smith gets the nod for the Lightning tonight. He is (6-3-0) on the season, but his personal numbers aren’t the greatest: .879 save percentage and 3.38 GAA.
The Bruins are a stronger team than the Lightning and they do not mind playing on the road. Tuuka Rask hasn’t had his best start to the season, but he has been turning it around of late and I expect him to have another strong performance tonight.
My Pick: Boston Bruins +100
Los Angeles Kings -105 (Bookmaker.com)
Ottawa Senators -115 (Bookmaker.com)
The Kings are (5-5-0) on the road this season, while the Sens are (5-4-0) at home. Los Angeles was able to break out of a short slump with a 4-3 overtime win against the Bruins on Saturday. That being said the Kings did give up a 3 goal lead in that game and have not looked at their sharpest over their last few games. The Sens have played some of their worst hockey of the year losing their last 3 games by a combined score of 17-4. These three losses were all on the road so the Sens will be eager to return home and get back to their winning ways.
In goal tonight it is Quick vs Leclaire. Jonathan Quick has had a great season thusfar with an (11-2-0) record in goal, a .935 save percentage and a 1.82 goals against average. Compare this with Leclaire’s (0-3-1) record, a .872 save percentage and a 3.96 goals against average and you will find that the Kings have a huge edge in goal. I have watched the majority of Senators games this season and I cringe everytime they put Leclaire between the pipes. In his time in the NHL Leclaire has only a 35% winning percentage. The fact that the Sens are on a cold streak, combined with the fact they are playing Leclaire leads me to pick the Kings in this one.
My Pick: Los Angeles Kings -105
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Written by: Niko de Jonge
Tagged with: Boston Bruins • Los Angeles Kings • Ottawa Senators • Tampa Bay Lightning