NHL weekend preview: Flyers to pounce on sitting Ducks
We have a jam-packed weekend of hockey ahead with 17 games over the next two days.
Let's take a look a closer look at three games as we dive into our best bets.
Sabres (+350) @ Panthers (-450)April 8, 7 p.m. EST
We targeted the Sabres in the first period on Thursday night, and it didn't work out. At one point, the Hurricanes held a 10-2 shot advantage yet found themselves down 2-0. Fun stuff!
We're going to try our luck again on Friday by backing the Panthers to win the opening frame.
Florida is arguably the league's most potent offensive team, and the squad likes to start early. The Panthers have netted an NHL-best 90 goals in the first period this season.
They're drawing a Sabres team that has conceded 76 first-period goals, which is more than all but three teams.
The Sabres struggle to keep the puck out of their net at the best of times, and now they find themselves in the latter half of a road back-to-back against the powerhouse Panthers.
Expect Florida to get an early jump in this game.
Bet: Panthers first period -0.5 (-125)
Wild (-105) @ Blues (-115)April 8, 8 p.m.
The Wild and Blues have met only once this season, with the latter picking up a 6-4 win on the first day of 2022. I expect it to be a different story this time around.
Minnesota enters this game playing remarkably good hockey. The Wild are on an 8-1-1 run and have posted sparkling underlying numbers in that span. They've controlled 56.38% of the expected goals at five-on-five, good for fourth in the NHL over the last 10.
The Blues are lagging well behind in xG share, ranking 21st - sandwiched between the Sharks and Ducks. Not exactly impressive.
I expect the Wild to be on the front foot for much of this game. That should put them in a position to win, especially with an edge in goal based on current form.
Cam Talbot has been lights out over the last month. He owns a .930 save percentage, ranking behind only Darcy Kuemper and Ilya Sorokin among regulars.
While Ville Husso has enjoyed a better season overall, he owns a .912 save percentage over the same span and has given up at least three goals in 10 of his last 17 games. His play has fallen off a little bit.
Even in St. Louis, I believe the Wild deserve to be bigger favorites in this spot.
Bet: Wild (-105)
Ducks (-105) @ Flyers (-115)April 9, 7:30 p.m.
Both of these teams have posted very underwhelming metrics for quite some time. I think the differentiators in this game will be goaltending and home ice. It just so happens both are working in favor of the Flyers.
Anthony Stolarz has given the Ducks pretty good goaltending this season. He's coming off a loss and hasn't started consecutive games since January, so it seems fair to assume John Gibson will be back between the pipes on Saturday. That's good news for the Flyers.
While Gibson is viewed as one of the better netminders in the NHL, the numbers tell a much different story. He's been subpar for a couple of years now and is in the midst of the worst stretch of his career.
Gibson has conceded at least three goals in 16 straight games. He lost 14 of them and posted a sub .900 save percentage in 12. Oh, and he's dropped 11 in a row; his last win came on March 1.
Combine the horrendous goaltending Gibson has provided with the fact the Ducks sold off several key pieces at the deadline, and I don't see how they can be priced at a near coin flip against anybody on the road.
Bet: Flyers (-115)
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.
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