NHL Friday player props: 3 forwards to target

Although there are only a few games scheduled Friday night, there's plenty of value on the board.

Let's comb through it with three shot props for tonight's four-game slate.

Evgeny Kuznetsov over 2.5 shots (-120)

The Washington Capitals' players have been dropping like flies in the early going of the season, which has forced head coach Peter Laviolette to rely heavily on the few big dogs he has healthy and available. Kuznetsov is one of them.

The dynamic offensive center logged at least 19 minutes in four consecutive games, and that's resulted in a nice uptick in shot volume. He went over the number each time, generating 15 shots on 24 attempts on aggregate.

I like his success to continue at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning. They haven't defended nearly as well as in previous years - especially while killing penalties - and Kuznetsov facilitates a lot of the offense in all situations.

The Lightning are one of the worst teams in the NHL when it comes to limiting shots versus opposing centers, so Kuznetsov should take advantage.

Steven Stamkos over 3.5 shots (+105)

Nikita Kucherov generally draws the most difficult matchups when the Lightning play on the road - even more so when skating on a line with Brayden Point, which is the expectation Friday night.

That means Stamkos gets softer matchups and more room to operate, which the Lightning captain has certainly made the most of. Through seven road games, he averaged 4.7 shots and hit the over six times.

With the Capitals missing an abundance of important players, struggling to limit shots on the penalty kill, and Stamkos avoiding top competition at five-on-five, this is a great spot for his road success to continue.

Matt Boldy over 2.5 shots (-140)

After his performance in a smash spot against the Anaheim Ducks, I'm going right back to Boldy versus the Seattle Kraken.

This is less about matchup and more about my belief in Boldy. The star sophomore registered at least three shots in nine of 13 games this season (69%) and is generating shot attempts at a consistently high volume.

In fact, Boldy is tied with Kirill Kaprizov at 48 shot attempts through seven road games thus far. Kaprizov's line is consistently 3.5 shots - sometimes priced similarly to Boldy for 2.5 tonight - so there's real value targeting the same kind of volume with an extra shot of wiggle room.

It's also worth noting right wing is the one position the Kraken give up real shot volume to, so Boldy should get his fair share of looks in this game.

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

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