NHL Tuesday best bets: Firework show on deck in the desert

We have a big night of hockey ahead of us - 20 of the league's 32 teams are set to hit the ice. Let's get to the best ways to attack the slate.

The Flyers are very good at limiting opposing offenses - particularly when Carter Hart is between the pipes.

Hart has made 12 starts this season, though he left one appearance very early on with an injury. If you exclude that game, eight of Hart's 11 starts featured six goals or fewer. He's an under machine.

Hart owns a solid .911 save percentage and has only allowed more than three goals once all season. He gives the Flyers a chance every night.

I don't see Hart suffering through this game. Defensively, the Flyers have played exceptionally well at home this season, allowing just 25 shots per contest. That's the second-best mark in the league.

It just so happens that the Flyers are squaring off against a lethal Hurricanes defense that has done a better job than anybody at preventing shots this season.

This figures to be a tight, low-event affair where both teams are forced to grind for every offensive inch.

The Canes are a middling team in terms of finishing ability, and the Flyers lack firepower up front, so the conversion rates are unlikely to be high enough to push this game over the number.

Bet: Under 6.5 (-135)

This game has the potential to turn into a shootout. Andrei Vasilevskiy started on Monday - having just worked his way back from injury - so the Lightning will no doubt defer to Jonas Johansson in the latter half of this back-to-back set. That spells trouble for the under.

Johansson fared pretty well early in the season but came back down to earth toward the end of his run as Tampa Bay's starter. Johansson posted a save percentage that was below .900 in seven of his last nine starts, allowing three goals or more in all but one of them. The exception came against the lowly Blackhawks.

Any team with an offensive pulse has been able to score at least three goals on Johansson. The Coyotes aren't exactly Wayne Gretzky's Oilers, but they have enough high-end weapons - Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, and Nick Schmaltz, to name a few - that they should be able to do damage in this game.

Conversely, the Lightning have played in track meets all season long and know they have to outscore their problems with Johansson between the pipes. They certainly have the ability to do just that, ranking fifth in the league with an average of 3.59 goals per game.

Nikita Kucherov is creating nearly a couple of goals per night by himself. He - and the Lightning offense as a whole - should be able to muster up plenty of chances against a leaky Coyotes defense that ranks 29th in shot suppression over the last 10 games.

Expect both teams to contribute their fair share of goals in this one.

Bet: Over 6.5 (-115)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ToddCordell.

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