NHL prop picks February 13: Bet on Tage Thompson to score vs. Kings
The NHL begins its week with a five-game slate and we’ve picked three props to accompany it.
The pregame narrative: Aaron Ekblad has been peppering goaltenders as of late and we expect that to continue tonight. We’re also fading Lucas Raymond’s shot prop and are backing Tage Thompson to score.
Find all our best NHL props picks for February 13 below.
NHL odds as of 9:55 a.m. ET on 02/13/2023.
NHL prop picks
Best Bet: Ekblad over 2.5 shots (-130)
Ekblad hasn’t shown up on the scoresheet much this season but he’s still been a steady presence on the blueline for the Florida Panthers.
The 27-year-old defenceman has registered 130 shots in 44 games (2.95 shots/game) and has cleared this line in 23 of those contests.
A 52% clip isn’t fantastic but we’re more bullish on this bet because of how well Ekblad has been playing lately. He’s gone over this total in seven straight games and has averaged 4.7 shots on goal in those contests.
Ekblad has had the most SOG of any defenceman in the past four weeks (41) and has created the eighth-most individual chances for (60) in that span, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It’s worth noting that his opponent — the Minnesota Wild — isn’t very generous defensively. Minnesota allows the 11th-fewest shots per game (30.31) but has allowed seven different defencemen to clear this mark in the last five games.
Ekblad had only played them once this year but had to exit after just 1:50 due to an injury.
Key stat: Ekblad has recorded three-plus shots in eight of his last nine games.
Quick pick
Raymond under 1.5 shots (+100): This line isn’t asking much out of Detroit’s sophomore winger but we’re still willing to fade him here.
Raymond has only recorded two-plus shots in 52% of his games this season and he has been held shotless in two of his past three contests.
The Vancouver Canucks have also surprisingly tightened up on defence. Vancouver has allowed just 26.7 shots per game over its last 10 games (the fewest in the NHL).
Thompson to score (+115): Thompson’s been on fire all season long and we like him to find the net tonight. His 35 goals rank third in the NHL and he’s scored in three of his past five games.
He also gets to play the Los Angeles Kings, who are one of the league’s worst defensive teams. Los Angeles’ 3.26 goals against average is the ninth-worst mark in the NHL.
Thompson had two goals and an assist when he played the Kings back on December 13.
