NHL Picks: Hockey Best Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for March 9
The NHL has a monster 11 games on the schedule today. The largest favorite by far is the Carolina Hurricanes who currently sit as -350 home favorites against the lowly Philadelphia Flyers. The biggest road favorite is the New York Rangers who are -260 on the Moneyline to beat the Montreal Canadiens on the road. Four of the games have goal totals of 6.0 and the rest are sitting at 6.5 as of writing. No teams who played yesterday are on the schedule today.
New York Rangers atMontreal Canadiens
Rangers Puck Line -110
The Rangers have curiously slumped since adding more talent at the trade deadline. They’ve lost six of their last eight games and head into Montreal having been outscored 9-5 over their last two games alone. The Canadiens have admittedly played in a lot of close games of late (four one-goal losses in a row) but they’re massively outmatched tonight. Montreal is simply one of the worst teams at creating chances, ranking out fourth last in xGF% on the season and have also given up the second-most high-danger scoring chances against on the season. The road may also be a good place for the Rangers to get back on track as they’ve gone 18-8-5 away from New York this season and are 19-12 ATS on the road as well. The Puck Line isn’t huge but the gap between these two teams suggests it should be even smaller. The Rangers should be able to bounce back in a big way today.
Over 6.5 Goals -110
The Kraken and Senators rank out as two above-average offenses. The Kraken rank fifth in goals per game while the Senators have averaged 4.5 goals per game, despite being shut out in their last outing by the Blackhawks. The over in Senators games is now 7-3 over their last 10 outings and it also has a winning record in Kraken’s games over the same span, with Seattle going 5-4-1 in its last 10 games. Neither of these teams have elite goaltending and while the Senators penalty-kill is solid, the Kraken rank fifth in 5v5 goals scored in the league this season. After Ottawa got blanked by an inferior opponent in its last game, look for hard skating early and a potential back-and-forth affair. The over looks like a solid play.
If we like the Kraken and Senators to score a bunch of goals then it is certainly worth our time to look down the two lineups for a good line on an anytime goal scorer today. Batherson leads the Senators in power play goals this season with a whopping 12 of his 19 goals coming on the man advantage. The Senators rank out with the sixth-best power play in the league this season and will face a Kraken team who ranks 7th last in penalty-kill efficiency. Batherson hasn’t scored in four starts, but he’s attempted 3 or more shots in each of his last four games. The +250 on offer for him to break out today looks more than reasonable.
Dallas Stars over 3.5 goals and Jamie Benn anytime goal +210
Whenever the Stars play a side with weaker special teams, it’s never a poor idea to target Jamie Benn for a goal — especially when his odds venture north of the +200 mark. Benn’s enjoyed a resurgent season with Dallas, having scored at a 0.406 goal per game pace to this point. 10 of his 26 goals this season have come on the power play and he’ll face a Sabres team that ranks second last in penalty-kill efficiency.
Benn’s a great target today for player props, but the over on the Stars team total is an equally good target for game props. Dallas has now scored 30 times over their last seven games, averaging 4.28 goals in that span. They’ll face a Sabres team today that doesn’t just have poor special teams but has also given up the 8th most high-danger scoring chances against this season. Dallas’ offense has been one of the best in the league over the past month and they’ll face a Sabres team who doesn’t have the horses to slow them down. Taking Dallas to hit the over 3.5 goal mark today looks like a solid move and ladder betting into some even deeper numbers (4.5 +195/5.5 +430) is an option for those so inclined as well.
All odds are provided by DraftKings Sportsbookand all odds are subject to change.
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