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    Jake Tye
    Oct 31, 2024, 15:00

    Toronto's Auston Matthews has six goals and five assists for 11 points over his six career games versus Seattle, including two games where he scored multiple goals.

    Thursday has another solid NHL slate with seven spooky matchups that should satisfy all hockey fans on Halloween night. The Leafs are coming off massive 6-4 win where they handed the Winnipeg Jets their first loss of the season. Toronto looks to keep things rolling when returning home to take on the Kraken. 

    Other exciting matchups feature the Oilers travelling to the Music City to take on the slumping Predators and the Hurricanes host the Bruins in a key matchup between two of the best teams in the East. 

    We hope it's another solid day as we split our picks last night but still have a 15-9 record over our last 24 picks. 

    All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.

    Bet: Canadiens Capitals Over 6.5 goals (-110)

    The Habs have won three of their last four meetings with the Capitals but Washington is red hot with wins in six of their first eight games to start the season. Their biggest improvement has been the offence that is keeping their goal differential on the positive end this season with a 3.88 goals per game average, that ranks top seven in the NHL. 

    They will have the troubling task of having to slow down a young Montreal team that can routinely find their offensive groove against them with three or more goals in four straight matchups against Washington. The history of offence in this matchup goes even further than that as the Habs and Caps have totalled seven or more goals in nine of their last 12 matchups. 

    Not to mention, Montreal is expected to start Cayden Primeau in net. The Habs 2017 seventh round pick has a 4.02 goals against average in five starts this season and allowed four goals in his only career start versus Washington. 

    Bet: Auston Matthews anytime goal (-125), Leafs Over 3.5 goals (-120)

    Matthews hasn't made as much of an impact for the Leafs this season, as he ranks fourth on the team in goals (4) and points (8) through ten games. We are waiting for a big game out of the new Leafs captain as he hasn't scored multiple goals in 13 straight regular season games dating back to last season. 

    [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZNwc-gzB1U[/embed]

    Matthews has six goals and five assists for 11 points over his six career games versus Seattle, including two games where he scored multiple goals. 

    The Kraken have played starting netminder Joey Daccord in three straight games, which means they'll likely turn to backup Philipp Grubauer. The 32-year-old has a 1-3-0 record and a 3.10 goals against average this season. 

    Grubauer's history versus Toronto should also bold well for Matthews as the German netminder has just one win, a goals against average of 4.23 and a save percentage of .877 in his last five games versus the Leafs.

    Bet: Penguins Ducks Over 6.5 goals (-110), Sidney Crosby anytime goal (+135)

    The Penguins are slumping once again as they've lost six games in a row. It's the 12th time in the past three seasons that the Penguins have losses in three or more straight games, including the third instance of five or more consecutive losses. Pittsburgh's defence is currently the worst in the NHL, averaging 4.27 goals against per game. 

    Surprisingly, the Ducks are far better in this category with a 2.78 goals against average, which is top seven in the league. The Penguins will have to find an answer on the defensive end as well as battle their way through a solid Ducks defence if they want to snap their lengthy losing-skid. It starts with the guys at the top in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. 

    [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm8mH1U5XhE[/embed]

    They will need to beat the Ducks with their offence, which hasn't been bad as they are averaging three goals per game, which is tied with the Canucks for 19th in the league.  

    Pittsburgh's two hockey legends remain the top point producers but Crosby has just one goal through his first 11 games. 

    He should get one in this favourable matchup as he's recorded four goals and 11 points in his last 14 games against the Ducks. In their last meeting, Crosby scored and he should again Thursday to end his goal drought.