Saturday's late window of games have exciting matchups from the Ducks vs Wild, Hawks vs Flames and the Blue Jackets vs Canucks with best bets featuring the Wild's offense, Thatcher Demko and the Flames start off fiery
Saturday night has a great slate of late night matchups with all of the games looking to be exciting with the Wild having a chance to improve on their recent 4-5-1 record in their last ten games against a Ducks team that has three wins in their last 14 games.
The Flames have been red hot and look to keep their momentum going against the last-place Blackhawks, who’ve struggled to find any offense since losing star Connor Bedard. Lastly, the Canucks look to stay in the Presidents trophy race and top of the league’s standings in a home game against a Blue Jackets team with the fourth-worst road record in the league at 6-10-5 on the season.
It should be an exciting ending to a Saturday filled with hockey and if you want to get in on the action and make some bets on the last Saturday before the All-Star break, here are our best bets for all the late night games that should help you get a win.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Please gamble responsibly.
Anaheim Ducks @ Minnesota Wild
The Ducks have struggled to score on the road this season, ranking bottom six in goals per road game with a 2.74 average and scoring two or fewer goals in eight of their last 15 games and will go against a Wild offense that struggles to score at home with a 2.92 goals per game average. The Wild have won 13 straight matchups versus the Ducks however with over seven or more goals in five of their last eight matchups. This may be a higher scoring matchup than people expect with the Wild likely getting at least three against Ducks expected starter Lukas Dostal who’s given up at least three in four of his last five starts.
Pick: Over 5.5 goals (-160)
Chicago Blackhawks @ Calgary Flames
The Hawks have had almost no scoring with star Connor Bedard out with a fractured jaw since early this month and they’ve only managed to score 16 goals in their following 11 games. It’s been difficult for them to find any sort of offense and the Flames are on the opposite side of the spectrum with a red hot offense ranking in the top eight since the start of the new year with a 3.42 goals per game average. They should be able to get out to an early lead and hold it for most of the game, not looking back.
Pick: Flames first period ML (+120)
Columbus Blue Jackets @ Vancouver Canucks
These two have split their last four matchups but the Blue Jackets have had a rough season with only four wins in their last 14 games and their offense hasn’t been the difference-maker with a bottom five offense during that span only averaging 2.43 goals per game. They will have a tall task having to keep up with the Canucks second-best offense in the league, averaging 3.77 goals per game and will force the Blue Jackets to keep up and will make starter Thatcher Demko the difference-maker in the game. He’ll have a busy night and should see his share of saves.
Pick: Thatcher Demko over 26.5 saves (-125)