The Golden Knights and Coyotes both looked poised to win Thursday night in games listed as an underdog plus other late game best bets
The NHL’s late window of games will see some exciting matchups with the Islanders rolling into Mullet Arena to take on the Coyotes, the Kraken look to continue their winning ways against the Sens after a huge Winter Classic win and a Stanley Cup rematch with the Cats returning to Sin City, where they’ve never won a game.
It should be a great ending to the night of exciting hockey and if you want to enhance your viewing experience, here are some best bets you can take on the late window games and hopefully roll into Friday with some extra cash. All betting odds listed are from Bet365 and are subject to change.
New York Islanders @ Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes were dealt a bad hand, when having to move their team into the small 5,000 seat Mullet Arena and sharing the ice with the college hockey program from Arizona State University. Everyone looked at them like they were a joke but they’ve turned their disadvantage into a positive and have won eight of their last ten home games and a 12-6-0 home record on the season. The Coyotes are with the likes of the Bruins, Stars and the defending Eastern Conference champion Panthers when it comes to their points at home and have turned what was supposed to be a clown house into a place of terrors for opponents.
Arizona’s defense comes to life when they play at for their rabid five thousand fans as they are tied for the third-fewest goals against per home game since the start of December with goaltender Connor Ingram leading the way with a 13-7-0 record and a 2.49 goals against average which is currently better than reigning Vezina winner Linus Ullmark and the Rangers Igor Shesterkin. The Coyotes will have their hands full with a Islanders team that has points in seven of their past ten road games, but they should be able to come out on top in a tight, low-scoring game.
Pick: Coyotes ML (+100), Islanders under 3.5 goals (-190)
Florida Panthers @ Vegas Golden Knights
A rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final when the Golden Knights won game five and didn’t lose a game to the Panthers at home in T-Mobile Arena. In their franchise history, Vegas has never lost to the Panthers at home with eight straight wins and covering the puck line in seven of the wins. This is a problem for many teams as the Golden Knights are 13-3-2 at home this season with the seventh-fewest goals against per home game at 2.76 per game.
They have been really good at home but they are even better as an underdog with a 7-2 record against the spread with five of the games resulting in wins. Sergei Bobrovsky was a big reason why the Panthers got to the Finals and will need to outplay netminder Logan Thompson, who’s stepped in for an injured Adin Hill and has a 11-7-3 record and a 2.81 goals against average this season. It should be a tight contest with Bobrovsky needing to play a big role for the Cats to get out of Sin City with a win but it doesn’t look likely with Vegas’ home ice advantage playing such a pivotal role.
Pick: Golden Knights ML (+100)
Ottawa Senators @ Seattle Kraken
The Kraken put on a show during Monday’s Winter Classic shutout win over the Golden Knights. They’ve been starting to righten the ship as of late with a 7-2 record against the spread in their last nine games and have points in ten of their last 12 games with seven wins.
Seattle has a 5-5 record as a favourite against the spread this season so may not be the best bet to cover the pick line but they can certainly win as the Sens are 3-4-0 since bringing in new head coach DJ Smith and haven’t looked like they are going to improve mightily with the coaching change. They also have the second-worst road record this season with four wins in 13 games and are top five in goals against per road game (3.92) but are feisty ranking top four in goals per road game (3.54) making them a hard team to figure out. The Kraken should be riding in high off of the momentum from the Winter Classic win and play a high-scoring game with hopefully a winning result
Pick: Kraken ML (-125), Over 6.5 goals (-105)
Detroit Red Wings @ Los Angeles Kings
The Wings have been spiralling with seven wins in their last 18 games and are allowing the third-most goals per game during that span with almost four a game. It’s been a roller coaster of a season especially since signing future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane and still not improving with his hot streak he’s been on. However, they might be able to steal one against the Kings who are mediocre at defending their kingdom with a 7-7-4 record at home and average a 20th place three goals per game which has them in the same breath as the Blue Jackets and Sabres, who are closely behind.
The Kings will need to score if they want to be successful but even still in their last seven home games still average just three goals per game. The Wings should be able to keep the game close with the Kings scoring woes but likely won’t come out as the Kings look to break their three game losing streak in a low-scoring affair.
Pick: Kings ML (-185), Under 6.5 goals (-120)
Winnipeg Jets @ San Jose Sharks
The Jets are the hottest team in the league as they are on an 11-1-2 run since the start of December with the sixth-best offense in goals per game with three and a half per game and the best defense during that span with an average of 1.86 goals against per game thanks to stellar defending and goaltending.
They look to make road kill out of the Sharks, who are the second-worst home team this season behind the Ducks and run the worst-home offense and defense with an average of 2.11 goals per game and 3.83 goals against per game. The Jets look to blow past the Sharks in a game that shouldn’t be close.
Pick: Jets -1.5 (+100), Sharks under 1.5 goals (+200)