The LA Kings have won five of their last six matchups versus the Vancouver Canucks
Thursday has a loaded slate of NHL action with plenty of opportunities for us to hit it big and take home some cash. Some of the nights best matchup appears to be the scorching hot Winnipeg Jets looking to exact revenge on the team that eliminated them from the postseason last year in the Colorado Avalanche.
Other exciting matchups are the struggling Predators looking to gain ground when facing the Panthers and the Kings and Canucks cap off the night in what should be a close matchup. We look to stay hot with a 16-12 record over our last 28 picks.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Bet: Anthony Cirelli Over 0.5 points (-125), Lightning -1.5 (+125)
The Bolts enter Thursday on a three-game losing skid after winning seven of their first ten games. Lucky for them, they enter a pretty favourable matchup against a struggling Flyers team, who have lost two in a row and have started the season with a 4-8-1 record which lands them in last place in the Metropolitan Division.
Philadelphia's defence has been their most significant shortcoming this season with a 3.85 goals against average, which is third-worst in the NHL. They have already confirmed that they are going to start netminder Aleksei Kolosov between the pipes tonight.
The 22-year-old goaltender has a 3.93 goals against average and a .863 save percentage for no wins in his first three starts of the season.
The Bolts will look to bounce back in a big way and it should start with Cirelli, who has a pair of goals and 11 assists for 13 points in as many games this season.
He is seemingly benefitting from playing on Tampa's top line with star forwards Jake Guentzel and Nikita Kucherov and should help him record another point against a bad Flyers backend.
Bet: Avalanche Jets Under 6.5 goals (-105)
We correctly predicted in the Jets last matchup against Utah that the game would be a rare under for this Winnipeg team this season. They now enter what should be a feisty matchup against the Avalanche. These two had a wild playoff series last year with every game totaling six or more goals.
This time around I look to zig while everyone zags as many will be expecting a high-scoring affair Thursday night. It would make sense as the Jets have the best offence, averaging 4.77 goals per game while the Avalanche trail closely behind with the ninth-best average at 3.54 so far this season.
It's resulted in 94 per cent of the public bets being on the over in this one. Both teams are due for a defensive slugfest as the Jets won a tight 3-0 game versus Utah Thursday but the Avalanche haven't seen a game go under six goals in six straight games.
They are due for a impressive night from their defence that has the worst goals against average in the league at 4.15 which will surprise many.
Bet: Canucks Kings Under 5.5 goals (-105), Kings ML (-105)
The Canucks have lethal to start the season with a 6-2-3 record that makes them appear like the Stanley Cup contender they were last season. The Kings have done the same if not better with a 8-3-3 record to start and re-establishing their elite defence, allowing the eighth-fewest goals on average this season at 2.85 through 15 games.
It should be an elite showdown to end off the night and the Canucks are dead even in the odds with the Kings. It may surprise some people but LA has dominated this matchup as of late with wins in five of their last six matchups versus Vancouver.
These two normally play very tight low-scoring games with six or more goals in just two of their last 12 matchups. This should work to the Kings advantage as they are playing at home, where they have the fewest goals allowed per game since the start of last season with a 2.42 average, tied with the Winnipeg Jets.
The betting line for the total is moved down to a subtle 5.5 goals that entices gamblers to believe in one of the team's offence breaking through but should be a trap as the game will go under that total, likely resulting in a Kings victory.