Ryan Hodges
NHL
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If you are a hockey fan, you are in for a treat on Saturday. We are treated to an 11-game NHL slate that has a little bit of everything. The first puck drops at 3PM Eastern and the final puck drops at 10:30 PM Eastern. This is a marathon of a day so treat it accordingly. If you are looking to have some action, here are our favorite NHL player props for today. We’re on an incredible 13-3 streak right now, so let’s keep the good times rolling! You can also check out our NHL picks for all of today’s games.
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Nathan MacKinnon anytime goal scorer (+120)
Nathan MacKinnon has to be just licking his chops at this matchup. The Blues have allowed 5 goals per game in each of their last 3. Opponents during that span were the Blackhawks, Sabres, and Coyotes. Allowing 5+ goals has just been par for the course for St. Louis this season. It has been their achilles heel and is the reason they are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. Things have been so ugly for the Blues that there is chatter of starting to sell off pieces. The Avalanche are playing great hockey right now, the Blues are not, and that should make for a lopsided result in favor of Colorado. If both the Avs and Blues can stay true to their recent results, there is a good chance MacKinnon will be involved in the action.
MacKinnon missed 11 games this season but still has a ridiculous 53 points in 36 games played. He is one of the best, most skilled players in the world and just gets the job done. Now he has a good chance to do so against an opponent that is just reeling. If the Blackhawks and Coyotes can hang up 5 on the Blues, MacKinnon and the Avalanche have no excuse if they don’t go off. He plays a lot of minutes and with fellow star players any time he is on the ice. This is a juicy matchup for the Avalanche and a +120 number for MacKinnon to light the lamp feels like a steal.
Be sure to check out our full St. Louis Blues vs Colorado Avalanche predictions
Reilly Smith over 0.5 points (+100)
The Islanders got a very badly needed win on Friday night. But their chances of making the playoffs still look bleak because they played themselves out of contention. They beat the Red Wings by a score of 2-0 which was their 13th of their last 15 games scoring 2 goals or less. The Islanders just don’t have it. The Golden Knights are not exactly setting the world on fire either. But they look better than the Islanders and have a favorable matchup to take care of business. Last month, the Islanders beat the Golden Knights 5-2, but things have changed since then. This time around Vegas should be able to run up the score. That being the case, Reilly Smith has a good chance to get on the score sheet with a solid +100 number.
In that lone head-to-head game between the Golden Knights and Islanders, Reilly Smith was the sole goal scorer for Vegas, netting a pair of goals. Now, he gets the opportunity to rinse and repeat against a team that has lost 11 of 14 games in January. Smith leads the Golden Knights in goals with 18, and plays on both their top line and top power play. Smith is put into positions to succeed and continues to produce. He averages over 17 minutes of ice time with some combination of William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Alec Martinez, Alex Pietrangelo, Chandler Stephenson, and some guy named Jack Eichel. Vegas has a good matchup here and Smith is in a good spot to continue producing.
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