Mark Lammey
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After a light 3-game Sunday and cashing our only play, we’re back with 11 games on the board today. In fact, we have some rare afternoon hockey on a weekday. Given it’s a holiday, it’s not too surprising, and we’re happy to take advantage of it. In fact, we’ll be targeting one of the first two puck drops with our favorite player props. With that in mind, let’s get right into it.
Along with our NHL player props, be sure to check out all of our NHL picks for today’s action.
Aleksander Barkov over 1.5 points (+175)
Having a total listed at 7 goals was much more common last season due to the Florida Panthers’ firepower on offense. That was led by Aleksander Barkov, so it’s no surprise he’s a part of what should be one of the highest-scoring games of the season against the Sabres today. The captain has missed some time this season, but is back and looking better than ever. He recorded a 5-point game including a hat-trick in his first game back and now has another great matchup. The Buffalo Sabres are allowing the 9th-most goals per game this season and Barkov has already loved facing them.
He’s recorded multiple points in each of his last 4 games against them. Better yet, 3 of those 4 games were also in Buffalo. The other consideration for this play was teammate Matthew Tkachuk for the same prop. However, with Barkov being the center and Tkachuk a winger, they’ll likely link up together and both hit this play. They also have a great chance at doing so on the power play, as the Sabres have the 4th-worst penalty-kill unit in the NHL. Barkov leads the point in that scenario and now that he’s back recording over 20 minutes of ice time per game on a consistent basis, expect a big afternoon out of the Panthers’ superstar.
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Tage Thompson over 1.5 points (+185)
That’s right, we’re here to help you hit 2 plus-money plays before the majority of games even begin! It’s not a usual approach to target two skaters in the same game, but given the high total we already mentioned, it makes sense. Tage Thompson has been having a career year and is becoming more than just a long shot for the Hart Trophy for the MVP of the league. He’s leading the way on the NHL’s highest-scoring team with 58 points through 41 games. As we’ve also already mentioned, the Sabres will be at home this afternoon. That’s where they’re even more dynamic, scoring 3.86 goals per game.
Meanwhile, the Panthers are allowing the 4th-most goals per game on the road and the 6th-most over the last month. It’s been a rare handful of games with Thompson not recording multiple points, but he’s done so 14 times this season, including 2 separate 6-point games. Now that he has an ideal matchup, he should be able to get back on that pace. With both teams looking to be able to score freely, both Barkov and Thompson will have to keep the pressure on, which should lead to both skaters having big games.
Don’t miss out on our NHL mega parlay at +863 odds for today’s action!
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