The goals have been flowing in the NHL over the past week. In fact, six of the past seven days have seen at least one team score seven or more goals.
The Toronto Maple Leafs had the biggest outburst of offence during this stretch with their 10-7 win over Detroit this past weekend and are riding high off a dramatic win over the Capitals Monday. Toronto hosts the Buffalo Sabres in this week’s featured Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey game looking for a fourth consecutive victory.
Mitch Marner had a career-best four goals and six points in that wild 10-7 win and added another pair of assists against Washington.
After a mere three points in October, Marner went on a tear from November through February scoring 20 goals and 33 assists in 35 games. Marner is among the hottest forwards in the league right now with 11 points on his four-game point streak.
Marner, who will be skating in his 400th career regular-season game, has points in 27 of his 44 games this season and in those 27 games, he has recorded multiple points a whopping 17 times.
The winger’s points total for Monday against Buffalo is listed at 1.5 instead of the usual 0.5. You get -160 odds if you bet the underthinking Marner will be held off the scoresheet or limited to one point. He has 16 points in 16 career games versus Buffalo. If you think Marner will register two or more points for a fourth consecutive outing then betting the over will fetch a +125 return.
Marner’s shot total is 2.5 with the over set at -170 and the under at +130. He logged three or more shots in seven of his past 10 games played. Marner only has one power-play point in the past month yet he has relatively short PP point odds Wednesday at +160 while fading that is a chalky -205.
The Maple Leafs are heavy favourites with a -425 moneyline and -165 puckline so it isn’t surprising Auston Matthews leads the way with -175 anytime goal odds followed by Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares each at +145 anytime goal odds. Marner has five goals in his past 10 games but keep in mind four occurred in the same game.
There are three other games on the Wednesday slate. The Rangers host the Blues plus the Kings visit the Stars on SN NOW Premium while the Predators meet the Kraken in Seattle in a game available on SN NOW.
Here are a couple of other prop bets to consider during tonight’s action.
CAN BUCHNEVICH HAVE SUCCESS AGAINST HIS FORMER TEAM?
Pavel Buchnevich is enjoying a career year in his first season with the St. Louis Blues after being acquired from the New York Rangers in the off-season in exchange for Sammy Blais and a second-round pick.
The winger is tied for second on the Blues in goals (19) and points (46) in 46 games played this season playing on a line with Vladimir Tarasenko and Rob Thomas.
Buchnevich has four goals and six assists in his past 10 games and there’s some solid value on Buchnevich if the 26-year-old can produce in his first game playing against the team that drafted him back in 2013.
Buchnevich's betting odds against the Rangers:
Anytime point -140
Over 2.5 shots on goal +100
Anytime assist +140
Anytime goal +250
Anytime PP point +330
CAN KINGS OVERWHELM STARS WITH SHOTS?
One contributing factor to the Los Angeles Kings currently sitting second in the Pacific Division is the fact they lead the NHL in shot differential per game. The Kings are coming off a 7-0 loss to Boston the other night and they’ll be motivated to get back on track after a blowout like that. They had won seven of eight prior to that blowout.
Dallas allowed 40 shots against Buffalo over the weekend and L.A. averages 35.5 shots per game, which ranks third in the league, so it could be worth focussing on the Kings’ shot market when they face the Stars.
Kings player odds for over 2.5 shots on goal vs. Stars:
Adrian Kempe -135
Anze Kopitar -105
Alex Iafallo +105
Drew Doughty +105
Arthur Kaliyev +140
Denis Gurianov +145
A better bet might end up being Phillip Danault over 1.5 shots listed at -165. It’s chalkier, sure, but Danault only needs two shots for the bet to win and the centre has hit that total in six of his past eight games.
All betting odds via the DraftKings sportsbook as of Wednesday morning
