It was quite an eventful Tuesday night in the NHL with eight teams scoring five or more goals on the 14-game slate.
Calgary Flames star forward Johnny Gaudreau surpassed the 100-point milestone for the first time in his career, New York Rangers winger Chris Kreider joined Auston Matthews and Leon Draisaitl in the 50-goal club, and a slew of players had themselves multi-goal or multi-point outings.
The Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets were two of the only teams not in action Tuesday. They’re set to meet in this week’s featured Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey matchup.
Sam Montembeault and his 3.59 GAA, .896 save percentage and four-game winless streak is Montreal’s expected starter – even though Carey Price participated in the morning skate – which means Columbus forwards will be looking to take advantage.
Kent Johnson, the fifth-overall pick from the 2021 NHL Draft, is expected to make his NHL debut Wednesday barring a last-minute setback with the paperwork on his U.S. visa.
Johnson, who recently signed his first NHL contract with Columbus, didn’t have his betting lines posted early Wednesday because his status was not confirmed but the talented University of Michigan product could still have an impact if he suits up.
Johnson has practised on a line with Justin Danforth and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Danforth’s only listed odds are a +360 anytime goal (+2500 for first/last goal) but there are more options with Bjorkstrand, who is currently in a six-game scoring drought.
Bjorkstrand has already set personal career highs this year with 24 goals and 50 points. Johnson is a skilled playmaker and a good passer and Bjorkstrand is posting +185 anytime goal odds and -135 anytime point odds despite his current cold streak.
Could Johnson give Bjorkstrand a potential spark?
Two other players of interest in this game worth monitoring are former Blue Jackets Josh Anderson and David Savard.
Both are returning to Nationwide Arena for the first time since they were traded to the Canadiens.
Anderson is seeing plus-money odds for an anytime point (+130) and anytime goal (+240), while Savard has a long +1300 anytime goal price beside his name.
CAN YOU RIDE PANARIN TO ANOTHER TWO-POINT NIGHT VS. PHILADELPHIA?
The Rangers now sit four points behind the Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan Division standings after Tuesday’s 4-2 loss at home to Carolina. Both Carolina and New York have eight games remaining on their respective regular-season schedules and play each other once more during the final week of April.
The Broadway Blue Shirts make the short trip to Philadelphia to play a Flyers team that was embarrassed 9-2 by the Capitals last night.
Artemi Panarin was held off the scoresheet Tuesday against Carolina, which snapped an impressive four-game streak (three goals, five assists) he had going.
The Flyers are an ideal team for Panarin to face if he hopes to start up another scoring streak.
Producing at better than a point-per-game pace for the fifth consecutive season, the star winger has crushed the Flyers this season, relatively speaking, and has been a consistent producer against Philly throughout his career.
Panarin has registered two points in each game he has played against the Flyers this season. He has a five-game point streak against Philly and a four-game multi-point streak against them dating back to last season to go with 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists) in 25 career games against the Flyers.
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Panarin’s betting odds vs. Flyers:
Anytime goal +190 | First goal +1300 | Last goal +1300
Over 2.5 shots +135 | UNDER 2.5 shots -170
Over 1.5 points +150 | UNDER 1.5 points -190
OVER 0.5 assists -175 | UNDER 0.5 assists +135
OVER 0.5 PP points +150 | UNDER 0.5 PP points -190
Oddsmakers have taken Panarin’s multiple two-point nights against the Flyers into consideration when setting his points total at 1.5, the only player in the game whose listed point total is higher than the standard 0.5 points.
Panarin has had more than three shots on goal in two of his three games facing the Flyers this season, including a season-high seven SOG in a 4-3 shootout loss to Philly at the beginning of April.
The only game with any meaningful playoff implications Wednesday sees the Los Angeles Kings travel to face the Colorado Avalanche.
The Kings snapped a three-game skid in Chicago Tuesday and travel across the United States to visit the Avalanche. Colorado has won six straight and is rested.
One betting line of note in this one is Mikko Rantanen’s +130 anytime goal odds. The Finnish forward has 10 goals in 21 career games playing against the Kings.
This game is available to watch on SN NOW Premium.
Betting odds list above via the DraftKings sportsbook as of Wednesday morning.
