We passed on the small slate yesterday but split a pair of NHL plays our last time out on Tuesday. The Minnesota Wild got the job done pretty easily for us against the Washington Capitals. Unfortunately, the Buffalo Sabres got snakebit by the lowly Anaheim Ducks to net us a small loss for the evening.
After a nice day off, we're re-focused and recharged! Let's cash out in a big way with 3 best bets for Thursday, January 25. Best of luck with all of your action on the ice.
Best Bet: Red Wings (-125)
The news just keeps getting worse for the Flyers these days. Not only has Philly dropped three straight games, but yesterday they lost starting goalie Carter Hart to an "indefinite" leave of absence. To make matters even more grim, Hart's replacement (Samuel Ersson) has given up 8 goals over his last 2 games.
I don't like that Detroit will be without Patrick Kane in this one. However, Dylan Larkin has been on fire, and I expect him to have a nice night against the Flyers. The 27-year-old has racked up 6 goals and 6 assists in his last 10 outings.
This is a prime spot to fade Philly, and I'll gladly do so tonight. Detroit lost a tough one to Dallas a couple of nights ago, but overall, they've been playing good hockey. The Red Wings are 7-2-1 over their last 10 games. Let's lay the small price with the boys in Red tonight!
Best Bet: Wild (-120)
Here's another prime spot to back a hot team at home while fading a cold team that's on the highway. We already talked about how the Wild cashed for us on Tuesday, and we see no reason to get off this train at this point. Minnesota has won three straight and has scored 16 goals over that span.
Juuse Saros is a decent goalie for the Preds, but he's just 18-18-1 this season. He gave up 4 goals to the Panthers a few nights ago, but got little help from his defense. That could be an issue tonight against a hot Wild offense.
Kirill Kaprizov continues to be the main man for Minny on offense as he has 18 goals and 24 assists this season. Eriksson Ek has also chipped in with 13 points over his last 10 games. Look for these two to be a 1-2 punch against a Nashville team that's lost 3 of their last 4.
Best Bet: Flames (-1.5) (+130)
How about a little plus-money puckline to close things out tonight? Look, I get that this Flames team is nothing special, but they should have an easy time against a Jackets squad that's just 5-10-5 on the road this season.
Not only is Columbus bad on the highway, they're also in poor current form. The Blue Jackets have dropped 4 out of their last 5 games and they've struggled to generate goals over the last week or so. Calgary has also lost three in a row, but I expect this to be a good "get-right" spot for them tonight at home.
Elvis Merzlikins has a decent save percentage for the Jackets, but he's just 8-10-6 this season. Look for Blake Coleman (20 goals) and Elias Lindholm (23 assists) to come up big for the Flames in this one. We'll lay the goal and a half at the nice plus price.
