RADIO
There are five games on the NHL schedule today and the Presidents’ Day holiday in the United States brings afternoon hockey action starting at 4:05 ET. Get in on the action by playing props with Monkey Knife Fight.
While the early hockey action is fine, there are a couple of premium matchups this evening. The Washington Capitals are in Vegas to face the Golden Knights, a repeat of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, and the Tampa Bay Lightning are in Colorado to take on the Avalanche, a matchup of the teams with the best (Tampa Bay, +55) and third-best (Colorado, +43) goal differentials in the league.
Here are some angles to keep in mind when making Monday’s hockey prop picks on Monkey Knife Fight.
FLORIDA-SAN JOSE
MORE OR LESS
Sergei Bobrovsky LESS THAN 28.5 SAVES – Bobrovsky has been worse on the road and the Sharksare missing the likes of Erik Karlsson, Logan Couture, and Tomas Hertl, as well as a suspension to volume shooter Evander Kane.
Aaron Dell MORE THAN 28.5 SAVES – The Sharks netminder has been solid enough and faces a Panthers squad that has been able to generate shots, around 30.6 per road game. Taking the Sharks injuries into account, they may surrender a few more.
RAPID FIRE
Brent Burns +0.5 shots + blocks vs. Mike Hoffman – With so many key Sharks out of the lineup, they ought to turn Burns loose. He hasn’t been the elite shot generator that he was in previous seasons but he should be in full rover mode and has gone eight straight games with at least four combined shots plus blocks.
ANAHEIM-CALGARY
MORE OR LESS
Johnny Gaudreau MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS – Johnny Hockey has 18 assists in 28 home games, which is not nearly as impressive as he has been in previous campaigns, managing an assist in 14 of 28 games. The edge here is more based on catching a Ducks team on the second game of a back-to-back.
RAPID FIRE
Michael Stone +0.5 shots + blocks vs. Hampus Lindholm – Lindholm is the superior player who gets more ice time and is averaging 3.1 shots plus blocks per road game this season. However, with Stone on the ice the Flames allow more shots and that means more blocks so he’s averaging 3.0 shots plus blocks per home game. That’s enough to like Stone’s chances as the underdog.
N.Y. ISLANDERS-ARIZONA
MORE OR LESS
Jakob Chychrun MORE THAN 2.5 FANTASY POINTS – A rising star on the Arizona blueline, Chychrun has seven points (2 G, 5 A) and 21 shots on goal in the past seven games, during which he has averaged more than 23 minutes of ice time per game.
RAPID FIRE
Anders Lee +0.5 points vs. Mathew Barzal – Lee has struggled this season and has a modest 13 points in 28 road contests. However, Barzal only has 17 points in 28 road games so that’s close enough to like Lee plus the half point in a head-to-head matchup.
WASHINGTON-VEGAS
MORE OR LESS
Max Pacioretty MORE THAN 4.5 SHOTS + BLOCKS – It’s been a renaissance season for Pacioretty and he’s averaging 4.8 shots on goal per home game so even against a strong Capitals team he tilts towards the over before even looking at blocked shots, which adds another 0.5 per game to the calculaton.
John Carlson MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS – In the midst of a career year, Carlson has put up 29 assists in 29 road games. That doesn’t mean he gets an assist in every road game but it sure works out to liking his chances to finish with at least one in Vegas.
RAPID FIRE
Braden Holtby +0.5 saves vs. Marc-Andre Fleury – Take the goaltenders out of this head-to-head goaltending matchup. Weird, right? Well, the Golden Knights are recording 36.6 shots per 60 on home ice, the highest rate in the league. The Capitals are a strong road team, averaging 31.6 shots per 60 on the road and with Evgeny Kuznetsov injured it should be a little more difficult for the Capitals to create offense.
TAMPA BAY-COLORADO
MORE OR LESS
Nathan MacKinnon LESS THAN 4.5 SHOTS + BLOCKS – Even though MacKinnon has produced at least five shots plus blocks in four of the past five home games, he’s averaging 4.2 per home contest this season. Going against a strong Lightning squad should make it difficult to get to five or more this time around.
Nikita Kucherov LESS THAN 0.5 ASSISTS – Kucherov has 18 assists in 29 road games but those assists have come in just 11 games and 11 of 29 is not a great percentage (37.9%, in fact).
