McTavish, Zetterlund to fire away in San Jose

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.

We had our first losing night of the week on Wednesday, dropping two of our three props.

We'll look to get back on track with another three-pack for a monster slate of games Thursday night.

Andrei Svechnikov: Over 2.5 shots

The Blue Jackets are one of the worst shot-suppression teams in the NHL, sitting 30th on the year and 25th over the past 10 games. They should struggle again on Tuesday in a back-to-back situation against the Hurricanes, one of the league's most dominant possession teams.

Although Svechnikov's shot generation has been somewhat inconsistent this season, he's consistently exploited bottom-tier defenses. The forward has gone over his total 70% of the time against bottom eight shot suppression defenses and posted a 64% hit rate versus those in the bottom 10.

The Blue Jackets like to use their top line against the opposition's first unit, which should be music to Svechnikov's ears.

The trio of Johnny Gaudreau, Boone Jenner, and Jack Roslovic has struggled mightily in its own end, giving up nearly 38 shots on goal per 60 minutes at even strength. Shooting opportunities should come early and often for Svechnikov.

Odds: -125 (playable to -140)

Mason McTavish: Over 2.5 shots

McTavish has seen an increase in ice time lately, logging at least 17 minutes in four straight games. That's become a sweet spot for McTavish. He's averaged 3.6 shots on 6.2 attempts in the last five games he's played 17 minutes or more.

He should see a similar workload on Thursday night. And McTavish has a strong history against the Sharks, recording at least three shots in three of the past four contests against San Jose.

The Sharks tend to play high-event games and fail to limit shots. They aren't showing much progress in that area, sitting 31st in five-on-five suppression over the last 10 outings.

McTavish has taken advantage of poor competition this season, recording at least three shots in eight of 12 games against teams in the bottom 10 in shot suppression.

Expect that trend to continue in San Jose.

Odds: -106 (playable to -130)

Fabian Zetterlund: Over 2.5 shots

Zetterlund is another player in a mouthwatering matchup on Thursday night. The Ducks have bled shots at five-on-five all season long and make frequent trips to the box. That's a disastrous recipe for suppressing shots.

The Ducks rank 28th in shots against per game this season and 30th over the last 10. They're giving up an especially high volume of shots to wingers, with only the Blackhawks conceding more in the past 10 games.

It's a dream scenario for Zetterlund, who's enjoyed a ton of success in such spots this season. He's averaging a healthy 3.45 shots per game against bottom-eight shot suppression teams and has gone over at a 64% clip, including both times he's faced Anaheim.

Odds: -125 (playable to -140)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Leave a Reply