Shot props have been very good to us this campaign. With Alex Pietrangelo and Aleksander Barkov hitting on Wednesday night, our record sits at 4-1 this week.
We'll aim to keep the good times going with three plays for tonight's slate.
Dylan Larkin over 2.5 shots (-134)
Dylan Larkin is the Detroit Red Wings' most consistent shot generator, leading the team in both attempts and shots on goal this season - and by wide margins. If we zoom in and focus on the last 10 games, he still finds himself on top. Simply put, Larkin's taking a lot of shots.
Tonight Larkin finds himself in a sneaky good spot against the New York Rangers. While the Rangers are a good squad, they give up a lot of shot volume, especially to centers. Believe it or not, only the Montreal Canadiens concede more shots to the position on a per game basis.
Larkin should have plenty of looks at the net in this contest.
Nick Suzuki over 2.5 shots (+110)
It's no secret Martin St. Louis would rather have Habs players make their own reads with the puck than take away their creativity and box them into a system, which figures to benefit skilled players like Nick Suzuki. The early returns suggest as much, with Suzuki piling up 11 shots on goal and seven scoring chances through three games.
The St. Louis Blues allow more shots to the center position than all but Montreal and New York, so Suzuki finds himself in a strong spot to keep the shot volume trending upwards.
Patrick Kane over 3.5 shots (+105)
Patrick Kane lives for home games. The winger has averaged a whopping 4.1 shots on goal per game in Chicago for the Blackhawks this campaign, including 4.6 over his last five. Kane is a legitimate threat to hit four shots every single night regardless of matchup, and he just so happens to have a very good one tonight.
The Columbus Blue Jackets bleed shots more than most other clubs, and their numbers are progressively getting worse. The Blue Jackets have allowed 35.58 shots per 60 minutes over the last 10 games at five-on-five - only the Canadiens have conceded more. Columbus is also bottom-eight in suppressing shots on the penalty kill over that span. Be it at five-on-five or on the power play, Kane should routinely find himself in good positions to shoot.
Priced at less than a coin flip, I love backing Kane at home in this spot.
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.
Women's hockey will be in great shape when the Olympic final, for the first time ever, excludes both Canada and the United States. Until then, they'll keep playing instant classics.
Canada withstood the U.S.'s furious third-period charge to win the gold medal in Beijing on Thursday, the country's fifth in seven tries. Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice in the 3-2 victory to prolong an immaculate streak: The Canadian captain has sniped the golden goal in every Olympic title game she's won. Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 38 American shots, and Canada mobbed her when the buzzer sounded at 1:23 a.m. ET.
Amanda Kessel's power-play goal with 12.5 seconds left almost sparked an epic American comeback, but the U.S. couldn't surmount the three-goal lead that Poulin's line built early. Sarah Nurse opened the scoring and, on a second-period rush, assisted Poulin's dexterous finish from a sharp angle. That was Nurse's 18th point of the tournament, eclipsing Hayley Wickenheiser's Olympic record (17) that Poulin matched on the same play.
This Canadian team scored at will in China. It might be the best that's ever graced Olympic ice, avenging the U.S.'s golden shootout win from 2018 at the end of a chaotic quadrennial.
Sergei Bobylev / TASS / Getty Images
During the four-year cycle that led into Beijing, Canada's women's pro league folded, and members of both national teams left the top U.S. league in response. They formed the traveling Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, which holds weekend showcase tournaments when COVID-19 permits. They want to see a new league created that, most crucially, would pay players a living wage.
As the national teams geared up for Beijing, they kept playing barn burners. Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in overtime in the 2021 world championship final, and at the end of six Olympic tuneup games this past fall, Canada led by a combined score of 13-11. Desbiens made 51 saves in their first Olympic encounter last week, a 4-2 Canadian win.
That was either squad's only close game until Thursday. Between Group A play and the knockout stage, Canada outshot opponents that weren't the U.S. 284-80 and outscored them 50-6. The Americans outscored non-Canadian teams 26-4. Programs that used to challenge them couldn't keep up.
Elsa / Getty ImagesElsa / Getty Images
One culprit was Finland, which suffered worse defeats than expected en route to winning the bronze medal. Canada thumped the Finns 11-1 after star goalie Noora Raty was omitted from the roster, reportedly because Finland's coaches thought she shouldn't start and wouldn't be a suitable backup. That decision wrongfooted Finland, while Sweden, the Olympic silver medallist in 2006, slumped to an all-time worst eighth-place finish.
That neck of the standings produced some happier stories. China entered the Olympics ranked 20th in the world but stunned Denmark and Japan on home ice. In Czechia's Olympic debut, it beat China and Sweden and held the U.S. to four quarterfinal goals, riding Klara Peslarova and her sublime .945 save percentage. Almost every game in Group B, the tournament's second tier, was decided by one or two goals.
Dismayed by Group A's imbalance, Toronto Star columnist Rosie DiManno wrote that the Olympics should drop women's hockey. People around the sport mounted a counterargument: To make the sport more competitive, invest in it, don't kneecap it. Responding to DiManno in the Star, PWHPA consultant Jayna Hefford and women's hockey builder Allyson Fox called for more national federations to fund their teams adequately, like Canada and the U.S. do.
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
The conversation calls for historical context. The 2022 Olympics were the seventh Games to feature women's hockey. Back in 1952, the seventh Olympic men's tournament featured these lopsided scores:
Canada 15-1 Germany Canada 13-3 Finland Canada 11-2 Switzerland Canada 11-2 Norway Canada 11-0 Poland U.S. 8-2 Germany U.S. 8-2 Finland U.S. 8-2 Switzerland Sweden 17-1 Poland Sweden 9-2 Finland Switzerland 12-0 Finland Czechoslovakia 11-2 Finland
Today, Finland is second in the IIHF men's rankings, Germany is fifth, Switzerland is eighth, and Norway is eleventh. They regularly beat or threaten to upset the U.S. and Canada. The Olympics didn't scrap men's hockey at a precarious point, and following decades of investment and development, the world got deeper.
Men's pro hockey is a century older than the women's pro game - plenty of time to iron out kinks. After the NHL launched in 1917, franchise instability and contraction afflicted the league for 25 years, at which point the Original Six teams remained.
Abandoned by the PWHPA players, the Premier Hockey Federation is in its seventh season, and it maintains that it's the sustainable women's league that the PWHPA desires. PHF teams play in Toronto, Minnesota, and throughout the American Northeast. The league announced plans in January to expand to Montreal and increase its salary cap to $750,000. Next month's PHF championship game will air live on ESPN2.
Sergei Bobylev / TASS / Getty Images
Questions about the future abound. Does women's hockey need the NHL to fund a pro league, or can the PHF keep growing incrementally? How much longer can the sport's stars sit out of league play? What opportunities are lost when they don't play many games throughout the season? Could the league that sticks around long term attract top talent from Europe and elsewhere, maximizing the level of competition?
Maybe the next quadrennial will bring clarity. This moment belongs to Canada, quite the bounce back for the program that lost to Raty's Finns in the semifinals of the 2019 worlds. Head coach Troy Ryan changed the team approach, empowering the Canadians to play loose and chase offense. The U.S. on Thursday couldn't match Canada's breakout speed, depth, or star power, especially with top center Brianna Decker out injured since the tournament opener.
If healthy, Decker would have buzzed around the Canadian zone in that frantic third period. Instead, she watched from ice level as the U.S. hit posts and flipped breakaway attempts into Desbiens' gear. Hilary Knight fired six shots at the Canadian netminder and scored shorthanded, yet fell to 1-3 in Olympic finals compared to Poulin's 3-1 record.
This one was tense until the last horn. The result will be celebrated and rued for four years.
The Canadian women defeated their Team USA rivals 3-2 in Thursday's gold medal clash. This marks the fifth time in the last six Olympics that Canada has taken home the gold, losing to the Americans last time around in 2018.
Canada appeared to open the scoring early in the first period but the goal was called back after a coach's challenge determined the play offside. Minutes later, Sarah Nurse got Canada on the board. Marie-Phillip Poulin added another tally to give the Canadians a 2-0 edge at the end of the first.
Poulin picked things up where she left off in the second, burying a tough rebound to put Canada up 3-0. With an assist on the goal, Nurse broke Hayley Wickenheiser's Olympic single-tournament record with her 18th point in Beijing. Hilary Knight finally got the Americans on the board with a shorthanded goal late in the second.
The third didn't provide much until the dying seconds when the Americans managed to score a power-play marker to pull within one. It ended up being too little too late as Canada hung on for the win.
The Blackhawks indicated they would look outside the hockey world for options when they started searching for a new GM. The club recently confirmed that it interviewed Chicago Cubs assistant GM Jeff Greenberg.
Resch was one of Raptors president Masai Ujiri's first hires when he joined the organization in 2013. She previously worked in the NBA's head office.
The Blackhawks have already interviewed several candidates for the GM position, including interim GM Kyle Davidson, Peter Chiarelli, Mathieu Darche, Scott Mellanby, and Eric Tulsky.
It marks the third time this season Brooks has been claimed off waivers. The Montreal Canadiens initially claimed him from Toronto at the start of the season. Vegas then scooped him up from Montreal in November.
Brooks has registered two goals and one assist in 11 games this season split between the Habs and Knights. He tallied four goals and four helpers in 18 contests in a fourth-line role with the Maple Leafs during the previous two campaigns.
Toronto selected Brooks in the fourth round of the 2016 draft.
Marc-Andre Fleury's immediate future is a significant storyline ahead of the NHL trade deadline, but he shed some light on his long-term thinking Wednesday.
The 37-year-old pending unrestricted free agent would be one of the biggest names available if he consents to being dealt ahead of the frenzy on March 21. Fleury made it clear Wednesday he hasn't decided on his plans in that regard, but he added he'd prefer to play for a contender if it comes to that.
Having some fun with Fleury here on this trade question: “‘If’ I move I would love a chance to win.” pic.twitter.com/z3pngX27pW
Fleury was initially reluctant to play for the Blackhawks because he didn't want to move his family to an unfamiliar city and needed time to determine his future after the Vegas Golden Knights traded him in July. But after spending about half a season with his new team, the veteran netminder said he'd be open to re-signing with Chicago.
Marc-Andre Fleury on his desire to come back to the Blackhawks for at least one more season: “I wish we were winning more, I wish we were higher in the playoff race, definitely, but I love my teammates … and the fans have been good, people around town have been good to me.” pic.twitter.com/KMuZeDkRKC
Fleury is in the final season of a three-year contract he signed with the Golden Knights. It was reported Tuesday that Vegas had shown interest in a reunion, but Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon denied that shortly thereafter.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion puck-stopper has a modified no-trade clause allowing him to submit a list of 10 teams to which he can't be dealt, according to CapFriendly.
Fleury is 16-17-3 with a .910 save percentage for a Blackhawks squad that entered Wednesday's action sitting second-last in the Central Division.
Sweden narrowly defeated the Canadians 2-0 in the men's hockey quarterfinals Wednesday. Lucas Wallmark scored the late game-winner off a Team Canada turnover before Sweden added an empty-netter.
Wallmark intercepted a drop pass Canadian forward Jack McBain attempted at his own blue line midway through the third period. The Swede then fired a shot that deflected off defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon's stick and over goaltender Matt Tomkins' shoulder.
Anton Lander added the empty-net goal for insurance.
Lars Johansson wasn't tested much between the pipes for the Swedes, but he was stellar when called upon, stopping all 20 shots he faced in the victory.
Tre Kronor will face the Russian Olympic Committee in the semifinals.
It will be an all-European final four, as Team USA was eliminated earlier Wednesday in a stunning shootout upset against Team Slovakia. The Slovaks will face Finland in the other semifinal.
Canada hasn't won a gold medal in a men's Olympic hockey tournament that didn't feature NHLers since the 1952 Winter Games in Oslo, Norway. This also marks the first time since Turin 2006 that Canada won't come home with a medal of any kind.
The best bets were good to us on Tuesday night. The Blues picked up a multi-goal regulation win against the Senators, while the Stars and Avalanche gave us a relatively sweat-free under, combining for five goals in a game with a 6.5 total.
We'll aim for another 2-0 night with our best bets.
This game is going to be incredible. By all accounts, we're looking at two of the best teams in the NHL. The Panthers and Hurricanes are tied for second in wins (32) and sit among the league leaders in several key underlying metrics.
There isn't much separating the two, but I have to give the edge to Florida.
At five-on-five, no team has controlled a larger share of the shot attempts or goals than the Panthers. They rank a tad lower (third) in expected goals, but they remain slightly ahead of the Hurricanes in that category as well.
Florida should hold at least a slight advantage during five-on-five play. While the top half of the two sides should essentially cancel each other out, I like the Panthers' depth a little more.
Florida also figures to have an edge in terms of team discipline. Only the Predators have spent more time killing penalties than the Hurricanes this season.
Carolina is an elite team on the penalty kill, but you're playing with fire if you give a team like Florida plenty of power-play opportunities.
This should be a back-and-forth affair, and when all is said and done, I expect the Panthers to leave the ice with two points.
Remember a few weeks ago when the Flames were treading water in the standings? Their underlying process remained remarkably strong and suggested a big breakout was coming. Well, it's here!
The Flames have won nine of their last 10 games and are full value for it. They have controlled nearly 61% of the shot attempts and 64% of the high-danger chances at five-on-five. Unsurprisingly, both totals rank first in the NHL by several percentage points.
Even in a back-to-back situation, I expect them to heavily dictate play against the Ducks. Anaheim ranks 25th in shot share and 27th in high-danger chance share over the last 10 games.
There's always the possibility that John Gibson steals a game. He's played great this season, stopping 10.4 more goals than expected. Unfortunately for the Ducks, the same can be said of Calgary's netminder.
The Flames rested Jacob Markstrom on Tuesday night so he'd be available for this divisional clash. As well as Gibson has performed, Markstrom looks even better in terms of goals saved above expectation (+11.4). He might well cancel Gibson out.
That's bad news for Anaheim, considering all the edges this Calgary team has elsewhere. The Flames should be able to take care of business inside 60 minutes.
Bet: Flames in regulation (-135)
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.
