Xam’s Daily Gems:
Maple Leafs Money Line -162
The Flyers are riding high off a 4 game winning streak. They’ve largely been winning this year off a strong defense, as they are giving up less than 3 goals per game on average. They draw a tough matchup tonight in Toronto. Toronto has been good offensively all year, and have been especially good at Scotia Bank Arena. They’re averaging over 3.5 goals per game in front of the home crowd. This is a game that can feature a fair amount of scoring, but that favors the team at home with the better offense. Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson has been rocky lately. He’s given up 3 or more goals in 5 of his last 7 games. Toronto’s goalie, Ilya Samsonov, has been inconsistent this year but better recently. In 4 of his last 6 games he’s given up 2 or less goals, and in 3 of those games he’s given up 1 or less goals. If he can continue his recent run of good play, the Maple Leafs should be able to continue their offensive prowess. They have the better shooters in this game. If they can contain guys like Owen Tippett and Travis Konency, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and their friends should be able to put the puck in the net and get a win for the home crowd.
Stars Money Line -156
The Stars have been playing like one of the best teams in the league recently, at 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. They can score at will, as evidenced by their 196 total goals, and they play quality defense as well. This all spells out a bad matchup tonight for the Predators. It’ll be a tough matchup tonight for Predators goalie Juuse Saros. He’s given up 3 or 4 goals in each of his last 4 games, and for the year he’s giving up just under 3 goals per game. He gave up 3 goals against the Stars earlier this season, and he hasn’t even been very good at home, giving up over 3 goals per game at Bridgestone Arena. This game will come down Dallas playing their typical defense and giving their offense time to work. There’s no doubt that they can score with the best of them. If they can play some defense against an iffy offense of the Predators, Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, and Joe Pavelski should have no issues creating offense for Dallas and getting the job done in Nashville.
Canucks Money Line -178
The Canucks are currently the number 1 seed in the Western Conference, and for good reason. They’re 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. They have an excellent offense, as evidenced by their 199 goals scored this year, and they’ve given up the 3rd fewest goals in the West this season as well. They’ve been dominant at home this year, posting a record of 18-4-2 at Rogers Arena this season. The Red Wings both score and give up a ton of goals. They have scored 184 goals this year, good for 2nd in the East (by 1 goal!) and have given up a whopping 172 goals! They haven’t been a very good road team this year, posting a 12-11-1 record away from home so far. Vancouver is certainly looking to get a measure of revenge from the OT loss they suffered in Detroit last week. Detroit just gave up 8 goals in their last game on the road a couple of nights ago, and on the season they’re giving up 3.65 goals per game on the road. Vancouver has been great defensively this year and that’s the key tonight. If they can keep Detroit’s offense contained, they shouldn’t have any issues scoring on a porous defense.