Scott “The Bulldog” Rickenbach NHL Friday Free Pick Montreal Canadiens Money Line +135 vs New York Islanders @ 7:05 – RIP Mike Bossy. Before the news broke this morning that career-long Islander and Montreal-native Mike Bossy had passed away, I was considering using this play as a top play premium pick. Instead you are reading about it here as Bossy who was one of the top NHL scorers of all-time and played in the late 70s and 80s succumbed to lung cancer this morning. Both the Islanders and Canadiens will most certainly each be playing with extra emotion tonight. As noted above, Bossy was born and raised in Montreal and it is actually a bit of an irony that he passed away right before this particular match-up. What had me looking at a play here before this news broke is the fact the goalie Carey Price is finally expected back between the pipes tonight for the Habs and you know that the Montreal skaters are going to bring their A game in front of him after his long-time hiatus from the crease. Couple that with the fact that the Islanders are in a B2B spot and off a loss and losing what little hope they had left of making the playoffs and you have the ideal home dog spot in my opinion. Free Pick MONTREAL +135
Scott “The Bulldog” Rickenbach NHL Free Pick OVER 6.5 in Tampa Bay Lightning vs Buffalo Sabres @ 5:05 ET – Buffalo has been a scrappy hard-fighting team that has made life difficult for strong clubs as they put a scare into them with strong offensive showings. The Lightning are a 4 to 1 money line favorite here though with good reason! The fact is that the Sabres should enjoy some success in the offensive zone and create good scoring opportunities plus the TB netminding has not been as strong as usual of late. However, the other fact is that Buffalo has struggled defensively and in protecting their own cage. That said, I am looking for plenty of scoring here. The Sabres 8 of last 10 games have totaled 7 or more goals. Going further back it is 19 of 29 games totaling 7 or more goals. The Bolts are hungry off a 2-1 OT loss at home to Boston Saturday. Before that low-scoring defeat Tampa had played 5 straight games totaling at least 7 goals and they will be relentless on the attack here as they are angry having lost 4 straight games! That means plenty of goals in this one! Free Pick OVER 6.5 in Tampa Bay
ASA FREE PLAY ON UNDER 6.5 Dallas Stars at Toronto Maple Leafs, Tuesday at 7 PM ET – These are two high-quality teams but both are off B2B losses. Coming off consecutive defeats, both these solid hockey clubs know they need to bear down defensively and work hard to get back into the win column. Look for each club to do a solid job in their own zone and do a much better job of blocking shots and eliminating high-quality scoring chances for the opposition. With the markets moving the number on this total from a 6 to a 6.5 we have additional line value with the under. Look for each team to struggle to get past the two-goal mark in this one and we expect a 3-2 final at the most by the time the final horn sounds. UNDER 6.5 is the play here
Scott “The Bulldog” Rickenbach NHL Friday Free Pick Vegas Golden Knights Money Line +150 @ Pittsburgh Penguins @ 7:05 ET – I know Vegas has been struggling and not scoring well. I know they are in a B2B after a loss at Buffalo last night. However, that marked Jack Eichel’s return to face his former team and it was an ugly environment. That said, there is sense of relief for Eichel and the Golden Knights to have that game out of the way. Look for Vegas to respond big tonight and get back on track. So much value here with a good team in the +150 price range and I feel the Golden Knights are absolutely worth a look in this one! Knights are 16-10-1 in road games this season and Penguins have lost 14 of 29 home games this season! The fact is that Vegas has been better on the road than at home this season and the same holds true for Pittsburgh but of course normal home ice pricing is baked into this line. The result is exceptional value and I will take it! Free Pick VEGAS +150
Scott “The Bulldog” Rickenbach NHL Monday Free Pick Washington Capitals Money Line +120 vs Toronto Maple Leafs @ 7:35 ET – Like backing the Capitals off a tight 2-1 loss at Philly Saturday and fading a Maple Leafs team off a wild 10-7 win at Detroit the same day. Washington is 3-0 L3 times they entered a game on a losing streak of 2 or more games and they enter this one B2B losses. By the way, those 3 wins by a combined score of 12 to 2 for the Capitals! The Maple Leafs are off B2B wins but have allowed 4.4 goals in regulation time of their last 5 games. Free Pick WASHINGTON +120