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
Rickenbach NHL Free Pick Philadelphia +115 @ Columbus @ 7:05 ET – Flyers Martin Jones has allowed 3 or less goal in 6 of his last 8 starts. He is coming off a strong effort against the Rangers. In those 6 solid efforts he has allowed only 2.3 goals per start! Philadelphia has revenge from a home loss to the Blue Jackets Tuesday and I look for them to return the favor here by knocking off the Jackets in Columbus. To me this line looks a little funny with the home team a small favorite. Don’t let the number fool you. Priced this way because the road dog gets revenge against a Blue Jackets team that had lost 7 in a row before beating the Flyers Tuesday. Payback! Free Pick PHILADELPHIA +115
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 Thursday Free Pick Philadelphia Flyers Money Line +170 vs Minnesota Wild @ 7:05 ET – The Flyers are off a home shutout versus Edmonton in which it certainly seemed Philly deserved a better fate. Note that this was Philadelphia’s 5th shutout loss of the season. They have never lost in regulation this season when off a shutout loss as they have 3 wins and one OT loss when coming off a defeat in which they failed to score. Considering that fact as well as the fact they are getting healthier plus the fact the Wild have lost 4 straight and 6 of last 7 games, I feel you have great home dog value here and will fade Minnesota Thursday. Free Pick PHILADELPHIA +170
ASA Free Play on Philadelphia Flyers -1.5 goals +115 over Arizona Coyotes @ 7:08 ET – With Chicago’s dominating win over Ottawa last night, the Coyotes are the last remaining winless team in the NHL. Unlike the Blackhawks situation yesterday, this absolutely does not look like a good spot for Arizona to finally get into the win column. The Coyotes are facing an angry Flyers team that had been playing good hockey before an ugly 4-0 road loss at Calgary on Saturday. Now back home and ready to respond big, Philly takes advantage of a Coyotes team that has lost its 9 games by an average margin of 3 goals. Excellent line value with the puck line here as a result. Lay the 1.5 goals with Philadelphia