Daily Picks 10/04: Devils Over Jets

The NHL features five games on Friday including a game over in the Czech Republic. That afternoon tilt between the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks could be quite the game. Anyway, let’s get down to the business at hand.

Here are Today’s NHL Picks:

Chicago Blackhawks @ Philadelphia Flyers

- The Chicago Blackhawks covered the over at a league-leading 65.2% last season which historically was among the two or three highest connect rates over the last 20 seasons.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers were the second and third worst when it came to allowing goals last season. They combined to yield nearly seven goals a contest. Corey Crawford and Carter Hart are the expected starters on teams that have sub-standard penalty kills and much firepower on the power play. Chicago’s man advantage was tops in the league from January 20th on last season. Pace will be everything in this tilt and the expectation is that there will be plenty of it to go around.

1u – Over 6.5 Total Goals @ +130

Winnipeg Jets @ New Jersey Devils

- Taylor Hall returns from injury as the new look New Jersey Devils face off against the Winnipeg Jets in New Jersey’s home opener.

The Winnipeg Jets beat the New Jersey Devils rather often. How often? We pulled out Statschecker for this one. Winnipeg has won 14 of the previous 23 meetings between the two teams. As a matter of fact, the Jets have won four straight meetings against the Devils. However, Winnipeg is under a great deal of pressure defensively with the loss of Jacob Trouba and Dustin Byfuglien has not reported. Winnipeg is an entertaining team with a dynamic offense but as they showed last night against the New York Rangers, they have some holes defensively that can be exposed by a fast skating team like New Jersey.

1u – New Jersey Devils -1.5 @ +200

1u - Over 6.5 Total Goals @ +135

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Columbus Blue Jackets

- Columbus opens their season without Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel. The new look Blue Jackets entertain the high-flying Maple Leafs.

This is one game that should have more buzz around it. Again, keep in mind, that Columbus has overhauled so much that Joonas Korpisalo is the starter there. Frederik Andersen will likely start again for Toronto. Projections were interesting for this one but according to Statschecker, there were just 18 goals (three games). Every one of the games ended by a score of 4-2 which suggests gambling a bit on the over tonight. One of the staples of these two teams is generating scoring chances. This game is no exception to that rule. Take that over and Toronto moneyline too.

1u – Over 6.5 Total Goals @ +125

1u - Toronto ML @ -142

Vegas Golden Knights @ San Jose Sharks

- Injuries and returns mark tonight’s second meeting in three nights between these Pacific Division rivals.

Vegas and San Jose meet again on Friday night. That is just two nights after a fireworks laden matchup to open the NHL season. Good news has surfaced as Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc (both injured Wednesday) did practice on Thursday for San Jose. The Golden Knights won the Wednesday encounter 4-1 but that was without Erik Karlsson who welcomed a new son into the world. San Jose won the playoff series last year in seven. Also, the season series was split with two close wins by San Jose and two blowouts by Vegas. According to Statschecker San Jose covered the over 55 times last year (including the playoffs with seven pushes. The under hit just 41 times. That was good for third in the league.

1u – Over 6.5 Total Goals @ +135

1u - San Jose ML @ +110

By Chris Wassel