Prime-Time First TD Bets — Monday Night Football, Week 16
Alex Christenson
Tuesday’s NHL best bets will cover the night’s nine-game New Year’s Eve slate that has a first puck drop scheduled for 8 p.m. ET. I have additional bets that cover the afternoon games at our free NHL Fantasy Hockey Discord.
With our FTN betting package, you’ll get picks from everyone at FTN, plus tools, projections and access to Discord, where I’ll discuss every slate.
Today’s Best NHL Bets
New Jersey Devils -1.5
(+107, BetRivers)
The Devils have been running on all cylinders over the last few weeks, and a big reason for that is simply because they are healthy. From top to bottom, the Devils have four lines and three pairings that can go toe-to-toe against any team in the NHL. Just from a pure defensive standpoint, teams are just not getting prime scoring chances against the Devils. Jacob Markstrom has had the easiest month of his career — going 8-0-1 with a 1.11 GAA. A big reason for that is that he’s just not seeing many shots. He has seen 20 shots or less in seven of his nine starts, which is basically unheard of. The Devils as a team have allowed just 85 high-danger scoring chances in December, which is tied with the Panthers for the league low. In contrast, the Ducks just bleed scoring chances and have allowed more high-danger chances per game than any other team throughout the month of December. The Ducks probably aren’t as bad depth wise as you’d imagine for a team that has been without Trevor Zegras for nearly a month. I like the Devils puck line here a ton.
Detroit Red Wings ML
(-122, FanDuel Sportsbook)
We’ve already seen the Todd McLellan work his magic just from Sunday’s big win against the Capitals. They played a more complete game at both ends of the ice than we’ve seen in a long, long time. Putting a lock down on the fundamentals against Pittsburgh’s brutal goaltending situation, I think the Red Wings have a considerable edge here.
Colorado Avalanche -1.5
With the Avalanche locking down their goaltending situation with the additions of MacKenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood via trade, we can feel a sense of comfort where it’s highly unlikely that the Avalanche will solely lose games because of how brutal their goaltending is. With their offense at full strength, they’ve been dominating on the forecheck and that’s a big reason why they’ve scored 4 or more goals in seven of their last nine games (all wins). The Jets are coming off a physical game Monday night against the Predators and may be playing their backup goalie, Eric Comrie, considering Connor Hellebuyck got the nod against the Predators.
Bonus Bets
Dallas Stars -1.5 (+120, Bet365/DraftKings/FanDuel/BetMGM)
Carolina/Columbus Over 6.5 (+102, BetRivers)
San Jose Sharks ML (+150, DraftKings)
Utah Hockey Club ML (+200, BetMGM)
Jesper Bratt Over 0.5 assists (-110, Bet365/BetMGM)
Logan Cooley Over 0.5 points (-105, BetMGM)
Dmitri Voronkov Over 0.5 points (+110, BetMGM)
Filip Forsberg Over 0.5 assists (+160, Bet365/BetMGM)
J.T. Miller Over 0.5 assists (+105, Bet365)
Additional plays may be posted on Discord.
Goal Scorers
Timo Meier
Jack Hughes
Valeri Nichushkin
Mikko Rantanen
Dylan Larkin
Dmitri Voronkov
Andrei Svechnikov
Jamie Benn
Wyatt Johnston
Steven Stamkos
Macklin Celebrini
Brock Boeser
Nazem Kadri
Logan Cooley
Zach Hyman
