Your Vancouver Canucks are back in action tonight, but this time, it’s on the road. The Nashville Predators have one of the most intimidating buildings to play in, and the crowd chants the goaltender’s name to intimidate them. This doesn’t bode well for Casey DeSmith, who already has an enormous amount of pressure on him.
Today’s confirmed goaltender matchups for our highlighted game:
The Vancouver Canucks’ Casey DeSmith (12-9-6) vs. The Nashville Predators’ Juuse Saros (35-24-5).
Before I got into the picks, I wanted to touch on three performances that I spoke about in my NHL Betting Preview. Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, and Elias Pettersson all had shockingly high shot attempts: Hughes—13, Miller—10, and Pettersson—nine. These three were firing with minimal puck luck. I think that luck will reverse tonight.
Quinn Hughes Over 2.5 Shots on Goal (-105)
Quinn Hughes has cleared this line in eight of his last 12 games, averaging 2.9 shots on 7.3 shot attempts. In the first two games of this series, he has covered this line in just one game, but as I mentioned, he had a whomping 13 shot attempts.
On the road this season, he has only cleared in 37% of all games, but his volume has increased toward the end of the regular season. He has cleared in six of his last nine road games, averaging 3.0 shots on 7.8 shot attempts.
Against the Predators, Hughes has cleared in three of his last five games, averaging 3.0 shots on 7.4 shot attempts. Nashville is allowing 7.0 shot attempts to defenceman in the playoffs.
Hughes averages above seven shot attempts per game in all these metrics. When filtering his stats with seven or more shot attempts, Hughes has cleared in 72% of all games this season, averaging 3.4 shots per game. The magic number is seven, which is just half of what he had in the last game.
J.T. Miller Assist (-110)
A $10.00 bet would return $19.09.
The biggest reason for this bet is what J.T. Miller told reporters after game two. A reporter asked him about his increase in slap-pass attempts, and he said, “Well, that’s why I’m slap-passing, cause Ryan McDonaugh is in the way every single time.”
Taking this in mind, Canucks players know that Nashville is going to continue to get in the way of everything they can. So with J.T. Miller’s slap-passing, he may look off the shot more and find an assist off a teammate’s stick for a slap-pass-goal.
Elias Pettersson Point (-143)
A $10.00 bet would return $17.00.
Elias Pettersson is snake-bitten right now, but with all the smoke around him and how close he came to scoring twice last game, I expect a turnaround for the struggling Swede.
Pointless in three straight now, this is a feat that Pettersson has only ever gone this long without a point once this season. Pettersson loves playing in Bridgestone Arena, as he has a point per game over his last three games in that building. The Canucks need to get him going, and hopefully, that all starts tonight.
Last Game Recap:
Carter Verhaeghe Over 2.5 Shots on Goal – WON – (+$10.00)
Tampa Bay Lightning Moneyline – LOSS – (-$10.00)
Carter Verhaeghe continues his dominant play with Sam Bennett out of the lineup, registering three shots for the 11th straight game. Despite a 2-1 lead in the second period, the Lightning gave up three unanswered and lost the game, putting them on the brink of elimination.
All-Time Record: 13-16 (-$56.14)
