NHL Wednesday best bets: Can the Canucks stop the bleeding?
Tuesday night's 11-game NHL slate went about as well as it possibly could have.
The Winnipeg Jets jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers and survived a late push en route to a 5-2 win as home underdogs. We also hit a sweat-free under between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators. Oh, and two of our three shot props came through. We're now 10-2 overall on the year.
While there are only three games to work with tonight, there is value to be had. Let's dive into it with our best bets.
Avalanche (-160) @ Canucks (+140)
The Canucks are a tire fire. They've won just five of 16 contests this season and have conceded 22 goals over their current four-game losing skid. They are objectively bad ... and yet I still can't agree with Colorado being favored to this extent.
While a healthy Avalanche team can compete with anybody, they aren't close to that. Nathan MacKinnon, their best player, is sidelined for the foreseeable future. J.T. Compher, a solid middle-six forward, and impact rookie Bowen Byram are also unavailable.
Colorado moved Mikko Rantanen to center as a byproduct of the injuries, and the team now looks paper-thin on the right side. The Avalanche are expected to trot out Logan O'Connor, Andre Burakovsky, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and Kiefer Sherwood at right wing. Not great.
The Avs still have difference-makers like Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, and Cale Makar in the lineup, but the depth just isn't there - at least to the usual extent.
For all of the Canucks' faults, they do have several stars on their roster, a game-stealer between the pipes in Thatcher Demko, and they've proven to be one of the NHL's best teams at drawing penalties. It's not as if there's nothing to work with here.
There is value on the Canucks. Plug your nose and play it.
Viktor Arvidsson over 2.5 shots (-125)
Have we, as a society, forgotten about Arvidsson during his COVID-19 absence? That must be the case because it's the only explanation for this line.
Arvidsson is one of the more trigger-happy players in the NHL. He won't pass up a look at the net, be it in close or from range.
That shows in the numbers. He's recorded 32 shots on goal and 57 shot attempts over just eight games this season. I'll save you the math at home; that's four shots and more than seven attempts per contest.
Arvidsson has gone over this prop number in six of his eight games, including all four home dates.
He should play a prominent role at even strength and on the power play against an injury-plagued Capitals team playing their third game in four nights.
I think this line is well short. Take advantage of it.
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.