Betting Breakdown: Player props and popular teams to watch Saturday night in the NHL

We have another loaded Saturday in the NHL with 12 games dropping the puck after 7pm est tonight. 

While Alex Ovechkin and his chase of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record has been stealing headlines lately we can’t ignore what his longtime ‘rival’ Sidney Crosby has been doing either. 

The Penguins captain has four goals and 16 points in his last 10 games and is trying to lead his team to the playoffs for the first time since 2022, they are currently +280 to make the postseason. 

Crosby has 19 goals and 57 points in 50 career games against the Sens in his career and is +200 to score Saturday. 

Let’s get right to the action today with a few player props to monitor and a dive into which teams the public likes. 

After a slow start to the season, it’s been smooth sailing for the most popular teams on Saturday nights in the NHL as the public’s top three choices on the moneyline have gone 5-1  over the last two weeks and is starting to build a lead in Canada’s favourite game show. (Public vs. Coin), but more on that later.

PLAYER PROPS TO MONITOR    

So far I have spotlighted 40 props in this portion of the article with a 21-19 record, which includes going 2-1 last week.   

This week I have three player props that have cashed in 75 per cent of their last 20 games while also having good head-to-head matchups.

Pavel Dorofeyev has three or more shots in four straight games and 13 of his last 17 home games, averaging  3.2 shots per game during that stretch. The Golden Knights forward has played two games against the New York Rangers in his career, logging four shots in both games. The Rangers enter this game 29th in the league allowing 31.4 shots per game. 

Nikolaj Ehlers has less than two shots in six straight games entering a contest against the Colorado Avalanche tonight. The Jets forward has failed to exceed 2.5 shots on goal in four of his last five games against a top 10 defence for shots on goal allowed. The Avs’ enter tonight sixth in the NHL, allowing 26.5 shots per game. 

MOST PUBLIC SIDES

PUBLIC VS. COIN     

It was a very slow start for the public in this challenge, but the Stanley Cup isn’t won in November and neither is this competition. 

After the coin got off to an early lead, I started to question if the public would ever be able to catch up, but a 5-1 run for the public, combined with a 1-5 stretch for the coin has seen this competition flip (no pun) on it’s head. 

The 0-3 performance for the coin last week extends it’s slump of failing to pick two winners in a week to five straight columns, meanwhile the public has enjoyed a winning week in four of those. 

After 12 games it was the coin leading 6-3 over the slumping 4-8 public. But now, after 27 games the public sits 14-13 with the coin suddenly way behind at 11-16. 

It’s a long season, so I’m not writing off the coin just yet, but it’s not looking good. 

Public: Oilers, Wild, Leafs 

Coin: Blackhawks, Wild, Leafs