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Bellus' Betting Breakdown: Five most public teams for Saturday in NHL
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It’s only been two weeks of NHL hockey and I’m already beginning to press the panic button.
No, I’m not talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs' power play or the Nashville Predators' chances of making the playoffs. I’m talking about the public and its ability to pick winners.
Through the opening two Saturdays of NHL action, the three most popular picks to win on each day have gone a combined 1-5 to start the year.
For reference I’m flipping a coin to compete against all of you and it’s 3-3.
Of course, it’s way too early to draw any conclusions but, similar to the teams on the ice, this column is always looking for ways to improve and we’re doing just that.
This week we will once again start the column with the five most popular teams on the moneyline for today. But to give the public a better chance at success I’m throwing away the early slate. I think the early games are dragging you all down in the hopes of starting the day with an early and easy winner, but there is nothing easy about winning in this league and if you needed any proof it’s right there in the fact that you are all losing to a literal coin.
But today is a new day, and I believe in all of you. So let’s get to the five most popular teams for tonight, some +money player props with over 70 per cent success rates to start the year and stick around at the end for my mom’s classic Canadian team anytime goal scorer parlay which features a fun twist this time around.
As always we’ll end the column with the coin’s selections as it looks to front run and extend its lead over Johnny Public in Week 3 of the NHL season.
Let's get to the action.
MOST PUBLIC SIDES
MOST POPULAR NHL TEAMS
|
Away |
Home |
Popular side |
|---|---|---|
|
Columbus Blue Jackets |
Nashville Predators |
Columbus +158 |
|
Florida Panthers |
New York Islanders |
Florida -130 |
|
St. Louis Blues |
Montreal Canadiens |
St. Louis -120 |
|
Winnipeg Jets |
Calgary Flames |
Calgary +120 |
|
Carolina Hurricanes |
Seattle Kraken |
Carolina -170 |
After the public was all over the Predators on the opening two Saturdays this year they are fading them this week.
Columbus enters Nashville still riding the high from their 6-2 beatdown of the Maple Leafs on Tuesday and will look to start a four-game road trip off strong.
Bridgestone Arena has not been kind to the Blue Jackets, who have an all-time record of 9-36-7 in Nashville, including eight straight losses. Last year, the Preds won both games of this season series, winning 6-4 the only time Columbus came to town.
Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers remain in New York for a battle with the Islanders after a 3-1 win over the Rangers on Thursday.
The Panthers are expected to start goalie Spencer Knight for the third time this year as he looks to pick up his second win of the season and his second over the Islanders in as many starts after making 24 saves against them in a 3-2 win over them last October.
Dating back to 2021, the Panthers have won six of their last nine games against the Islanders including three of their last four at UBS Arena.
PLAYER PROPS TO MONITOR
I like this part of the column. It gives me a chance to play around with some filters and try to find props in the weeds that we normally wouldn’t be playing.
So far I have spotlighted 12 props in this portion of the article with a 6-6 record. This week I am changing it up a touch by looking at +money props for Saturday night with a success rate of 70 per cent or higher to start the year.
In recent weeks I have looked exclusively at 2023 head to head numbers for these props, but this week I want to find some current form and see if we can turn it into some winners.
PLAYER PROPS TO MONITOR
Player |
Prop |
2024 Success Rate |
Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Kirill Kaprizov |
O 1.5 Points |
71 per cent |
+142 |
|
Anze Kopitar |
U 1.5 Shots |
75 per cent |
+108 |
|
Bryan Rust |
U 0.5 Points |
71 per cent |
+114 |
|
Mikael Granlund |
O 2.5 Shots |
75 per cent |
+122 |
|
Dylan Strome |
O 0.5 Assists |
83 per cent |
+126 |
|
Dylan Larkin |
U 2.5 Shots |
71 per cent |
+128 |
Mom’s Canadian team anytime goal scorer parlay of the week
We are on the board. After getting skunked in Week 1 my mom found the back of the net last Saturday cashing Auston Matthews to score. Unfortunately for her, the parlay was once again a loser with Zach Hyman letting her down as she tried to be early on him snapping his goalless drought to start the season.
This week we have a first in the column as my mother has landed on a Same Game Parlay with her two picks and she’s staying away from her beloved Maple Leafs.
“What I was trying to this week was not pick any Toronto Maple Leafs because you never know who’s going to score on this team.” Well said, mom.
With that all being said the first player in her two-leg anytime parlay this week is former Maple Leaf Nazem Kadri. She’s been a fan of Kadri since the day he was drafted and after nearly picking him last week she likes him to find the back of the net Saturday night against the Winnipeg Jets.
Turns out she did her research too as the 12 goals Kadri has in his career against the Jets are tied for the second most against any team in his career, tailing Ottawa by two goals.
The second leg in this SGP is a bit of a misclick for my mom, but sometimes that’s how you win.
Jonathan Huberdeau has 21 points and seven goals in his career against the Jets, tonight my mother is hoping he pots his eighth.
I’ll be honest, she didn’t know who Huberdeau was before this morning, and I’m quite certain she thought he was on the Jets, but sharp is sharp and I can’t argue with what she said about him “This other guy seems to score a lot.”
And score a lot he does, Huberdeau leads the team with four goals to start the year and last year him and Kadri both scored against the Jets in the second period of their February meeting so here’s hoping they do it again tonight.
This SGP is currently +1400 on FanDuel. Go mom go.
PUBLIC VS. COIN
Finally, my favourite part of the week has arrived. Let's flip a coin three times and pin it head to head with the public.
As a reminder you can play at home too by flipping your own coin, heads is home, tails is away.
Here are this week's picks: Nashville, Florida and St. Louis.