A COVID-19 outbreak among the Ottawa Senators has shelved Tuesday’s Senators-Devils clash in New Jersey. Thankfully for NHL bettors, we still have 11 games on the schedule, which means plenty of money-making opportunities — particularly with regard to NHL props!
Tonight, we mix things up a bit and focus on five NHL player props, all involving goal scorers. So let’s lace up our skates, hit the ice, and see if we can light the lamp a few times (at nice plus-money odds)!
All odds via DraftKings as of Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. ET.
New York Rangers: Artemi Panarin
The Prop: To Score Anytime (vs. Montreal Canadiens)
The Odds: +170
After back-to-back games with no shots on goal, Panarin either lit a fire under himself or asked one of his teammates to do it for him. In his last two outings, Panarin has peppered the net with 12 shots, scoring twice in Saturday’s 5-3 win at the Columbus Blue Jackets. Panarin is one of our top NHL props for Tuesday simply because he’s a threat to score any time he’s on the ice.
On Tuesday, he’ll get an opportunity against a Canadiens team without goaltender Carey Price (knee surgery) and possibly without his backup, Jake Allen (concussion). If Allen can’t play, Sam Montembeault (0-3-1, 3.77 GAA, .890 save percentage) would be in net, leaving Panarin with a juicy matchup against an inexperienced goaltender.
Editor’s Note: New to NHL props? Check out our complete NHL Prop Betting Guide.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby
The Prop: To Score Anytime (vs. Buffalo Sabres)
The Odds: +140
This one seems almost too good to be true. Crosby has scored 24 goals in 50 career games against the Sabres, averaging more than a point per game in the process. That said, it’s not the slam dunk it appears to be, because in two games since his return from wrist surgery and COVID-19, Crosby has attempted just three shots.
Crosby taking out some frustration in his return to the lineup. Pens down 5-1 to Caps pic.twitter.com/zHD40mg7OW
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 15, 2021
In his last 10 contests dating to last season, Crosby has six games with two or fewer shots. Then again, the Penguins superstar is a future first-ballot Hall of Fame for a reason: He can get hot in the blink of any eye and make life miserable for opposing netminders.
Nobody understands that more than the Sabres, who have come back to earth this month, losing five of six games. Buffalo allowed four goals in one of those defeats and five goals in the other four.
St. Louis Blues: Vladimir Tarasenko
The Prop: To Score Anytime (vs. Arizona Coyotes)
The Odds: +150
This is a perfect storm of opportunity for Tuesday’s NHL props. Tarasenko leads the Blues in shots (53) and goals (seven) and has an individual expected goals (iXG) of 3.64 this season at even strength, eighth highest in the league.
Even better, he’s scored all seven of his goals at even strength in just 13 individual high-danger scoring chances. For comparison, Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor leads the league in 5-on-5 goals with nine and has 22 individual high-danger chances.
The Arizona Coyotes have the third-worst high danger chance percentage (43.83%) this season — in other words, opponents are connecting on more than 56% of their high-danger chances per game against the Yotes. Also, Arizona is just 65.5% on the penalty kill this season, and Tarasenko ranks second on the Blues in power play time on ice.
Minnesota Wild: Kirill Kaprizov
The Prop: To Score Anytime (vs San Jose Sharks)
The Odds: +125
Similar to Tarasenko, Kaprizov is a high-volume-shooting winger who is given every opportunity to score (4.36 iXG in all situations, second-highest on his team). However, like Crosby, there’s reason for caution with this NHL prop.
Kaprizov led the Wild with 27 goals in 55 games last season on a scorching 17.2% shooting percentage. While that percentage is unsustainable over a full 82-game campaign, the defending Calder Trophy winner is shooting just 6.4% this season. For whatever reason, Kaprizov has struggled to find the back of the net this season.
Kaprizov and Zuccarello play keepaway before Kaprizov tucks it into the open net #mnwild pic.twitter.com/MCBiHIT9zv
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) November 11, 2021
San Jose has also been much better than last year at shot suppression —only seven teams allow fewer shots per game than the Sharks. Then again, the Sharks have also lost four of their last five games, while the Wild are in first place in the Western Conference, going 5-1 this month. And while Kaprizov’s shooting percentage is way down, he found the net in half of those six games.
Anaheim Ducks: Troy Terry
The Prop: To Score Anytime (vs. Washington Capitals)
The Odds: +180
Terry has the second-best odds to score in this game (behind Washington star Alex Ovechkin at +110), and for good reason. This season, Terry is tied for third in the league in goals (11) and is riding a ridiculous 14-game point streak.
But at some point, there’s going to be a regression. Terry had a 10.1% shooting percentage in 48 games last season and shot 5.5% in 47 games the year prior. This season, he’s at 30.6%.
Perhaps Terry keeps his streak alive, but it won’t be easy against a Washington team that ranks second in the league in fewest shots allowed per game (27.1).
