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The highlight on Friday evening in the National Hockey League is the return of Carey Price for the Montreal Canadiens as they get set to take on the New York Islanders in Montreal.
Price will be making his first appearance in net since Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final due to personal reasons.
While certainly a triumph for Price and the Habs, his lack of game experience makes that game a difficult one to bet on with any sort of confidence.
The only other game taking place tonight features the Winnipeg Jets and Florida Panthers.
Below you will find an overlay from this game that is available at PointsBet.
For those unfamiliar with the term “overlay,” it simply refers to odds that are higher than an outcome’s true probability.
For example, if an outcome has a 50% chance of happening, the correlating odds would be +100.
If the odds offered on that specific event are +150, or an implied probability of 40%, then the price would represent an overlay.
WINNIPEG JETS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
The Jets have likely played themselves out of the postseason, but perhaps a heroic final two-plus month stretch from goaltender Connor Hellebuyck can enable Winnipeg to sneak into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Hellebuyck has played at a Vezina Trophy-caliber since mid-March, stopping 92.9% of the shots he has faced over his last nine appearances.
Assuming he gets the call tonight, he will need to be on his ‘A’ game, as the Florida Panthers continue to score goals at an absurd rate.
For the season, the Panthers have averaged 4.1 goals scored per game, a number that is by far the best in the National Hockey League.
As crazy as it sounds, they have been even more potent lately, averaging 4.6 goals per game over the course of their last ten.
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Jonathan Huberdeau continues to perform at an elite level, tallying five goals and four assists over his last five games, bringing his point total to 105 on the year (tied for second-best in the league).
The questions that handicappers need to ask themselves are these: Can Hellebuyck keep the Panthers’ offense at bay and what version of Sergei Bobrovsky will Florida get between the pipes?
At his best, Bobrovsky is an above-average goaltender in the league.
When he is not on his game, however, he is reliant upon the Panthers’ offense to bail him out.
It is not my strongest opinion, but I am willing to gamble on Connor Hellebuyck coming through in Florida tonight given Winnipeg’s +1.5-puck line odds of -115 (implied probability of 53.5%).
THE PLAYS
Winnipeg Jets at Florida Panthers – Jets +1.5 (-115)
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