The Arizona Coyotes are continuing their tour of the Metro Division with a stop at MSG for the New York Rangers home opener. I can already see the bright goal lights of the big city going off tonight in what I expect to be a hard fought game.
I’m going to breakdown three different ways to attack this game. I’m using lines from Bovada for my three best bets in what I believe will be a tight game.
- A surprising Puck Line (well maybe not so surprising any more)
- A goalscorer prop
- A shots on goal prop
Arizona Coyotes Puck Line +1.5 (-115)
The Coyotes just put up 4 goals against a tough New Jersey Devils team in their first game of the season. This is a scrappy young team with emerging stars and it feels like the books have not caught on to their offseason improvements.
In their first game we saw star winger Clayton Keller assist on two goals, letting Arizona take the lead early. Rookie Logan Cooley also put up two points with a timely assist to Nick Schmaltz which pushed the game to overtime.
Goals were found up and down the lineup and all three forward lines gave the Devils fits. Arizona’s goaltending was able to make huge saves to keep the team alive, even after giving up three unanswered goals.This new scoring depth should lead to less blowouts all season long, even if the Coyotes ultimately lose the game.
Tonight they get a Rangers team who just allowed 5 goals to the Columbus Bluejackets. I believe NYR will be sharper tonight in front of their home crowd but I trust the Coyotes can keep this a tight.
Much like the Bluejackets the Coyotes will be a team that the opposition plays down against, and will be a great puck line to ride this season.
Chris Kreider Goal +125 on Bovada
Kreider is a Coyotes slayer. He has absolutely dominated them since coming into the league. He also has been hot to begin the season with three goals in two games, including two powerplay goals.
Perhaps that is exactly why Kreider is so good against the Coyotes. Last season the Coyotes gave up the 3rd most powerplay goals, which means Kreider will have a good chance to keep his goalstreak going vs a weak penalty kill. Arizona allowed 6 penalties in their first game against the Devils.
Arizona will be starting their backup Connor Ingram tonight. The Coyotes goaltending situation is more of a tandem, but Ingram still had a 3.37 goals against avg last season and gave up 4 goals the last time he started against the Rangers.
Through Kreider’s career he has 11 goals in 14 games vs the Coyotes. He clearly loves this match up and already has the hot stick.
Lawson Crouse o1.5 SOG (-115) on Bovada
Crouse did not hit this line in his first game of the season, but because of that we can capitalize on better odds.
Lawson Crouse plays on a line with playmaking winger Matias Maccelli and two-way center Nick Bjudstadt. Maccelli had an uncharacteristic game with 5 SOG, as Crouse generated more space for him to find shooting lanes.
Bjudstadt had 4 SOG. This meant there were less opportunities for Crouse to take shots. Crouse still managed to have 3 shot attempts.
Tonight Crouse should be relied on more to drive the net due to his size and to cleanup rebounds. The Rangers are a much larger team than the Devils, meaning less shooting lanes and the need for to help around the net.
Crouse hit his 1.5 SOG line 56% of the time last season, including both games he played against the Rangers. In those two games he had 5 and 3 shot attempts.