My NHL goalscorer predictions missed the mark on Tuesday night, as Jake Guentzel, Alex Ovechkin, and Brady Tkachuk failed to find the back of the net despite recording at least four shots on goal.
Hopefully, we’ll have better luck on Thursday’s 10-game slate.
Let’s dig into my best NHL goalscorer bets today.
NHL Goalscorer Predictions Today
All hockey odds used for these NHL goalscorer predictions today are current as of Thursday, Jan. 15, and courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
David Pastrnak: Anytime Goalscorer (+125) vs Kraken
The Boston Bruins have been on a tear lately, winning six of their last seven contests, so I’m looking to one of their top scorers for my NHL pick of the day.
Pastrnak leads the Bruins in shots (148) but ranks second on the team in goals (19) behind Morgan Geekie (25), who has been unsustainably efficient with a shooting percentage of 23.1%.
The 29-year-old has led the team in goals each of the last four seasons, scoring 40-plus each year, so I expect him to experience some positive regression over the back half of the campaign.
That could start tonight against a Seattle Kraken team playing on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the New York Rangers 8-4 on Wednesday.
Pastrnak hasn’t scored in his last four outings despite firing 15 shots on goal over that span, with his most recent goals coming in a 7-4 loss at Seattle on Jan. 6.
Given the positive history against a team playing on short rest, I like his chances of getting to the 20-goal mark on Thursday night at TD Garden.
Sidney Crosby: First Goalscorer (+1000) vs Flyers
NHL first goalscorer stats point towards a Pittsburgh Penguins player scoring first against the Philadelphia Flyers tonight.
The Flyers have scored first in 14 of 45 games this season (31.1%), while the Penguins have taken the lead in 26 of 45 (57.8%). In the previous two meetings between these teams this season, Pittsburgh took the lead via first-period goals by Justin Brazeau and Sidney Crosby.
Crosby has tormented the Flyers throughout his Hall-of-Fame career, scoring 59 times against Pittsburgh’s in-state rival, three of which have come this season. He has also scored the first goal of a game on seven different occasions this campaign, making him a strong candidate to do so again.
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Alex Ovechkin: Anytime Goalscorer (+125) vs Sharks
For my other NHL anytime goalscorer prop, I’m going back to the well with Alex Ovechkin.
The league’s all-time leading scorer ended a run of four consecutive games with a goal on Tuesday night, but I like his chances to bounce back on Thursday against the visiting San Jose Sharks.
The Sharks allow the third-most goals per game away from home (3.70) and have conceded at least three times in five consecutive road games.
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Leading scorer Tom Wilson (22 goals) remains out for the Caps, so the scoring burden will continue to fall on Ovechkin until Wilson returns in the next few days.
Ovechkin scored twice in a 7-1 win at San Jose on Dec. 3, so this matchup feels like a good opportunity to stick with the Washington star.
