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It’s a quiet three-game night in the NHL on Friday, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t value out there.
The pregame narrative: There should be no shortage of goals when the Battle of Florida renews on tonight. The Detroit Red Wings are also in a good position to keep up their strong start against the Chicago Blackhawks, while Artturi Lehkonen’s a great value to pop off for a multi-point night.
Check out our top NHL picks for October 21 below.
Odds as of 12:36 p.m. on 10/21/2022.
NHL picks
Best Bet : Lightning vs. Panthers over 6.5 goals, regular time (-107)
On a night with only three NHL games on the schedule, hockey fans will likely gravitate toward the renewal of the budding rivalry between the Lightning and Panthers.
Luckily for fans, goals should come in bunches considering their early-season performances.
Tampa Bay’s really struggling to figure it out defensively since trading Ryan McDonagh this offseason. It ranks 27th in high-danger chances against per 60 with 15.25 allowed, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The defensive slide has resulted in a pedestrian .897 save percentage, something the Bolts haven’t been accustomed to with Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes.
The good news for the Lightning is their offence continues to be elite. They rank ninth in high-danger chances per 60 with 14. Although that hasn’t translated to plenty of goals, it’s fair to note that they’ve seen some hot goaltenders, highlighted by Igor Shesterkin, Tristan Jarry, and Carter Hart.
They aren’t running into a goaltender on Friday, though. Sergei Bobrovsky was stellar in his first start against the New York Islanders, but his .894 save percentage over his last two starts is more indicative of his early-season effort.
Florida, like Tampa Bay, also ranks top 10 in high-danger chances for and against per 60. There should be plenty of opportunities to score at both ends in this game.
Key stat: The over on this total has hit in two of the Lightning’s last three games and all three of Florida’s contests.
Quick picks
Red Wings moneyline (-124): There’s value on Detroit to win on the road against the Blackhawks. The Red Wings are playing solid hockey but the same can’t be said of Chicago.
The Red Wings rank 11th in high-danger chances percentage at 53.52 through three games. Chicago, meanwhile, sits 27th at 39.66% in the early going.
The Wings are also receiving some excellent goaltending, too, as they rank fourth in the league with a .933 save percentage.
Lehkonen to score 2+ points (+310): Lehkonen is stepping into Gabriel Landeskog’s role with the captain out due to injury, which means he’ll see deployment on the first line and top power-play unit.
That’s a recipe for a big night against the Seattle Kraken, who continue to receive brutal goaltending.
Seattle is 29th in the NHL in team save percentage with a mark of .863 across five games.
Disclaimer This content was produced as part of a partnership and therefore it may not meet the standards of impartial or independent journalism.
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