NHL Betting Guide for Wednesday, December 15: Expect a high-scoring game with the Rangers in Arizona
COVID-19 continues to impact the NHL landscape, with the Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes recently encountering outbreaks that have shut down team activities. That affected last night’s slates as both teams had to cancel games. After a busy night last night, we’re left with a modest three-game slate tonight, with three moderately-priced favorites.
These are the wagers we’re looking at from FanDuel Sportsbook!
With only three games on the docket, we had to choose between highlighting an Arizona Coyotes game or Chicago Blackhawks game. We landed on the former, as there is a perceived advantage in the total when the Coyotes host the New York Rangers tonight.
Wins have been few and far between for the Desert Dogs this season, but their advanced metrics support that they continue to underachieve offensively. The Coyotes have scored two or fewer goals in six of their past seven but have seen modest improvements to their production metrics. Arizona has put up above-average high-danger chances in four of their past seven games, including three of their past five. That hasn’t translated to increased output, as the Yotes are below expected output in three of those five games, leaving them as progression candidates over their coming stretch.
We’re expecting that to come tonight against the Rangers, who have been relying on backup tendy Alexandar Georgiev since Igor Shesterkin went down with an injury. Georgiev stepped up over the first few outings, posting above-average save percentages in his first four starts, but showed signs of regression in his last outing. The Bulgarian netminder stopped just 27 of 31 shots in his previous outing, dropping his season-long save percentage to 89.8%. The Coyotes should be ready to pounce on Wednesday night.
The Rangers’ offense remains one of the best in the league and should have no problem building off some of their strong performances recently. The Broadway Blueshirts have attempted 11 or more high-danger chances in three of their past four and 31 or more scoring opportunities in two of four.
This is a low total, but both offenses should pot a few against questionable goaltending. This one should make it over 5.5 goals.
The Picks: Over 5.5 (-114)
