Top NHL Betting Picks For Tuesday, February 1st (2022)
How’s this for an unbelievable stat? The Seattle Kraken have played 44 games thus far in their inaugural season in the NHL. Their record stands at 14-26-4 for a total of 32 points. With their next loss, they’ll have as many losses – regulation and overtime – as the Vegas Golden Knights had in their entire first season in the league. Seattle already has two more regulation losses than Vegas did in 2017-18, and they’ve still got 38 games to go.
I alluded to the roster Kraken General Manager Ron Francis put together in earlier editions of best bets – it wasn’t a good one. It wasn’t even close to the roster Vegas compiled five years ago; that was for certain, but I don’t think anyone expected it to be this poor. Luckily for the Kraken, Seattle was a market starved for hockey, and they’re just thrilled to have a team. They’re along for the ride, no matter how long the ascent takes.
As for best bets, our two wagers last week went the way of the Kraken – both losses. It snapped a red-hot 7-1 run as we thought we found two valuable moneyline underdogs but instead, we found two losers. On to this week, where we’ve got our first total since the opening few weeks of the year and a rare puck line.
Compare odds from all major sportsbooks for today’s games >>
New York Rangers / Florida Panthers Under 6.5 (-108)
I’m going to stop myself from saying, “what a gift this line is†because I said the same thing last week and half the Sabres landed on the COVID list and got crushed by Ottawa. There are no gifts, but this sure is a great number. There are a few reasons to like the under here between two of the best teams in the East, one of whom is the top scoring team in the league, and I’d play this one down to -115.
First, let’s start with the visiting Panthers. They’re a legitimate Cup contender, but they’re a completely different team on the road than they are at home. Away from South Florida, the Panthers average 3.1 goals per game, down 1.6 goals from their eye-popping number of 4.7 tallies per home contest. Their powerplay is 4.5 percent lower away from home, they average six shots per game fewer, and their shooting percentage is 2.7 percent lower. They’re still a good team on the road with a points percentage above 50%, but they’re not the high-flying scoring machine they are at home.
The Panthers also played last night in Columbus, and even though the trip from Ohio to New York City isn’t far, it’s not like they’re playing back-to-back home games. There’s still travel involved, and they’re leveling up in competition from the lowly Blue Jackets to the playoff-bound Rangers. And the Rangers have all the weapons to shut any team in this league down on the score sheet – even a team who scored eight goals the night prior.
For starters, the Rangers have the best goaltender in the NHL not named Andrei Vasilevskiy and quite honestly, Igor Shesterkin is giving Big Cat a run for his money in the competition for best netminder. Shesterkin has been unconscious this season. The young Russian has a sparkling 2.10 goals against average and a .937 save percentage – both top three in the NHL, and he leads the league in goals saved above expectation.
The Rangers as a team are allowing the fourth-fewest goals per game of any NHL team, and they allow nearly a half-goal per game fewer at The Garden. They’re also going to be without Adam Fox, and I know losing a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman isn’t great for preserving an under, but Fox brings so much to the Rangers scoring prowess that I think he’s a bigger hit to the goal scoring metrics than goal preventing metrics. Plus, have you seen the Rangers lines for this game? They’re not explosive at all and seem more inclined to slow down the Panthers than to score goals of their own.
This is a scary but sneaky under, and I wouldn’t play it if it drops down to 6.
Tampa Bay Lightning -1.5 (-110)
Normally I prefer to play the regulation 60-minute line rather than the puck line, but the 60-minute line is down to -170, so there’s no value left on Tampa Bay. We’re ready to fade a road-weary Sharks team who has fallen flat on its face over the past week or so.
San Jose is 75% of the way through quite possibly the toughest east coast road trip the NHL can possibly schedule: at Washington, Carolina, Florida, and now Tampa Bay. The Sharks haven’t exactly fared well, dropping two of the three games although one was an overtime loss, but their struggles started before they ventured east. The Sharks have won just one of their last five contests and two of their last eight, and what makes this even more enticing is there’s a loss to these Lightning mixed in.
Back on January 22nd, the Lightning traveled to Silicon Valley and beat up the Sharks to the tune of a 7-1 victory. If it was a closer game, I’d be worried about revenge. But the Sharks need to come out with a completely different game plan; there’s no revenge on their mind – there’s tentativeness. They’re just trying not to get run over again, this time in Tampa.
The Lightning on the other hand are still very good – winners of six of eight and eight of eleven while capturing points in nine of those 11 contests. What’s more – seven of those eight wins covered the -1.5 goal spread. And they’re extremely well-rested. They haven’t played since Saturday night, and they haven’t traveled since that aforementioned January 22nd date against San Jose. Tampa Bay will also take to the road after this game, so they’ll be motivated to end the homestand on a high note.
Andrei Vasilevskiy should be in net with plenty of rest, and the Lightning should be firing on all cylinders. Play the defending champs down to -120 on the puck line.
Join the BettingPros Discord Chat for Live Betting Advice >>
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RadioPublic | Breaker | Castbox | Pocket Casts
Whether you’re new to sports betting or a betting pro, our How To Bet and Sports Betting Strategy and Advice pages are for you. You can get started with our Sports Betting 101 Section — including 10 Sports Betting Tips for Beginners — or head to more advanced sports betting strategies — like Key Numbers When Betting Against the Spread — to learn more.
Mike Wagenman is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @mjwags23.