Richard Masana 
Maybe it won’t come as a surprise but the Calgary Flames headline us once again!
3/3 NHL Main Slate of Games – Beginning 7 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh Penguins (+150) at Tampa Bay Lightning (-175) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Ottawa Senators (+295) at Florida Panthers (-390) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Carolina Hurricanes (-140) at Washington Capitals (+120) – 5.5 Projected Goal Total
Minnesota Wild (-225) at Philadelphia Flyers (+180) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Vancouver Canucks (+105) at New York Islanders (-125) – 5.5 Projected Goal Total
Edmonton Oilers (-155) at Chicago Blackhawks (+135) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Montreal Canadiens (+310) at Calgary Flames (-400) – 6 Projected Goal Total
Colorado Avalanche (-380) at Arizona Coyotes (+290) – 6.5 Projected Goal Total
Boston Bruins (-105) at Vegas Golden Knights (-115) – 5.5 Projected Goal Total
3/3 NHL Favorite Lines Per Dollar
Top Line – Calgary One “Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau”
The season-long numbers displayed below sort of speak for themselves. Over the last ten games, Calgary One has only been a top-five line in the NHL, which is fairly substandard for them given the full season stats. They come in the biggest money line favorites on the slate at -400, as hosts to the Montreal Canadiens. Samuel Montembeault is projected to start in net for the visitors as of the time of writing. His .896 save % and 3.74 GAA are indicative of the gas can he is. At $6,100 for Elias Lindholm, $6,600 for Johnny Gaudreau, and $6,000 for Matthew Tkachuk on DraftKings, this line is underpriced all things considered.
Secondary Line – Colorado One “Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Andre Burakovsky”
Once the belles of the ball and still ever popular, tonight the Avalanche’s top line is the ying to Calgary one’s yang. Aside from Nathan MacKinnon at $9,000, this line is fairly affordable as well with Mikko Rantanen priced down a little at $6,900 and Andre Buravoksky at $4,100 serving as the value piece. The last time Colorado traveled to Arizona they were able to lay a smackdown on a back-to-back after losing the prior night to the Yotes at Ball Arena. Winners of four straight, the Avs will look to beef up their numbers against one of the league’s worst teams. On most slates, the -380 money line sticker would stand out by a wide margin as huge by NHL standards, but with Calgary at -400, this is not most slates.
3/3 NHL Honorable Mention: Calgary Two “Andrew Mangiapane, Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman”
We may not need a real value-line tonight with some of the better lines in the upper mid-range as noted above. However, if looking to build a bit contrarian and still gain some Flames access look no further than Calgary Two. They might not have season-long numbers on par with their top-line counterpart but over the last ten games have scored the second-most goals among all lines in the NHL. The correlative SATF suggests unlike Florida Three just below them, there were no smoke and mirrors involved.
Top Defender
Rasmus Andersson – Calgary Flames – $4,500 – He certainly has not found much of the net as of his thirty points, twenty-eight of them have been assists. However, most defensemen with his sort of role on the top line and top power-play unit cost around $1,500-$2,000 more. Given the affordable price, lack of low-end value, and supreme matchup, we can hope for a two-assist or assist and three blocked shot sort of night.
Top Goalie
Jacob Markstrom – Calgary Flames – $8,500 – In the alternate, you can opt to pick a side on Vancouver/Islanders where both Ilya Sorokin and Thatcher Demko are talented goalies who cost considerably less in a 5.5 total game. However for cash games and overall it is hard to pass up on Markstrom in this sort of matchup with his stellar 2.10 GAA and the likelihood of a win here at -400. Despite the Flames’ heavy money line advantage, the total is still set at six, thus we can assume which team is projected to allow most of the goals.
3/3 NHL Best Bet
Arizona Coyotes +2.5 – (-135) Bet MGM – I know, I did write up Colorado One and the Avalanche should win the game as -400 road favorites. However, they have some tough games ahead on their road trip including a couple of bouts with Calgary. The Yotes have covered +2.5 in seven straight games entering tonight and have upset home wins over both Vegas and Dallas during that stretch. Scott Wedgewood has stepped up in net recently and already has a win over the Avs from the game mentioned above where the Coyotes pulled off the upset at Ball Arena in the beginning of February. We don’t need that much luck, just a +2.5 cover.
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