Betting Breakdown: Five most popular NHL teams on Saturday

We are back with another betting breakdown for tonight’s slate in the NHL. 

It’s not the biggest slate we’ll see on a Saturday, and with two early afternoon games, our options for this evening get even thinner. But that isn’t going to stop us from finding some winners. 

This week, FanDuel is offering a special on who will score the first goal of all the 7:00 p.m. ET games based on “elapsed game time.”  

With four games starting at 7pm est, Toronto Maple Leafs’ captain Auston Matthews has the shortest odds of the group at +3200 to score the fastest goal of the slate based on game time. 

Matthews has eight goals this season with just two of them coming in the first period, and it’s William Nylander (+3500) that leads the Leafs with his three first period goals.

Of the eight teams taking the ice in the 7pm window, none have gotten off to faster starts than the Washington Capitals with their 1.4 goals per first period. 

Connor McMichael (+4800) is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the team lead with 15 goals. Six of them have come in the first period. 

Perhaps someone on the Detroit Red Wings could cash in this market tonight as they host the Colorado Avalanche and their league-worst 1.6 goals against per game in the opening period. 

Connor McMichael (+4800) is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the team lead with 15 goals with six of those coming in the first period. 

Perhaps someone on the Detroit Red Wings could cash in this market tonight as they host the Colorado Avalanche and their league-worst 1.6 goals against per game in the first period. 

Alex DeBrincat (+5500) leads the team with five first period goal. 

I’ll throw a dart at McMichael, DeBrincat and Patrick Laine (+5500) in this market to see if I can hit the ground running after taking three weeks off from betting the NHL. 

Getting back to our regular scheduled program. 

As always, I have reached out to the folks at FanDuel for some information on what teams the public likes the most for Saturday night, so let’s dive into those five teams. 

After that I’ll share a few plus-money props for the slate that have had a high success rate in recent weeks and, of course, we’ll play Canada’s favoruite game: The Public vs. The Coin.  

MOST PUBLIC SIDES 

MOST POPULAR NHL TEAMS

Fresh off a win over the Leafs, the public is backing the Capitals as they head to Montreal for a date with the Canadiens. 

These two teams met earlier in the season with Washington winning 6-3 Halloween night in a game that saw them limit Montreal to just 15 shots on goal. 

Logan Thompson (10-1-2) is expected to make his first start against Montral in his career Saturday. 

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets put an end to a four-game losing streak on Thursday with a 3-2 overtime win in Buffalo and are now backed by the pubic to get another win as -185 favourites in Chicago. 

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck is 18-7-1 in his career against Chicago and has held the Blackhawks to two goals or fewer goals in seven straight starts, winning six of those games. 

Finally, Dustin Tokarski is expected to make his Carolina Hurricanes debut this afternoon. 

The 35-year-old has appeared in 46 games, starting 40 of them in the NHL since 2017. He owns a 13-22-7. 

Tokarski made five starts with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL this year, going 4-1 with a 1.61 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. 

The Hurricanes are 13-6 against the Islanders since the start of the 2022 season. 

PLAYER PROPS TO MONITOR 

So far I have spotlighted 26 props in this portion of the article with a 15-11 record, which includes going 4-0 three weeks ago when we last met. 

This week we’re running it back with another batch of plus-money props for Saturday night that have cashed in seven of these players last 10 teams.

PLAYER PROPS TO MONITOR

PUBLIC VS. COIN 

For the first time all season, the public had a better week than the coin when we last met. 

The public’s three most popular games have gone 6-9 to start the season by my account, while the flip of a coin has gone 8-7. 

As we enter December, let’s see if the public has learned from their past mistakes. 

Here are the picks: 

Public: Capitals, Jets, Hurricanes 

Coin: Canadiens, Blackhawks, Islanders