NHL Thursday player props: 3 volume shooters to target
We continue to see fruitful shot totals on a nightly basis. Leon Draisaitl, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Kirill Kaprizov all came through for us on Wednesday, pushing my season total to nearly 50 units of profit.
Here are three more shot totals that stand out as we try and put together another spotless night.
Jonathan Huberdeau over 2.5 shots (-125)
Jonathan Huberdeau has registered at least three shots in 30 of his last 35 home games - that's an 86% hit rate.
Despite piling up the shots every night and hitting in all four meetings against the Washington Capitals this season, the odds imply Huberdeau has only a 55.6% chance of coming through on Thursday night.
Even if you expect some regression throughout the playoffs, the gulf between Huberdeau's hit rate and the implied odds is far too large to ignore - especially considering the opponent.
Huberdeau's not facing a team that completely neuters opposing offenses. While solid, the Capitals ranked 12th in five-on-five shot suppression during the regular season.
The Panthers are not a side we have to avoid, as Huberdeau himself has shown us time after time. Until the odds change drastically, we have to continue riding Huberdeau in Florida.
Roman Josi over 3.5 shots (+115)
The Colorado Avalanche have quietly given up quite a bit to opposing defenders this season. The team ranked 22nd in shots against per game during the regular season and 25th over the last month.
Colorado just so happens to be facing one of the most dominant offensive blue-liners in the sport this round. Roman Josi is never shy about shooting the puck, and he plays so many minutes that it doesn't necessarily matter how trigger-happy he gets. Game 1 was over before it started, so to speak, and Josi still logged more than 24 minutes while firing five pucks on net.
I expect the Avalanche to get another somewhat easy victory, but it should be closer this time around, which could lead to even more ice for Josi. He's Nashville's best chance at staying in this game, and he's the best weapon the squad has. Josi should stay well fed.
Elias Lindholm over 2.5 shots (-118)
Elias Lindholm let us down in the series opener, falling one shot shy in what turned out to be an extremely low-event contest between the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars.
Even so, I'm going right back to the well on Thursday night. The Stars do allow plenty of shots to centers, and Lindholm took advantage of that all year long, recording three shots or more in all three meetings during the campaign.
Lindholm is a more consistent shot generator at home than on the road, and it'd be borderline impossible for Game 2 not to feature more shots both ways. I'm comfortable returning to Lindholm in this spot.
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.