Red Light Specials: 1/16 Edition

Greetings everybody. It feels pretty strange watching matinee hockey on a Saturday. Not that I’m complaining. These day games make it tough to get some analysis out to you guys, coupled with the server issue earlier in the day.

Apologies for that, I hate to miss out on some opportunities, but it gave me the chance to study the night games even more. There are tons of great value plays tonight.

Rather than a long-winded introduction, there are so many good plays tonight that I’m going to add more to the analysis part of the column.

VAN -1.5 (+200) v. PIT

Raise your hand if you have any idea who the hell John Curry is. Now raise your hand if you expect him to go toe to toe with Roberto Luongo.

Exactly. The Canucks are a phenomenal value tonight. They’re a very good team at home and will probably bombard Curry all night long. Vancouver’s PP clicks at 26% at home and the Pens have only killed 67% of their PKs over the last five games.

Against Eastern Conference teams, Roberto Luongo is 6-0 ATS and has allowed just eight goals on 182 shots in those games.

I know the Nucks are struggling, but tonight may be the cure for everything that is ailing them.

Also, a secondary play to this is the prop bet VAN o3 (+110). Again, John Curry and the Nucks at home. Matt Bennett covered how good the Canucks are at home in his last prop bet column. Tonight will be no different.

PHX -1.5 (+210) v. MIN

Ilya Bryzgalov is the reason for this play. He’s 16-4 at home on the season with a with a .931 sv%. Bryzzer has struggled of late, however, including being pulled recently. But, the Wild have had all of their recent success at home, not having won a road contest since December 28. The Wild are just 8-17 ATS away from home.

Phoenix has won both meetings this season, a 3-2 road win and a 2-0 home win. It may be a tight checking game and you might need an empty netter, but this is a good play, with good value.

BUF -1.5 (+210) @ NYI

The Sabres are quietly continuing to roll along while people all over internet message boards keep posing the question: “Are the Sabres for real?” Tonight won’t exactly be a litmus test, but great road value for the Sabres.

Ryan Miller is 4-0 ATS in his last four games with a .961 sv%. Rick DiPietro makes his home debut tonight and the Sabres will be fully aware of that. Remember the Sabres barrage in Florida, or the most recent one against Tampa Bay, where it was 3-0 three or four minutes into the game. I fully anticipate that tonight.

The Sabres have allowed just one powerplay goal in their last five games. They’ve gone 6/18 on the PP, and the Isles have allowed 30% of opposing powerplays to score in their last five.

This looks like a very good play with very good value.

A secondary play to this game is BUF o2.5 (-140). Not the greatest value, if you find it at o3, take that one instead. But, it’s a pretty safe play.

Good luck tonight, guys. Time to get back on the winning track with the RLS!