The Ottawa Senators will continue their furious push for a playoff spot on March 9 when they take on the Vancouver Canucks, who are a near lock to finish last in the NHL this season. The Senators enter this matchup in the midst of an 8-1-2 tear, and with a win, would pull to within two points of the idle Boston Bruins with equal games remaining. Our same game parlay will target a convincing win from the Senators, as well as a point each from the duo of Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson, which we have leaned on quite heavily of late. The SGP prices out at +210 at the time of writing and is also eligible for our top-ranked NHL betting site, bet365, which is offering a 30% parlay boost for Monday’s NHL slate.
- Ottawa Senators -1.5 (+110 as a straight bet)
- Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson 1+ Point Each (-115 as a two-leg parlay)
Nick’s Senators/Canucks SGP
Leg 1: Ottawa Senators -1.5 (+110 as a straight)
For the vast majority of the season, most underlying metrics suggested the Senators were playing a better brand of hockey than their record showed , but porous goaltending prevented them from achieving the results they deserved. Though they have still only received league-average play in goal throughout their 8-1-2 run, they hold a +20 goal differential and have won six of those matchups by three or more goals.
Ottawa has played with the second-best expected goal share in the NHL over the last 13 games. It has allowed only 20.68 shots against per 60 in that span and has received meaningful offensive contributions from up and down the lineup, while the power play has remained in strong form.
The Canucks are 3-14-3 over the last 20 games, and have lost 10 of those matchups by two or more goals while allowing 4.10 goals against per game. There’s an argument to be made that even a completely league-average team should not be priced at greater than even money to cover the puck-line versus the Canucks right now, and the desperate Senators have looked drastically better than average of late.
Over the last 20 games, the Canucks also rank dead last in expected goal share and have allowed 4.18 xGA/60. Their ugly defensive play has been an even greater concern given that both Kevin Lankinen and Nikita Tolopilo have played with well below-average results.
Vancouver’s lineup currently looks a little more formidable with Zeev Buium and Marco Rossi healthy, but there are still very few arguments that it is anything but the worst team in the NHL, and this seems to be a logical spot to count on the Senators claiming two much-needed points in fairly convincing fashion.
Legs 2 and 3: Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson 1+ Point Each (-115 as a two-leg parlay)
Write-ups on this stack are probably becoming a little dull to our most consistent readers, as parlaying Stutzle and Batherson to record a point has made the cut on almost a nightly basis of late if the Senators are playing, including last week’s matchups versus the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
Though this is a highly favourable matchup, the price for Stutzle and Batherson each to record a point remains close to where it has been of late, and therefore it seems quite logical to keep riding with this stack.
Over the last 10 games, Stutzle and Batherson have combined for 25 points. Stutzle has recorded at least one point in all 10 of those games, while Batherson has recorded a point in eight of nine.
Stutzle and Batherson continue to show strong chemistry on the Senators’ top line alongside Claude Giroux. Though Giroux surprisingly has very little production to show for it, the three have formed an entirely dominant line and Stutzle and Batherson have been much more productive in the time since head coach Travis Green adjusted his top line.
Stutzle, Batherson, and Giroux have played to a 64% expected goal share across 127.4 minutes of play this season and have scored 3.30 goals per 60 in those minutes.
While they are playing on an effective line at even strength, Stutzle and Batherson are also collecting plenty of points on a Senators power play that has succeeded on 27.6% of opportunities over the last 10 games.
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