NHL Friday bets: Goal-scorer parlay

It's Day 2 of the Lotto Ticket Challenge, with the objective being a winning goal-scorer parlay in a week. Thursday night's batch of scorers failed to deliver, but it's a new day.

On this Friday in the NHL, I see intriguing angles for a variety of the games. We'll be sticking with three legs here, and I've got my guys.

Parlay odds on FanDuel at time of publish: +1862.

Bryan Rust

I've had Rust circled all Friday morning and was happy to see so many additional statistics confirm my hunch.

This game between Pittsburgh and Carolina is an interesting study between expected goals scored and expected goals against, in each respective location.

Whether you use a time range of 10, 5 or three games, Pittsburgh ranks at the top in expected-goals-per-game on the road, and the number is nearly one goal higher than their actual goals for number.

That tells me that Pittsburgh is scoring on the road at a frequent rate but should be piling on even more.

Then you turn to Carolina, who has been stingier to goals at home. In their past five, their goals-against number comes in at 1.6. However, their expected goals against is at 2.6, another sign that there is some regression coming for more goal-scoring.

Friday night seems to be a great time for that to happen. For starters, Carolina's penalty issues continued Thursday night, as the Hurricanes rank second in the NHL in penalty kill time on ice in their past 25 games.

They gifted Washington six power-play opportunities Thursday night, with the Capitals scoring twice on the man-up advantage en route to a 4-0 win.

Few teams shoot as frequently on the power play as Pittsburgh, which brings us to Bryan Rust.

On the season, Rust leads Pittsburgh in power-play shooting percentage at 26.89%. 

I expect the Penguins to get multiple chances on the PP, just an added layer on to why I like Rust. These two teams met just two weeks ago, and Rust netted one there.

He's also been piling up shots, with 18 attempts in his past two games. Despite the high shot numbers, he hasn't scored in four games, his longest such streak Jan. 23.

He's due to find the back of the net again, making this a regression spot all around.

Carolina's backup goalie, Antti Raanta, is expected to start Friday. He's let up three-plus goals in three straight starts, including three to the Penguins when they last met.

Best goal odds: +184 FD

Adrian Kempe

The Kings are averaging 3.8 goals per game in their past five road games, while Columbus is allowing 4.0 goals per game at home in their last five.

Los Angeles also tends to do their shooting on the road, which aligns nicely against a Blue Jackets team allowing 37.1 shots per game in their past 10 at home.

This is a volume play. Aiding the cause is Columbus's time spent on the penalty kill coupled with the Kings ranking fifth in power play shots.

It's been Adrian Kempe leading the charge there and overall. In Kempe's last seven games, he's had four-plus SOG five times and has scored six goals.

He's on a three-game goal drought, and I see this as a good time for him to get back to it, the attempts are there and the matchup is prime.

Best goal odds: +172 FD

Mika Zibanejad

The Devils have been an intriguing team to follow lately, scoring a lot of goals and letting up a ton on the other end.

New Jersey games have seen six or more total goals scored in eight straight, and I like that to continue against the Rangers.

These teams last met in November, with New York winning in the shootout, 4-3.

It feels like the theme of the night, but the choice to roll with Zibanejad over Chris Kreider is around a recent lack of scoring.

Zibanejad has 14 goals in his last 29 games, and this recent three-game drought is his longest stretch without scoring in the entire span.

His shot attempts have remained steady, and this game against New Jersey feels like the perfect time for him to get back on track with a goal.

It will be Jon Gillies in net for the Devils Friday, who has let up six goals in two straight starts and three-plus in five of his last six.

Best goal odds: +154 FD

There it is in all its glory! +1852 on FanDuel. Feeling good about some of these additional layers brought in for Friday's picks.

A reminder that while this is a goal-scorer parlay, much of this analysis can extend to team totals, other goal-scorers, etc. Hope you found the above helpful, now let's get a win Friday night!