NHL Wednesday bets: An over and a points parlay

There are four games on the docket for tonight in the NHL, and I think there are viable scoring options in each.

Here we'll highlight three games in particular with two bets: a game total and a points parlay.

Columbus-Ottawa over 6.5 goals (-105 DK)

This play stuck out to me to start the day, primarily on the Ottawa side, but I think there's enough to support Columbus scoring, thus taking the over.

This has slightly moved. I saw it at +100 this morning, so while it's frustrating to miss out on the best price, it shows the market is favoring goals in this one.

What I like about Ottawa are the onslaught of scoring the Blue Jackets see against them (4.6 goals allowed per game in their last five on the road) and the Senators' expected goals for metric.

Ottawa should be scoring more than it has been, and with three-plus goals in five of the last six games, the Sens' on-ice production is beginning to merge with the numbers.

Columbus has been doing its part in the goal-scoring department lately, netting three-plus in six of its last seven games.

The Blue Jackets should also see an advantage on the power play tonight against a poor Ottawa PK unit that has been seeing a ton of ice-time a man down lately.

With Ottawa letting up 3.8 goals per game at home in its past five, there's enough here to load up the over.

Points Parlay: Steven Stamkos & Elias Lindholm (+106 DK)

I like both Tampa Bay and Calgary to score tonight, but I'm not a fan of either team's betting price to reach four goals.

The best pivot I see is to load up a points parlay, opting to project the players most likely to be involved in scoring tonight.

Before we get there, here's a quick note on why I like each team.

Tampa Bay

The Lightning are averaging 3.6 goals per game in their last 10 on the road, while Seattle has struggled to slow down scoring all season. In their past five home games, the Kraken are seeing 4.4 goals against them.

Leading defenseman Mark Giordano was also ruled out, which makes me think Tampa fires shots off at will in this one.

There's also a power-play edge that supports the Lightning scoring tonight.

Calgary

The Flames seem to be a in great spot for goal-scoring tonight. They are averaging 4.2 goals scored per game in their last 10 at home while New Jersey is allowing 4.4 goals per game in its past five on the road.

This is also one of the most pronounced differences in quality between a power-play team (Calgary) and a penalty-killing unit (New Jersey).

The Flames scored five against this team when the two last met.

The Players

Steven Stamkos and Elias Lindholm are my preferred options off this information. The two things these players have in common are centering the top lines and playing on the top power-play units.

Stamkos has a point in 72% of games this season and is currently on a three-game drought. I can't help but feel he's due for a regression back to his mean and gets a great opportunity to do so tonight. He had a point when he last played Seattle.

Lindholm at home has been automatic, recording a point in 16 straight games. There's no reason to think that streak ends tonight. He's involved on a nightly basis for Calgary.

That will do it for me — good luck tonight!