Shoutout to the Coyotes for helping us cash some plus-money last night, ending their time in Arizona with a win! Today is one of the quieter days on the sports calendar we've seen in quite some time. There's no NBA games, we have just a few MLB teams in action, and while there are NHL games, most of them matter very little.

As such, the best course of action seems to be to simply load up a bit of a lotto ticket touching hockey and baseball. It's time for some Thursday fun, don't you think?

1 Goal + 1 Home Run = 1 winning parlay

Andrei Kuzmenko goal (+210 ESPN BET)

This game between Calgary and San Jose means absolutely nothing, but that shouldn't stop the players from trying, as they've all been eliminated from playoff contention long before this week and it hasn't impacted them up to this point.

We prefer looking to the Flames end, as they're at home hosting a Sharks team allowing 4.3 goals per game on the road over the past month and a half.

Andrei Kuzmenko has a scoring touch right now, with five goals in his past five games and nine in his last 10. He also loooooves the Sharks, scoring eight goals over the last nine meetings.

That's enough for us to load him up in a game that should see plenty of scoring.

Ketel Marte homer (+870 FanDuel)

In the spirit of value, why not take a shot at Arizona's Ketel Marte to keep it rolling? Marte has knocked a homer in back-to-back games, and has hit one HR against Logan Webb before. Marte has four homers in his past eight matchups with the Giants, and at this price, we're certainly intrigued.

20 of Marte's 25 homers last season came against RHP, which is what he'll be seeing first with Webb toeing the rubber for the Giants. It should be a relatively nice night out in San Francisco which we hope to see positively impact the long ball.

Hey, we're just sprinkling on these two together for a fun Thursday wager. Paired up, these props comes in at a tantalizing +2535 on ESPN BET. Feel free to play them straight also, and good luck!

In the news ...

Philadelphia 76ers win and advance to playoffs against Knicks, Jimmy Butler injured for Heat — The Sixers just keep on rolling, winning their ninth straight game in a comeback effort against the Miami Heat last night. The win secured them a first-round matchup with the Knicks, a team they've beaten just once in four tries this year. Philly is slightly favored to win the first round at -115, with New York priced at -105 to advance. Bad news elsewhere, as Jimmy Butler injured his knee during the Miami loss to Philadelphia, and it sounds as if he is not expected to return anytime soon. A crushing blow to Miami's postseason aspirations, now may be a good time to hop on the Bulls' moneyline tomorrow at +105.

Zion Williamson out for foreseeable future — The Pelicans and their fans were dealt a tough blow when Zion Williamson was forced out of Tuesday's play-in early, and now the news get worse. Williamson is out for Friday's final play-in game against Sacramento, and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. So, even if New Orleans advances past the Kings, they likely won't have Williamson's services in a first-round matchup against the West's top seed Oklahoma City. It's a tough blow for Zion, who was having one of his healthiest seasons and averaging 22.9 points per game. The Kings are -125 to beat the Pelicans on Friday.

Another NHL postseason matchup is set with Vancouver vs. Nashville — Thanks to the Dallas Stars winning last night, we now have another NHL playoff matchup set, with the Pacific's top team Vancouver hosting the top wild-card team in the Nashville Predators. We still have two matchups to determine in the Western Conference, but the NHL playoff action gets going in a hurry with four games on Saturday. The Canucks are -150 to advance past the Predators (+130), and the Winnipeg Jets (+115) are underdogs to beat the Colorado Avalanche (-135) despite owning home ice and sweeping the Avs this year.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll. Follow him on Substack: griffybets.substack.com.