Editor's note: Blackhawks vs Sabres has been postponed to Thursday at 7 p.m. ET because of travel restrictions in Buffalo.
Here are my NHL Anytime Goalscorers for Wednesday, Jan. 17 – my expert predictions and picks.
Tonight's NHL lineup is a rather abbreviated one; hockey fans will be treated to just three matchups. However, I've identified two players from the slate who present value in the anytime goalscorer markets.
Betting on NHL goalscorers is simple enough: If your pick scores a goal at any point in the game, your bet is a winner. MLB has its dingers; the NHL has its anytime goalscorers. And with both types of player props, the bets often come with plus-money odds attached to them, so they're a favorite among all types of sports bettors.
My picks tonight come from these games:
- Canadiens vs. Devils, 7 p.m. ET – ESPN+
- Blackhawks vs. Sabres, 7:30 p.m. ET – TNT
Check out all of the analysis with my favorite anytime goalscorer picks below.
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NHL Anytime Goalscorers
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our NHL betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 7:30 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NHL Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Canadiens vs. Devils
Kicking off Wednesday's mini three-game NHL slate is an Eastern Conference tilt with the New Jersey Devils hosting the Montreal Canadiens. After a sluggish start to the campaign, Montreal winger Cole Caufield has once again found his game while scoring five goals over his past nine games.
Caufield has shown a relentless tenacity to shoot the puck over that stretch, averaging 3.9 shots on goal per game. That's what he does best, and it's what this team needs from a guy of Caufield's scoring ability, especially tonight in a matchup against New Jersey.
The Devils are a very strong team, but that is more so due to their offense than their ability to limit opposing teams from scoring. This season, they rank 28th in the league in goals allowed per game and 24th in penalty kill percentage.
New Jersey's poor penalty kill is exactly what could be exploited by Caufield, someone who skates on the first power-play unit and leads the team with six goals on the man-advantage. Even with the weak penalty kill, the Devils' biggest defensive weakness is in net as goaltender Vitek Vanecek is expected to start between the pipes on Wednesday evening.
Through 25 appearances in the crease this season, Vanecek possesses a fade-worthy .882 SV% and 3.31 GAA. If he is going to be beat often in this matchup, then it is likely at the hands of Caufield.
We are catching a great price on him to score at +175 via FanDuel, a line that is a whopping 40-59 cents longer than the rest of the market, as of the time of this writing. Play it down to +155.
Pick: Cole Caufield Anytime Goalscorer (+175)
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Blackhawks vs. Sabres
The other goalscorer I am targeting is Buffalo forward Tage Thompson as the Sabres host the Chicago Blackhawks in TNT's lone game on Wednesday evening.
There are so many reasons to dislike the Hawks in this spot – apart from them being the second-worst team in the league.
First, Chicago enters this contest on the second half of a back-to-back following last night's shootout victory against the San Jose Sharks. The game went long, it was ugly, and now the Blackhawks had an even longer night considering they had to travel from Chicago to Buffalo for this game.
Meanwhile, the Sabres haven't played since Monday. Since the Hawks are on the second half of back-to-back, goaltender Arvid Soderblom is tasked with guarding the cage since Petr Mrazek got the start last night.
Mrazek has been a big surprise for Chicago this year, and he has performed terrifically behind one of the worst lineups I have ever seen. Soderblom, on the other hand, has not had nearly the same amount of success.
Through 18 appearances in the crease, he is 2-13-1 with a .875 SV% and 4.01 GAA. Soderblom allowed four goals in his lone career start against Buffalo.
Based on this article, can you guess who scored two of those goals?
Now, to be fairer to Soderblom, he is playing behind an atrocious defense. This season, the Hawks rank 27th or lower in goals allowed per game, shots on goal allowed per game, and penalty kill percentage.
Somehow, their metrics are even worse as they rank second-to-last in expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60) at 5-on-5. Bad defense, goaltender, and penalty kill against Thompson? As Morgan Freeman's character says in The Dark Knight: "Good luck."
Play this down to +140.
Pick: Tage Thompson Anytime Goalscorer (+155)
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