Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71). Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

NHL bets: Playoff motivation continues to push our player prop picks

By Griffin Carroll | Last updated 4/16/24

We have just a few days and games left of the NHL regular season, which is still crazy to believe. Playoff motivation continues to be my north star in the prop market, and that is what is guiding these two plus-money choices for tonight.

Dylan Larkin over 3.5 SOG (+115 Fanatics)

I used a Fanatics 10% boost to get this to +115. It is +105 on Fanatics and DraftKings.

In theory I can understand why Dylan Larkin's price to hit this number is better than it was yesterday even though he hit and is playing the same team again. On back-to-backs this year, Larkin has logged 4+ shots just once in five tries, and he's gone under in 22 of his last 30 such games on zero days rest.

That, coupled with Detroit shooting less on the road as a team, is why we're looking at plus-money for Larkin.

The thing is, I really don't care about the numbers at this stage in the regular season.

Larkin and Detroit need to win today to have a chance at the playoffs. The Red Wings captain also loves Montreal, covering this line in seven of the past nine meetings. Additionally, he's over in seven of his last 10, averaging 4.4 SOG per game on 7.7 attempts per game.

He's got to keep chucking pucks on net, no time to be shy now.

Kyle Connor & Josh Morrissey 1+ point each (+138 DraftKings)

Winnipeg is absolutely rolling, winners of six straight games. That includes two straight impressive wins over Dallas and Colorado that saw the Jets win by a combined 10-0. A win today secures Winnipeg a home-ice advantage in the first round over the Avalanche, and against a slumping Kraken team who has nothing to play for, I expect them to pull it off.

With that belief, I naturally turn to the points prop market, and I like the simplicity of pairing these two together.

Connor has a point in seven straight games and 10 of his last 12 at home, tallying 15 total in that stretch. He also loves Seattle, piling up 10 points in eight career meetings.

Morrissey has nine points in his last seven games, 16 in his last 13 at home and six points in his past seven vs. the Kraken.

I also like the value on Nikolaj Ehlers (+135), Gabriel Vilardi (+105) and Sean Monahan (-105).

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