NHL: The one where the Golden Knights go for four in a row

It's Friday the 13th, so now is a good time as any to remind ourselves that bad nights happen, and they happen often, when you're betting on sports. Things will go wrong, and when they do, you learn from it and move on.

Last night's action: Well, things didn't go as planned. Dallas fell 4-1 in Nashville against an undermanned Predators team. The game was pretty tight until the third period when the Preds pulled away. The box score doesn't paint the picture of a blowout, but it'd be a fib to say Dallas deserved this one. On the other hand, Arizona could feel like they deserved a better result against the Red Wings. The 'Yotes outplayed the Wings at even strength but they went 1-for-6 on the power play and allowed a short-handed goal, leading to their demise. For the second time this year we were let down by Buffalo. There's not much to dive into here, as the Sabres were second best against the Sharks.

Tonight's slate:

The card opens with the Rangers traveling to Ohio for a divisional matchup with the Blue Jackets. Through four games, the Rangers have generally been outplayed at even strength, and the opposite is true for the Jackets. However, this is an appropriate price for this fixture and there's no play.

The juggernaut New Jersey Devils welcome Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. At some point, the Devils' PDO (the sum of shooting percentage and save percentage) figures to regress, but there's nothing in this number.

Ottawa will still be without Erik Karlsson as they take on the Calgary Flames. After dropping their first game of the year, the Flames have collected three wins on the bounce. Neither of these teams has set the world on fire at 5-on-5, but the Flames are right to be priced the way they are for this one. Pass.

Once again the Colorado Avalanche are undervalued as they take on the Anaheim Ducks in Denver. The Ducks are still without Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen and Ryan Kesler. The Avs have been outshot at even strength, but they've done a good job both creating and limiting scoring chances to this point. It may sound odd, but the wrong team is favored here. Go Avs.

For an opposing take on the Avs/Ducks matchup, see more from Sports Action's team of NHL experts.

With the way they've started the season and given the market they play in, you wouldn't be off to suggest that there would be an overreaction coming with the Vegas Golden Knights. Prior to looking at the lines, I expected this number to be at -145 and I think Vegas is a good play all the way to -140.

(Season to date: 10-10, +3.11u)

[Photo: Jerome Miron, USA Today]

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