The Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes will kick off a two-game set on Friday as the first-place Knights will look to push their incredible winning streak to 11 games.
The Golden Knights lead the West Division by six points with eight games to go, while the Yotes will need a miracle to make the postseason as they trail the Blues, who have two games in hand, by five points.
Here are our free picks and predictions for Vegas Golden Knights vs Arizona Coyotes for Friday, April 30 (10:00 p.m. ET).
Golden Knights vs Coyotes odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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NHL Sharp Money and Line Movement Report
By Patrick EversonRed-hot Vegas opened a hefty -205 Thursday night at FanDuel and is up to -230 as of 7:30 p.m. ET. The Knights are getting hammered on the moneyline, to the tune of 92 percent of bets and 95 percent of cash.The total is stable at 5.5, seeing a modest price move from the flat -110 to Over -118, with 76 percent of bets/83 percent of money on the Over.
Check out the full line movement for this gameGolden Knights at Coyotes betting preview
Injuries
Golden Knights: Nicolas Roy F (questionable), Tomas Nosek F (out), Ryan Reaves F (out).
Coyotes: Conor Garland F (questionable), Antti Raanta G (questionable).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Coyotes are 1-10 in their last 11 games against teams with a winning percentage above .600. Find more NHL betting trends for Golden Knights vs. Coyotes.
Puckline pick
The Golden Knights have ripped off 10 straight wins and have also covered the -1.5 puckline in eight of those matches. Vegas has been one of the steadiest teams all year but is playing on another level of late. The 10 straight victories are a franchise record and the highest winning streak of any team this season.
The Knights have obliterated their opponents all year with a combination of elite offense and stingy defense. Vegas has the league’s best goal differential at +60 through 48 games with the next-best team coming in at +47. They own the league’s best penalty kill, as well as sport the second-highest expected goals/60, per Money Puck.
The only real question is there any value in the ‘Yotes at +167? For us, the quick answer is no.
Arizona would need some stellar goaltending to pull off the upset, and with Darcy Kuemper getting shelled in four of his last five starts, expectations are low. Backup Antti Raanta is also questionable.
The Golden Knights have also dominated the season series, having taken five of the six games with the only loss coming back on January 22, where Vegas still outplayed Arizona — 3.22 expected goals to 2.75.
Arizona also comes into the series having given up 10 goals to the San Jose Sharks in its previous two matches, which brought this month’s record to 5-9 SU, and 2-9 SU in its last 11.
The Coyotes sit in the bottom 10 when it comes to even-strength goals against. That is a scary stat if you’re backing the home team, as no team is scoring more 5-on-5 goals this season than the Knights. At 2.44 even-strength goals per game, the Vegas offense could have its way with the Coyotes on Friday and if its power play could pick up, things could get very ugly for Arizona.
We’re taking the Knights on the puckline for plus-money at +130, and if Vegas can win out its remaining eight games, it can set the NHL winning streak record that sits at 17 straight wins by Mario and Jagr’s 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins.
Trivia: Five Pittsburgh players, including Mario Lemieux, had more points than Jaromir Jagr in the 1992-93 season, who were the other four?
PREDICTION: Vegas -1.5 (+130)
Over/Under pick
Over their 10-game winning streak, the Golden Knights are 7-3 O/U and averaging 4.00 goals per game. The seven Overs are even more impressive when you consider Vegas is allowing just 1.8 goals per game. They’re getting 38.1 shots on net which is up from their league-leading season average of 32.5 shots per game.
Again, we find ourselves asking another question: can the Golden Knights do most of the scoring and pot four, five, or dare we say, six goals?
No team is better at even strength than the Knights who can roll three lines and score on nearly any shift. Their offensive play at 5-on-5 is a big reason why they’re one of the favorites to win the cup heading into the weekend. Vegas has been at or near the top of the league in goals per game all year and that’s with a below-average power play.
Well, that power play is starting to show signs of life and is 4 for 14 over its last four games, and faces an Arizona PK that sits in the league’s bottom 10 since March 1.
The Over has also followed the Coyotes of late as they’ve struggled to pick up wins. The Over is 9-5 is Arizona’s last 14 games, and on the year, the fifth-place Coyotes have padded Over backers with a sneaky 29-20 O/U mark.
Arizona is not strong in net of late and faces arguably the hottest team all season. If the ‘Yotes can get us two goals, we’ll be in great shape for an Over that may close closer to 6 after opening at a flat 5.5.
PREDICTION: Over 5.5 (-110)
Golden Knights vs Coyotes betting card
- Vegas -1.5 (+130)
- Over 5.5 (-110)
Picks made on 4/30/2021 at 5:30 a.m. ET
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