Today’s NHL Prop Picks and Best Bets: Fade Giroux at Plus Money Odds

Prop bet #1: Chandler's woes continue

The Vegas Golden Knights host the New York Islanders in the late window of Saturday’s NHL slate. We are looking to fade two Vegas forwards in this contest, starting with Chandler Stephenson.

Our primary reason for fading the offensive production of the reigning Cup champions is goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who is slated to guard the cage on Saturday evening. Once again carrying the Islanders, Sorokin boasts a .912 SV% and 3.10 GAA through 26 appearances in the crease this season.

He’s been particularly dialed in recently, posting a .932 SV% and 2.14 GAA over his past four starts. Yes, the Knights are good offensively, but Sorokin has always answered the bell against them as he owns a stellar .961 SV% and 1.37 GAA through three career starts.

That brings us to Stephenson, who centers the second line between Pavel Dorofeyev and Mark Stone. This line is more known for its two-way play than its offensive prowess because while Stone is elite both ways, Stephenson and Dorofeyev are both at the “point every other game” mark.

Additionally, Stephenson enters this game in particularly poor form as he has failed to record a point in each of his past seven games. These struggles are likely to continue against New York, a team he has posted just three assists against over his past 11 games.

Chandler Stephenson prop: Under 0.5 points (+100 at Bet99)

Prop bet #2: Defense first

Sticking with the same game, we are also going to fade Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who has also struggled tremendously in the offensive zone recently. Over his past nine games, Pietrangelo has registered just one assist and zero goals.

There is some solid correlation here between Stephenson and Pietrangelo, as they're two guys that skate with the first power play unit. This is a two-fold problem for this game.

First, the Knights’ power play has been lackluster this season, ranking in the bottom half of the league in terms of percentage. Second, the Islanders are a very disciplined team and rank fourth in the league in penalty minutes taken per game.

With New York staying out of the box, I think there is a very solid chance that both Pietrangelo and Stephenson will fail to record a point against Sorokin. Pietrangelo has also posted just three points over his past 14 games against New York.

Alex Pietrangelo prop: Under 0.5 points (+100 at Bet99)

Prop bet #3: Fading Claude

We are going to fade another skater on Saturday as the Edmonton Oilers host the Ottawa Senators. Whenever you think of Edmonton, you think of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

However, the blue line is severely underrated. At 5-on-5, the Oilers rank seventh in the league in expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60).

Furthermore, this defense is backed by goaltender Stuart Skinner, who is the confirmed starter in this matchup. Over his past four starts, Edmonton’s netminder is 4-0 with a remarkable .944 SV% and 1.72 GAA. That is bad news for Claude Giroux, who is coming off a poor performance against Seattle.

In that game, he failed to record a point while registering just one shot and posting a –3 in the box score. I am as big of a Giroux guy as anyone out there, but he is running into a red-hot goaltender and an underrated defense, which is why I am fading his points prop at plus money.

Claude Giroux prop: Under 0.5 points (+110 at Bet99)