Bodog Beat

Everybody loves goals. The red light goes off, and it’s a party. (AP Images)

The marketplace for NHL betting is bulging the twine with tasty prop bets on key games; Wednesday’s matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils had four props on the board, and scoring was the theme.

The Devils were slight –120 favorites to pot the first goal of the game on home ice, with Montreal at –110. Those odds were pretty close to the moneyline offer of New Jersey –130, but the Habs have scored first in 23 of their 45 games, while New Jersey went up 1-0 in 25 of 46 games. The Devils were arguably a better value with the first-goal prop.

My personal favorite props are the individual matchups, like the one between Montreal’s Alex Kovalev and New Jersey’s Patrick Elias. The Devils sniper was a –170 chalk to score more points than Kovalev.