With another winning week in the books for our Saturday selections last time 'round, we're coming into this week looking for more, taking aim at today's 11-game betting board with a little bit of loot in the ol' pocketbook. With a number of matchups going earlier in the day, including a Global Series tilt in Finland between the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars, we're focusing on the evening slate to allow the most time possible for pregame research.

This week we're keeping things simple and going back to the well with a couple of our favourite prop picks. Enjoy the action, good luck, and let's get this paper.

Complete 2024-25 Saturday Record (Daily Record Tracked/Posted @Flips_Picks):

Gold: 1-2

Silver: 3-0
Bronze: 2-1

Side Bets (Located at Bottom of Article) : 7-2

2024-25 Combined Saturday Record: 13-5

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Gold Selection
Sidney Crosby Anytime Assist (-150)

Death, taxes, and Sidney Crosby feasting on Canadian teams. Three of life’s certainties. Sticking with the positive, Crosby is once again off to a fine start at both ends of the ice, defying time while proving on a nightly basis that he's not only one of the best in the game even at the age of 37, but also one of the more reliable player prop bets. A selection that becomes even more attractive with the struggling Montreal Canadiens rolling into town Saturday as a club that's allowed the second-most goals-against so far this season with only three wins in their last 10 games.

Furthermore, much like most Canadian NHL franchises, the Habs have struggled to find an answer for 87 over the years, allowing Captain Canada to rack up 23 goals and 41 assists in 50 career regular-season games against Montreal.

The Pittsburgh Penguins' secret to success this season is actually no secret at all, this Pens group will go as far as Sid carries it. Period. With that in mind, take in Crosby's stat line from his last game, a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against the Anaheim Ducks, in which he scored the tying and game-winning goal: 22:31 in ice time (leading all forwards), two goals, two penalty minutes, six shots on goal, a plus-two rating, and a blocked shot, all while winning over 70 percent of his draws. Crosby is still one of the best in the business and with the opportunity for one last playoff push already hanging in the balance for a very average Pittsburgh team, expect more MVP-level performances from the best player of this generation.

Silver Selection

Colorado Avalanche @ Nashville Predators – Pick: Over 6.5 (-106)

The Colorado Avalanche are in trouble. There's no sugarcoating it. Aside from a clear need for someone in the blue paint to take the reins, the obvious issue has been an inability to deploy a complete lineup due to a rash of injuries the franchise seemingly cannot shake. Jonathan Drouin, Miles Wood, Ross Colton, Artturi Lehkonen, and obviously Valeri Nichushkin, and Gabriel Landeskog are all still on the shelf with injury, leaving Jared Bednar's forward lines to barely resemble a strong AHL squad let alone a dangerous NHL one.

Until they start getting some bodies back in the top-nine forward group, this is going to be a club that could really struggle to put points in the win column. However, this is also a team that still flaunts three top-15 players and offensive superstars in Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, and Nathan MacKinnon who still make Colorado a very difficult team to game plan against.

Factor in the struggling Nashville Predators as their opponent tonight, along with recent matchup stats between Colorado and Nashville and this one is jumping off the page as our favourite total bet of the evening. The total has gone over the number in six of the last eight meetings between these two Central Division foes in Nashville and 11 of the last 15 overall. We expect that trend to continue tonight between two clubs struggling to find their true form, especially in their own ends. All of these angles should translate well into our Silver Pick of the week.


Bronze Selection
Auston Matthews Anytime Goal (-120)

We spoke about Matthews in this exact same manner and Bronze Pick section just last week and that panned out nicely. The best goal scorer in the game is starting to look a little bit more comfortable in the offensive zone over the last handful of games while finding the back of the net in five of his last eight. The last tally might have been an empty-net bank job, but it counts just the same and the Blues are ripe for the taking as a club allowing the eighth-most shots-against per game at 30.6.

The Leafs are playing much better over the past week since getting embarrassed by this very same Blues group, taking points in three straight games, including big wins over Winnipeg and Seattle. We expect that to continue tonight in a prime bounce-back situation against St. Louis, with Matthews at the focal point, as 34 has goals in five straight games in The Lou.

Side Bets

Montreal Canadiens @ Pittsburgh Penguins – Pick: Penguins ML (-170)

Toronto Maple Leafs @ St. Louis Blues – Pick: Maple Leafs ML (-200)

Utah Hockey Club (YETI) @ Vegas Golden Knights – Pick: Golden Knights ML (-164)

Flip Livingstone is an NHL betting and NHL fantasy writer and daily podcast host with experience at outlets such as theScore NHL, Narcity Media, Postmedia, and Hockey Night in Canada. You can follow him @Flips_Picks.