Best NHL player prop bets (April 21): Blackwood should see more shots from Stars in Game 2

Join Daily Faceoff’s Greg Warren as he handicaps the best NHL player props available at Sports Interaction on Monday night.

Mackenzie Blackwood over 22.5 saves: -128

Blackwood was outstanding in his NHL playoff debut, stopping 23 of the 24 shots he faced in Game 1 of Colorado’s best-of-seven series with the Dallas Stars. While 24 shots is hardly a high shot volume for a goaltender, Blackwood did turn aside 11 high-danger shots on goal, the most of any goaltender in the series openers to this point.

Colorado has allowed the third-fewest shots against per game at 25.7 since Blackwood made his debut with the team on Dec. 14, but you have to figure the high-powered Stars, who have averaged 28.35 shots on goal per game this season, will be firing as much as possible on Monday in an attempt to avoid falling in a 0-2 hole with the series then shifting to Colorado for Game 3 on Wednesday.

Blackwood has averaged 25.2 saves per game this season, exceeding this saves line in 67% of his last 30 appearances. Additionally, he’s made 23 saves or more in all three of his games played against the Stars this season, with a median of 26.

If you shop around, you can find Blackwood to make over 21.5 60-minute saves at much better -112 odds at FanDuel.

Lane Hutson over 0.5 points: -128

Hutson is the runaway favorite for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie after compiling 66 points in 82 games this season for the Montreal Canadiens. He recorded at least one point in 47 of those 82 games (57% hit rate) and in 19 of his final 30 (63% hit rate) regular-season contests.

Now, the 21-year-old will be making his NHL playoff debut Monday against the Washington Capitals, who have allowed just 1.7 points per game to opposing defensemen (the sixth-least in the NHL) this season. However, Hutson has managed to put up at least one point in each of his three games against the Habs this season, including a pair on Halloween night in Washington.

Hutson, who will be quarterbacking Montreal’s power play on the top unit Monday, is virtually a lock to play at least 25 minutes in the series opener, barring injury or a blowout scenario either way.

Another slight benefit for the chances of Hutson recording a point is the possibility that Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson isn’t 100% after sustaining an upper-body injury on April 2 against Carolina. Thompson was the first goaltender off the ice Monday at practice, but he might not be sharp after not seeing any game action in nearly three weeks. If Thompson encounters a setback leading up to puck drop or at some point throughout the game, Montreal’s chances of scoring goals will increase slightly with Charlie Lindgren (2.73 GAA, .896 SV%) in between the pipes for Washington.