NHL best bets: It's a big night for goals

It's one of the last days of the NHL before the league heads to its All-Star break, so it feels only right to give the ice a bit of attention before the rest of this week is surely dominated by the NBA. There are just two games, but there are some intriguing spots here worth a look.

St. Louis & Seattle should score some goals

Tonight, it seems best if we pick on the Blue Jackets and Sharks, the two teams letting up the most goals per game this season. That season-long weakness has remained very much so of late. There's not much strengthening of the defensive walls going on around here.

Columbus heads to St. Louis to take on the Blues, winners of five straight who have scored four goals in four straight. It should be more of the same here, especially when you consider St. Louis has scored 4+ goals in four of the last five meetings with Columbus.

As for the Sharks, they're hosting a Seattle Kraken team that has notched 13 goals over their past three games, two of which have been wins, momentum you can bet they'd like to carry over to the break. The last time these two met this season, the Kraken won 7-1.

For good measure, both St. Louis and Seattle find themselves ranked inside the top six for best power-play teams over the last 20 days, with their opponents both among the four worst penalty-killing units in hockey.

Goals, they will be flowing.

Betting: St. Louis & Seattle over 3.5 goals (+218 DraftKings)

If you want to sprinkle on something a bit more exciting, our vote is a parlay on Jake Neighbours (STL) and Andre Burakovsky (SEA) scoring goals. Neighbours has been very involved on the Blues' power play and has a goal in two of his past four at home. Burakovsky has not been a scorer at all this year, but he's shooting more of late, and he has notched a goal in three of his last four against San Jose.

Neighbours & Burakovsky goal parlay is +1650 on FanDuel.

In the news ...

Joel Embiid is nearing MVP ineligibility after sitting out last night — Joel Embiid missed his fifth consecutive game last night, a Philly loss, and this lingering injury could be set to impact the NBA MVP betting market. The NBA passed a new rule for this season which stipulates a player must participate in at least 65 games to be eligible for All-NBA teams or awards such as MVP. The reigning Most Valuable Player can now miss only five more games to be considered for this year's honors. He was the favorite last week following his 70-point night but now sits at +450, behind Nikola Jokic (+115) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+350).

Blue Jays sign Justin Turner — The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with two-time All-Star Justin Turner. Turner is projected to be Toronto's designated hitter, but should also see time at both corner infield spots. Now 39, Turner is coming off a strong season in Boston, posting a .276/.345/.455 batting line with 23 homers. Toronto has made the playoffs in two straight years but has yet to break through to the World Series. The Blue Jays currently have the fifth-best odds to win the AL pennant at +900.

Ben Simmons tallies near triple-double in his return to the court — Brooklyn's oft-criticized Ben Simmons returned to action on Monday night after missing the previous 38 games, finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists in just 18 minutes off the bench. If Simmons can stay healthy and productive, it's a welcome development for a Brooklyn team currently sitting in the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference. The Nets are +550 to make the playoffs, if you want to bet on the Simmons spark carrying over through the next few months.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll. Follow him on Substack: griffybets.substack.com.