Monday was another good night for our player props picks. The double dip with the Dallas Stars proved successful, as both Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen went over their shot totals.

The Alex Tuch play also looked like a winner after he hit three early in the final period, but he had a shot taken away well after the game, leaving us one shy of a 3-0 night.

Let's keep the ball rolling with three more plays for Tuesday's slate.

Mitch Marner over 2.5 shots (-130)

Marner has been shooting the puck a lot of late. The ultra-talented winger picked up at least three shots on goal in eight of his last 10 games, averaging a healthy 3.6.

Marner generated five shots on goal and attempted a whopping 10 shots when he faced the Tampa Bay Lightning during this hot spell.

Shooting success against the Lightning is nothing new for Marner. He recorded at least three shots in eight of his last 12 against Tampa Bay.

This game should come down to the wire, meaning Marner is likely to see a full workload of more than 20 minutes. Look for him to make the most of it.

Kevin Fiala over 2.5 shots (-145)

I love, love, love Fiala in this spot. The Los Angeles Kings' prized acquisition is lethal shooting the puck - especially at home. He generated at least three shots on goal in 10 consecutive games played in Los Angeles.

Now he draws a date with a putrid Anaheim Ducks team that can't defend a lick. The Ducks rank 31st in five-on-five attempts against per 60 for the season and 32nd over the last 10 games. They're truly miserable.

Fiala has taken advantage of them time after time in recent years, hitting the over in 10 of his last 12 meetings and six straight overall.

Look for him to have a big night.

Kevin Hayes over 2.5 shots (-120)

Say what you will about Hayes' effort levels or defensive play - John Tortorella clearly has concerns - but the guy can create offense.

He generated 32 shots on goal and 60 attempts over the last nine games. Those are impressive outputs, especially since he was benched for a large chunk of one of them.

Hayes has been Philadelphia's most consistent shot generator. Fresh off a healthy scratch, you can bet he'll be looking to make an impact in his return to the lineup.

A matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets is certainly a prime opportunity to do just that. They rank dead last in five-on-five shot suppression this season and are playing in the latter part of a road back-to-back with what feels like half of their roster missing.

Hayes should be able to put his stamp on this game and have a strong offensive showing.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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We split our best bets to begin the week. The Boston Bruins took care of business in regulation but the Edmonton Oilers were unable to get past the Nashville Predators in overtime.

Let's dive into a couple of games that stand out on Tuesday's eight-game slate.

Senators (+130) @ Jets (-147)

Just when things started to turn for the better in Ottawa, Tim Stutzle suffered a shoulder injury. He is not going to be out long term, thankfully, but the ailment will keep him out of the lineup for this game. That is big.

Normally a strong five-on-five team, the Ottawa Senators have struggled in their short period of time without Stutzle. Through four games, they have posted a 47% share of the expected goals and generated only 2.21 xG per 60 minutes.

Those numbers don't hold a candle to their season numbers of 52% and 2.89 xG per 60.

One of the biggest issues with Stutzle's injury is that it forces Derick Brassard to play way over his head as the top-line center. Brady Tkachuk and Claude Giroux own a putrid 42.9% xG share with Brassard as their pivot. That's a far cry from the 66.8% they own alongside Stutzle.

This is all a long way of saying Ottawa's offense is not nearly as potent right now, which is problematic when going up against the Winnipeg Jets.

The Jets sit seventh in high-danger chances against per 60 over the last 10 games. They really aren't giving up much. When they do, Connor Hellebuyck - who ranks second in goals saved above expected - is more than up to the task.

Without their top two centers in Stutzle and Josh Norris, I don't see the Senators' offense doing much damage in this game. Back the Jets to rebound on home ice.

Bet: Jets (-147)

Blue Jackets (+145) @ Flyers (-170)

Things are going from bad to worse for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Already without Zach Werenski, Jakub Voracek, and half their defensive core, the Blue Jackets placed captain Boone Jenner on injured reserve Monday. They also announced skilled youngster Cole Sillinger is banged up with an undisclosed injury.

All of those absences leave the Blue Jackets paper thin on the back end and with little scoring depth to compensate. Thus, the Blue Jackets need quality goaltending to win games. That's not something they're likely to get tonight.

Elvis Merzlikins appears destined to start for the Blue Jackets in the latter half of their back-to-back. He is in the midst of an absolutely miserable season, sporting a woeful .864 save percentage.

He has conceded 18 more goals than expected through just 14 appearances, which slots him last in the NHL by quite a margin. Kaapo Kahkonen (minus-14.2 GSAE) is the only other goaltender below minus-11.3.

Meanwhile, Merzlikins' counterpart, Carter Hart, is enjoying a strong bounce-back campaign. He owns a .913 save percentage and ranks fourth in the league in GSAE (plus-13.6).

Win or lose, Hart is allowing the Flyers to hang around in plenty of games. The same can't be said about Merzlikins.

With the Blue Jackets getting caved in at five-on-five on a nightly basis, dealing with a cluster of injuries across the board, and facing a back-to-back situation, it is hard to envision their fortunes turning on Tuesday night, even against a bad Flyers team.

Back the healthier side that should also hold a big advantage in goal.

Bet: Flyers (-110)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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Goaltender Andrew Hammond announced his retirement from professional hockey Monday following a 10-year career.

Hammond was sensational with the Ottawa Senators during the 2014-15 campaign. He posted a 20-1-2 record and a .941 save percentage to help the Senators earn an unlikely playoff berth and became affectionately known as "the Hamburglar."

The Senators traded Hammond to the Colorado Avalanche after a five-year stint in the Ottawa organization as part of the deal for Matt Duchene. Hammond replaced the injured Jonathan Bernier in Colorado's first-round series against the Nashville Predators during the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, making 44 saves in the Avalanche's Game 5 win before the team was eliminated in Game 6.

Hammond made an unexpected return to the NHL last season, appearing in 11 games split between the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils.

The 34-year-old suited up for two contests with the KHL's Traktor Chelyabinsk in October. He cited an ankle injury sustained with Montreal as the reason for his retirement.

Hammond posted a 31-20-7 record with a .916 save percentage in 67 career NHL games.

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San Jose Sharks pivot Tomas Hertl has been suspended for a pair of games after high-sticking Calgary Flames forward Elias Lindholm on Sunday night, the Department of Player Safety announced.

Hertl was given a minor penalty on the play, and Lindholm was able to stay in the game, scoring twice shortly after to ensure a Calgary win.

More to come.

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Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes wasn't shy about expressing his displeasure regarding head coach John Tortorella's decision to make him a healthy scratch Saturday against the New York Rangers.

"I'm never gonna say there's a benefit to being benched. I'm sorry. I don't think I should have been benched, but it's not my decision," Hayes said Monday, per The Athletic's Charlie O'Connor. "He's a coach. I'm a player. He makes the lineup, he wants the best team on the ice to ultimately win, and that's what he went with."

The Flyers lost the game 6-3. They sit second last in the Eastern Conference with a 10-15-7 record.

Hayes leads Philadelphia with 29 points in 31 games this season. He also began his career with the Rangers and spent parts of five seasons in New York.

Tortorella didn't divulge his reasons for benching Hayes.

"That's between Kevin and I," Tortorella said, per NBC's Jordan Hall.

Hayes is in the fourth season of a seven-year contract that carries a $7.14-million cap hit.

He's expected to rejoin the lineup when the Flyers take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

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Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes wasn't shy about expressing his displeasure regarding head coach John Tortorella's decision to make him a healthy scratch Saturday against the New York Rangers.

"I'm never gonna say there's a benefit to being benched. I'm sorry. I don't think I should have been benched, but it's not my decision," Hayes said Monday, per The Athletic's Charlie O'Connor. "He's a coach. I'm a player. He makes the lineup, he wants the best team on the ice to ultimately win, and that's what he went with."

The Flyers lost the game 6-3. They sit second last in the Eastern Conference with a 10-15-7 record.

Hayes leads Philadelphia with 29 points in 31 games this season. He also began his career with the Rangers and spent parts of five seasons in New York.

Tortorella didn't divulge his reasons for benching Hayes.

"That's between Kevin and I," Tortorella said, per NBC's Jordan Hall.

Hayes is in the fourth season of a seven-year contract that carries a $7.14-million cap hit.

He's expected to rejoin the lineup when the Flyers take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

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Cam Atkinson's season is over before it even started.

The Philadelphia Flyers winger will undergo neck surgery on Wednesday and won't suit up at all in 2022-23, the team announced Monday. He's expected to make a full recovery.

Atkinson produced 23 goals and 27 assists in 73 games with the Flyers last season, marking the seventh time in his 11-year career he reached the 20-goal plateau.

The Flyers acquired Atkinson in the 2021 offseason from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Jakub Voracek.

Philadelphia has had bad luck with injuries this season. Defenseman Ryan Ellis won't play at all this campaign and center Sean Couturier isn't expected to make his season debut until at least February after undergoing back surgery for the second time in less than a year.

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Last week, we discussed how to determine the game-to-game value of a star player like Nathan MacKinnon relative to the moneyline, at least as it pertains to the betting market. There was an 11% moneyline adjustment in the first two games the Avalanche played without MacKinnon. Colorado lost both, but there was an interesting reaction last week.

The betting market seemed to either forget that MacKinnon was out or didn't care.

Here are our projected moneylines with and without MacKinnon for three games from Dec. 11-16:

That disparity in pricing came from oddsmakers no longer taxing the Avs for missing MacKinnon, along with captain Gabriel Landeskog. The previous two games, where there was an 11% shift, were against good teams: the Bruins and Rangers. The Blues, Flyers, and Sabres aren't currently in the playoff picture, so maybe it was deemed that Colorado didn't need its star power to win those games.

Sure enough, the Avalanche won two of three, with a loss to the Sabres (+160) mitigating the overall win for Colorado bettors. But a slightly deeper look at the results paints a different picture.

The Avalanche were nine seconds away from losing to the Blues, but it was a remaining star that saved the day. Mikko Rantanen tied the game with the goalie pulled and then won it in overtime.

Two days later, Colorado was a massive favorite to lowly Philadelphia, despite the Flyers having beaten the Avs a week earlier. That might have been due to Philly sitting star goaltender Carter Hart. With backup netminder Felix Sandstrom only able to stop 22 of 25 shots, the Avalanche edged the Flyers 3-2. In the loss, Philadelphia had more expected goals (XG) and high-danger chances created at five-on-five.

Those willing to keep firing against the MacKinnon-less Avs were finally rewarded when the Sabres upset Colorado, though the Avs were the better team at even strength with a 71% XG share.

With MacKinnon out another two-to-four weeks, it's anyone's guess how his absence will, and should, be treated by the betting market.

The recipe

We started the campaign using regular-season point totals as a baseline for rating teams since it's still our best measurement. Throughout the campaign, we'll adjust club ratings using on-ice metrics to remove the cognitive bias of win-loss records, which can be skewed by outliers like special-teams results, poor goaltending performances, and other unreliable events.

The cheat sheet

There are no bad bets at the right price, but how do we know what a good price is?

The following includes my fair price on the games (true moneyline) and the moneyline price I'd need to bet either side. I only need a 1% edge for a favorite if we're getting better than a fair price on the team more likely to win. For the underdog, I'll need 4% or better to make it a bet. For games I project to be closer to a coin flip, a 2.5% edge is enough for a worthwhile wager. I also have a 5% win probability consideration for a team playing in the second game of a back-to-back with travel and a 3% consideration for a team on the second leg of a back-to-back without travel. When it comes to injured players, I do my best to estimate the impact on their team's win probability.

When the betting markets open up the night before, you can compare those prices with our "price to bet" column to see if you're getting any value with either side's moneyline. There's also a possibility that a moneyline moves into a bet-friendly range at some point between market open and puck drop.

Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.

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