One of the league's co-leaders in goals, Auston Matthews, headlines Thursday's list of players worth backing - or fading - in the prop market.

Let's take a closer look.

Auston Matthews: Over 4.5 shots

Matthews is shooting the puck like there's no tomorrow. He's attempted at least 10 shots in five of his past seven games, with the exceptions coming against a pair of low-event teams in the Rangers and Kraken.

He finds himself in a big pace-up spot Thursday night against the Blue Jackets. They've bled shots all season long and are showing no signs of defensive improvement. They rank dead last in shots allowed per game over the last 10.

A lot of the volume they give up comes from opposing centers. Columbus sits 27th in shots allowed per game versus the position on the year and over the last 10.

That should help raise Matthews' floor and ceiling, as should home ice. He owns a 54% success rate in Toronto this season and is averaging just under five shots on goal per game.

That's a stark contrast from his road numbers, where Matthews is producing 3.9 shots per contest and has fallen short of his total in 10 of 13 appearances.

Look for Matthews to make the most of home ice and a mouthwatering matchup.

Odds: -122 (playable to -135)

Cam Atkinson: Over 2.5 shots

Atkinson is a machine at home. He's averaging 3.4 shots per contest in Philadelphia and has gone over his total in 11 of 13 games. That equates to a juicy 85% success rate.

Sean Couturier eats up all the difficult matchups at home, freeing Atkinson for plenty of offensive-zone starts against lesser competition. He's making the most of it on a nightly basis.

The Capitals have conceded nearly 33 shots per game over the last 10, which ranks them in the bottom 10. They do give up plenty of volume, and Atkinson figures to be one of the primary beneficiaries.

Atkinson recently did the job against the Devils, Hurricanes, Golden Knights, and Kings. He should have little problem generating three shots against the Capitals.

Odds: -110 (playable to -140)

Kirill Kaprizov: Under 3.5 shots

Kaprizov hasn't been a prolific shooter under new head coach John Hynes. He's gone under his total in six of seven games, finishing at two or fewer in each failure. Those are not the kind of numbers we're accustomed to seeing from Kaprizov.

Although his average attempt volume looks pretty good, the numbers are heavily inflated by a 16-attempt performance. For perspective, he's averaging just over 6.5 when excluding that game. It's much tougher to get four shots on net with those outputs.

The Flames aren't great, but they don't give up a ton of shots, nor do they take many penalties. They profile as a team that should be able to keep Kaprizov to a manageable number.

Odds: -135 (playable to -150)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ToddCordell.

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