NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Here are today’s NHL predictions and best bets.
Colorado Avalanche at Vegas Golden Knights
Betting Line: (-120,6.5)
4 p.m. ET
It is Nevada Day today, and that is why we have a 1 p.m. local start in Vegas between the Avalanche and the Golden Knights. Shout out to my good friend Ken Boehlke (SinBinVegas on X) for providing me with these numbers. The Golden Knights are 4-3 in their previous seven Nevada Day games, with five of the seven games combining seven goals or more. The first period and full game Over has cashed the past two years, which ties into Vegas totals and games played in October. Going back to last season, the Knights are 10-1 to the 1st period Over 1.5 in home games and 17-4 overall.
Former Golden Knight and now Avalanche, Victor Olofsson is coming off a hat trick in the Avs previous game against New Jersey and has six points in his last two games. Brock Nelson has three goals in five games against Knights goalie Akira Schmid. On the Vegas side, Pavel Dorofeyev is putting up “Cy Young” numbers with nine goals and one assist and Avs goalie Scott Wedgewood has been leaky of late, giving 15 goals in his last four games.
NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
1st period Over 1.5 goals (-130) – 2 units
Vegas Golden Knights Team Total Over 3.5 (+132) – .50 units
Mitch Marner/Jack Eichel/Nathan MacKinnon assist parlay (+286) – .25 units
Pavel Dorofeyev anytime goal (+160) – .10 units
Brock Nelson anytime goal (+370) – .10 units
Victor Olofsson anytime goal (+340) – .10 units
New York Islanders (4-4-1) at Washington Capitals (6-4-0)
Betting Line: (Capitals -225, 5.5) NHL Network
7 p.m. ET
Will the third time be the charm for Alexander Ovechkin, just one goal shy of career goal 900? Ovechkin has been held without a goal in each of the last two games and now faces the Islanders and goalie Ilya Sorokin, the team and goalie he broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record against. The record-breaking goal against Sorokin is the only goal he has scored on his Russian countryman in the six games he has faced him, including their most recent meeting on October 11, where Ovechkin was limited to one assist. Ovi had two shots on goal and five total shots attempted in the game. A goal today would also put Ovi in the record books for the most goals in the month of October (128) in NHL history, breaking the tie with the Great One (127).
The Islanders are coming off a 6-2 drubbing on Thursday at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes and have dropped three straight and have been touched up for 14 goals in the three losses and 11 in the last two games. New York now travels to Washington on the back end of a back-to-back, three games in four nights and six games in nine days. The Isles continue to be the best full game “Over” team in the NHL. They are a perfect 10-0 to the Over based on the opening betting line and 9-1 based on the “closing line”. They are also 8-2 to the first period Over 1.5 goals. The first period Over 1.5 and full game Over (5.5) both cashed when the two teams met on October 11 in the Caps 4-2 victory. The first period Over “cash” was one of two games this season that a Capitals game had two goals or more scored in the opening 20 minutes. The Islanders have given up four goals or more in all six losses.
The full game total tonight opened at 5.5 and is still available in some spots (FanDuel), but I am also seeing 6 and 6.5 totals, so as always, shop around. Caps games have averaged 4.9 combined goals per game this season. Only twice this season the Caps have been involved in a game that has had a combined seven goals or more (they lost both, 7-1 and 4-3), three times their games have landed on six, including the Islanders game this season and five times there have been a combined five goals or less.
The Caps are coming off back-to-back losses, having scored just one goal in the two games. Tonight could be their “get right” game against an Isles team that is scuffling and has had its struggles against the Capitals. Washington has won three of four and five of the last seven meetings against the Islanders.
A couple of props for today. Islanders’ rookie, Matthew Schaefer has gone Over his shots on goal prop (2.5) in three straight games and four of the last five, and I will play Alexander Ovechkin to score a goal. The Islanders Matt Barzal, who was a healthy scratch yesterday (late for the team bus), returns to the lineup today. He has two goals in four games against Caps projected starting goalie, Logan Thompson.
NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Islanders/Capitals Over 5.5 (-140) – 2 units
Islanders/Capitals 1st period Over 1.5 (-138) – .75 units
Washington Capitals Team Total Over 3.5 (-120) – 1 unit
Matthew Schaefer Over 2.5 shots on goal (+116) – .20 units
Alexander Ovechkin anytime goal (+130) – .10 units
Matt Barzal anytime goal (+275) – .10 units
Detroit Red Wings (8-3-0) at Anaheim Ducks (5-3-1)
Betting Line: (Ducks -120, 6.5)
10 p.m. ET
The Red Wings are coming off a wild 4-3 shootout win last night in Los Angeles. They led 3-1 before the Kings scored twice with their goalie pulled for an extra skater in the final three minutes to get the game even at three. The win for Detroit extended their winning streak to three games. Now, Detroit heads south down the 405 freeway for goalie John Gibson’s return to Anaheim, where he played the first 12 years of his career before a trade in the summer to the Wings. Detroit is in an unenviable spot, playing games on back-to-back days and three games in four nights, all on the road, while the Ducks are playing their first home game after a five-game, 10-day road trip that saw them go 3-1-1. Last season, the Red Wings were 3-8 in the second half of back-to-backs and lost their only game this season on the second half of the back-to-back. For Anaheim, this is their first game at home after an extended road trip (4 games or more), which in many instances tends to be a flat spot for the home team.
Detroit games have gone Over the full game total in four straight overall and four straight on the road. Tonight’s game has a total of 6.5 goals, so I would be inclined to wait and see if we can get a six. Only two of Gibson’s six starts have had more than six goals. Three of his starts landed exactly on six. This will be Dostal’s eighth game of the season, with four of his games having a combined five goals or less and the other three all finishing with seven goals. Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat is “Red Hot” on a three-game goal streak after not scoring in the first eight games to start the season. The teams have split their last ten meetings, with five of the games going past regulation.
Make sure to follow me on Twitter (@westcoasthky) as I will be posting additional plays on this game as more lineup information becomes available.
NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Alex DeBrincat anytime goal (+275) – .10 units
Regulation Draw (+340) -.10 units
