NHL Predictions – Expert Picks on Saturday, November 30:
It’s a great Saturday slate in the NHL featuring round two between the Hurricanes and Florida Panthers, the return of Auston Matthews to the Maple Leafs, and Jim Montgomery makes his home coaching debut for the St. Louis Blues. Enjoy the Saturday games on the ice. Here are today’s NHL predictions.
Carolina Hurricanes at Florida Panthers (-110, 6.5)
4:00 p.m. ET
I don’t have confirmation, but this could be the first-ever game with goalies having the first name, Spencer. It’s Spencer Martin for the visiting Canes versus Spencer Knight for the Florida Panthers. With these games being on consecutive days, does Carolina turn to Yaniv Perets to make his first NHL start?
This is the back end of a home and home for these two Eastern Conference powerhouses. Carolina battled back down 3-1 to even the game at three after 40 minutes, only to be outscored 3-0 in the final period as Florida came away with a 6-3 victory.
After dropping four consecutive games, the Cats have won back-to-back games over Carolina and Toronto, scoring a combined 11 goals. The Panthers’ last three victories have come against three of the best teams in the league: Carolina, Toronto and Winnipeg.
I am not a big fan of either goalie in this matchup. I think we see goals, goals and more goals. Twelve of the last 13 Canes games have featured a goal in the first 10 minutes. Carolina has gone Over in their last four games; the Panthers have gone Over the total in back-to-back games.
NHL Predictions: Carolina/Florida Over 6.5 (-110) – 1 unit
Carolina/Florida goal in the 1st 10 -Yes (-160) – 2 units
Toronto Maple Leafs (-140, 6.5) at Tampa Bay Lightning
7:00 p.m. ET
It’s expected to be the return of Auston Matthews tonight when the Maple Leafs visit Tampa. The Leafs were 7-2 with Matthews out of the lineup. Toronto took the first meeting of the season in October by a 5-2 score. The Leafs will look to get back to their winning ways after losing to Florida 5-1 on Wednesday. The Lightning have traded wins and losses their last four games and are coming off a 3-2 overtime at Nashville. Jonas Johansson got the victory as the Bolts left goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy at home in anticipation of tonight’s game. I don’t have an opinion on the side of this game, but I do like the game total going Over 6.5. Nine of the last regular season meetings have gone Over the total. If you take playoffs into account, five of the last nine meetings have gone to overtime.
The Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner and the Lightning’s Victor Hedman lead their teams with 20 and 16 assists, respectively. Marner is on a five-game point streak. Marner has gone back-to-back games without an assist but does have a helper in seven of his last 10 games. He did have a pair of assists in their game in October and has 18 assists in 24 career games versus Tampa. Hedman assisted on both goals in the first meeting.
NHL Predictions: Maple Leafs/Lightning Over 6.5 (+102) – 1 unit
Marner/Hedman each over ½ assist (+220) – 1 unit
Washington Capitals at New Jersey Devils (-160, 6)
7:00 p.m. ET
This is the fourth meeting already between these two teams. The Devils have won two of the three meetings, both on the road, and that should come as no surprise. New Jersey has won five of the last six contests in Washington, while the Capitals have won three straight, nine of 10 and 16 of 20 at Jersey.
If it’s a Capitals game, then playing the first period Over is a must. The Caps are on a 13-1 run to the first period Over 1.5 goal total. The last seven meetings between these two division rivals have featured six or more goals and six of the last seven have had a combined seven or more goals.
There are a couple of players that I will target for their assists prop. Stefan Noesen has five helpers versus the Caps this season, Timo Meier and Dylan Strome each have four assists in this series. Strome leads the Capitals with 26 assists on the season.
NHL Predictions: Washington Capitals/New Jersey Devils Over 6 (-122) – 1 unit
Washington Capitals/New Jersey Devils 1st period Over 1.5 (-135) – 2 units
Washington Capitals ML (+135) – 1 unit
Dylan Strome Over ½ assist (-110) – 1 unit
Timo Meier Over ½ assist (+210) – 1 unit
Stefan Noesen Over ½ assist (+185) – 1 unit
Philadelphia Flyers at St. Louis Blues (-135, 6)
7:00 p.m. ET
This will be the first home game for the Blues with Jim Montgomery behind the bench. St. Louis is 2-0 with their new bench boss and will look to win three straight for the first time this season.
The Flyers are coming off wins over the Rangers and the Nashville Predators but are also playing their third game in four days and fourth in six days. Philadelphia is 0-3 this season on the second half of back-to-backs. Three of the last four and seven of the last 11 Flyers games have gone past 60 minutes. The Blues have played five overtime games this season.
NHL Predictions: St. Louis Blues ML (-135) – 1.5 units
Philadelphia Flyers/St. Louis Blues Regulation Draw (+310) – ¼ unit
Buffalo Sabres at NY Islanders (-125, 5.5)
7:00 p.m. ET
Both the Sabres and Islanders come into today on the second half of a back-to-back and three games in four days. Buffalo has lost three of the four games on the second half of back-to-backs, while the Islanders have lost both contests in this scenario.
New York won the only meeting this season, a 4-3 win at Buffalo at the beginning of the month. It was the first time in seven games that more than five goals were scored in a game between these two teams. Strictly from a value standpoint, I am inclined to play Buffalo today (small wager), and with all Islanders games, the regulation draw comes into play. Following yesterday’s game against the Caps needing extra time, the Islanders have gone past 60 minutes nine times this season. The Sabres have needed overtime to settle the outcome in two of their last four games (4 total).
NHL Predictions: Buffalo ML (+105) – ½ unit
Sabres/Islanders Over 5.5 (-120) – ½ unit
Sabres/Islanders Regulation Draw (+310) – ¼ unit
Calgary Flames at Pittsburgh Penguins (-120, 6)
7:00 p.m. ET
Another game where both teams are playing the second half of a back-to-back. The visiting Flames have a win and a loss in this scenario, and the Penguins are 3-2.
This will be Calgary’s fourth and final stop on their eastern road trip, and they are still in search of their first win. For the season, Calgary has just three wins in 12 road games, and they are 2-7 as a road underdog. Conversely, Calgary is 9-3 at home. The Flames have won five of the last seven meetings versus the Penguins but have lost the last two in Pittsburgh. Four of the last nine meetings have been settled in overtime, including their lone meeting this season in Calgary, a 4-3 Flames win in a shootout. Calgary has gone to overtime nine times this season.
The Penguins are coming off an impressive 2-1 win in Boston on Saturday. After giving up a goal on the second shot of the game, Tristan Jarry settled down and shut the door the rest of the way. Pittsburgh is 4-1 as a home betting favorite (1-7 home underdog), with three of the four games going past 60. The Pens have scored four or more goals in three of those four wins, and for the season, they have scored four or more goals in seven of their nine wins.
NHL Predictions: Pittsburgh Penguins TT over 3.5(+120) – 1 unit
Calgary Flames/Pittsburgh Penguins Regulation Draw (+310) – ¼ unit
Best of the Rest:Adam Gaudette (Ottawa) anytime goal +475 – ½ unit
Utah HC/Vegas Golden Knights 1st period Over 1.5 (-145) – 1 unit
Edmonton Oilers/Colorado Avalanche Over 6.5 (-120) – 1 unit
Seattle Kraken in Regulation (-120) – 2 units
Jared McCann (Seattle) anytime goal (+180) – ½ unit
