NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Here are tonight’s NHL predictions and best bets.
Minnesota Wild at Toronto Maple Leafs
Minnesota (-170) at Toronto (+142) – Total 6.5 (Under, -115)
7 p.m. ET
The Wild come into Toronto off a 2-1 overtime win at Montreal and have won seven of their past nine games (7-0-2) and have been road warriors, winning six in a row away from Grand Casino arena. Six of their last seven wins and five of their last six road wins have seen them cover the puck line (-1.5 goals). The Wild’s Quinn Hughes has 21 assists this season, tying him for fourth-most assists in the NHL. He has an assist in each of the last four Minnesota games and 17 of the last 20, as well as an assist in each of his last 10 visits to Toronto. I am going to parlay a Hughes assist with the Wild to win on the Puck Line, plus a separate parlay on Ryan Leonard of the Washington Capitals to record 2+ shots on goal. Leonard has hit this in 26 consecutive games.
The Maple Leafs are going in the opposite direction, having lost four straight and outscored 17-7. Toronto’s first five losses of the season were all by just one goal. Since then, five of their last seven losses have been by 2+ goals. The Wild have scored the first goal of the game in nine straight, eight times coming in the first period.
NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Quinn Hughes 1+ assist/Leonard (Washington) 2+ SOG (+138) – 2 units
Quinn Hughes assist/Wild -1.5 goals (+176) – 1 unit
Minnesota Wild 1st goal/1st period (+100) – 1 unit
Washington Capitals at New Jersey Devils
Washington (+126) at New Jersey (-152) – Total 6 (Over, -118)
7 p.m. ET
I won’t waste your time with a deep dive into this game; my only play is for Ryan Leonard to extend his streak to 27 games with 2+ shots on goal. Leonard has also cashed this prop in each of his last four head-to-head meetings with New Jersey (2,4,3,3). In addition to registering 3+ shots on goal in three of the four matchups with the Devils, he has had 3+ shots on goal in five of the last seven Capitals games.
NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Ryan Leonard 2+ shots on goal (-150) – 4 units
Ryan Leonard 3+ shots on goal (+188) – ½ unit
Quinn Hughes (Minn)1+ assist/Ryan Leonard 2+ SOG (+138) – 2 units
Montreal Canadiens at Boston Bruins
Montreal (+105) at Boston (-125) – Total 6 (Over, -115)
7 p.m. ET
This is arguably the game of the night, featuring two Original Six teams. The Canadiens, with one of the league’s best road records (6-1-1), face a Bruins team that has lost just once this season on home ice (8-1-0). The Canadiens have gone 11 consecutive games without a regulation loss (8-0-3) since losing 5-4 at Washington on October 14. The B’s have won seven of the last 10 overall and five of the last six over Montreal at TD Garden Arena.
Goals are likely going to be tough to come by with Jacob Fowler (2.14 goals against average) starting for Montreal and Jeremy Swayman (2.21 goals against average) between the pipes for Boston. Swayman is 11-2-2 lifetime against the Canadiens with a 2.92 goals against average, but he must have nightmares when seeing the Habs Cole Caufield with the puck on his stick as he enters the Bruins zone. Caufield has scored in each of his last seven games against the Bruins (10 goals total), with seven of the 10 goals scored in Boston. Caufield has had 3+ shots on goal in all seven games and 4+ shots on goal in four straight and five of six. Nick Suzuki, the Habs Captain and Caufield’s center on the top line and top power play, has points in six straight games versus Boston, with five of the six being two-point games.
Boston’s David Pastrnak is on a three-game assist streak (five total) and has an assist in nine of the last 10 games he has faced the Canadiens. He has been held without a goal against Montreal in each of the last five games and seven of the last 10.
A couple of trends worth noting. The Bruins have won 11 straight over Montreal when they have a rest advantage. The B’s have been off since Sunday, and the Habs last played Tuesday.
NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Cole Caufield anytime goal (+140) – 1 unit
Nick Suzuki 2+ points (+220) – ½ unit
Caufield and Suzuki 1+ point each/Pastrnak 1+ assist/Caufield 3+ SOG (+341) – 1 unit
David Pastrnak 1+ assist (-128) – 1 unit
Cole Caufield 4+ shots on goal (+134) – ½ unit
St. Louis Blues at Utah Mammoth
St. Louis (-105) at Utah (-115) – Total 6 (-110)
9 p.m. ET
Just a brutal spot for the Utah Mammoth tonight, who lost last night in Vegas as they wrapped up a six-game, 14-day road trip and return home to play a rested Blues team on the second half of a back-to-back. With Sebastian Cossa starting for Utah last night in Vegas, Karel Vejmelka will get the start. One Blues player who will be happy to see Vejmelka is Pavel Buchnevich, who has scored in four of the last five games he has faced the Utah netminder. Robert Thomas has an assist in five of the last six games against Utah.
NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
St. Louis Blues Money Line (-105) – 1 unit
Pavel Buchnevich anytime goal (+380) – ¼ unit
Robert Thomas 1+ assist (-120) – ¼ unit
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