NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Here are today’s NHL predictions and best bets.
Edmonton Oilers (9-8-4) at Washington Capitals (9-8-2)
Betting Line: Edmonton (-105) at Washington (-115) – Total 6 (Under, -115)
7 p.m. ET – TNT
The Edmonton Oilers have now gone 10 consecutive games without a regulation win. They do have four victories over that stretch, all in overtime and all going past 60 minutes, and have gone past 60 minutes six times in their last 10 games. The Oilers’ last regulation win came in a 6-3 home victory over Utah (October 28).
The Caps are coming off a 2-1 win over the LA Kings on Monday night, winning for just the third time in 11 games. Logan Thompson will get the start in goal tonight for Washington. Thompson has lost consecutive starts and five of his last six games, with the opposition scoring three or more goals in each loss. In his lone win, he gave up just one goal.
Alexander Ovechkin got off to a slow start with just three goals in the team’s first 15 games. He has goals back-to-back and three goals in his last four games and four goals and four assists in his last seven games overall. The Great 8 has also been enjoying some home cooking with a goal in three straight. For his career, Ovi has 17 goals and 29 points in 26 games versus the Oilers, but just one goal in five games against Oilers starting goalie, Stuart Skinner.
Dylan Strome has 13 points in 13 games versus the Oilers. Defensemen Jakob Chychrun has had at least three shots on goal or more in back-to-back, four of five and eight of the last 10 games. Edmonton’s Jack Roslovic has points in five straight (four goals, three assists), while Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid have a combined 20 goals and 46 points in 32 games versus the Caps.
For those of you who like instant gratification, here is a prop for you. I am going to play the Both Teams Not to Score (BTTS) in the first period in this game and parlay it with the same prop in the Carolina/Minnesota game later tonight. In all 10 Capitals home games, the BTTS/NO has cashed, and in 11 of the 13 road games it has also cashed. The BTTS/NO has cashed in eight of 10 Carolina road games and nine of 12 Minnesota Wild home games.
NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Regulation Draw (+340) – .25 units
Ovechkin/Strome point parlay (-102) – 1 unit
Jakob Chychrun Over 2.5 SOG (-125) – .50 units
Jakob Chychrun Over ½ point (+105) – .20 units
Beauvillier/Ekholm/McMichael all Over 1.5 SOG (+417) – .15 units
McDavid/Draisaitl/Roslovic point parlay prop (+124) – 1 unit
Jack Roslovic anytime goal (+250) – .10 units
Jack Roslovic to score 1st Edmonton goal (+800) – .05 units
Alex Ovechkin anytime goal (+175) – .10 units
1st period BTTS/NO parlay – Edmonton/Washington and Carolina/Minnesota (+123) – .10 units
Calgary Flames (5-13-3) at Buffalo Sabres (7-7-4)
Betting Line: Calgary (+125) at Buffalo (-150) – Total 6.5 (Under, -125)
7:30 p.m. ET – Sportsnet
This is by far the least appealing game on the NHL betting card tonight. The Flames are on the second half of a back-to-back tonight after losing in Chicago last night, 5-2. In their previous three games, when playing on consecutive days, the Flames have a win and two losses and scored a combined four goals.
Buffalo is coming off wins over the Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings (scoring five goals in each win) after dropping five straight and eight of nine. The Sabres have scored four or more goals in six of their seven wins this season. With Dustin Wolf starting last night in Chicago, Devin Cooley will be making his fourth start of the season and is in search of his first win.
Calgary scored a combined four goals in the losses with Cooley between the pipes, but he shouldn’t take it personally. The Flames rank dead last in offense (2.10 goals/per game), scoring two goals or less in 15 of their 21 games and 3 goals or less in 18 of 21. While they can’t score, it doesn’t mean they aren’t getting shots to the net. Morgan Frost and MacKenzie Weegar are both on some nice runs with two or more shots on goal. Frost has at least two shots on goal in four straight and seven of 10. Weegar has two shots on goal in five straight and eight of ten.
A couple of Sabres props on my card for tonight. Bowen Byram has points in four straight. Isak Rosen has points in three of four. Tage Thompson has goals in four of his last five games. Thompson has goals in five straight versus the Flames.
NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Flames Team Total Under 3.5/Ducks TT over 2.5 (-108) – 1 unit
Regulation Draw (+350) – .25 units
Bowen Byram Over ½ point (+145) – .25 units
Isak Rosen Over ½ point (-108) – .20 units
Frost/Weegar each Over 1.5 SOG (+152) – .25 units
Tage Thompson anytime goal (+120) – .10 units
Carolina Hurricanes (13-5-1) at Minnesota Wild (9-7-4)
Betting Line: Carolina (-145) at Minnesota (+125) – Total 6 (Over, -115)
9:30 p.m. ET – TNT
The Minnesota Wild play host tonight to the Carolina Hurricanes in search of their first three-game winning streak of the season. (They have won consecutive games three times.) The Wild face a Canes team that beat them 4-3 back on November 6th. Jesper Wallstedt gets the start for the Wild tonight and has yet to lose this season in regulation (4-0-2). Carolina had yet to confirm who will start in goal tonight, but it will likely not be Pyotr Kochetkov, who was in goal in the Canes’ previous game, a 3-1 win over Boston.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour has rotated his three goalies over the past 12 games, as no goalie has started consecutive games during this stretch. Freddie Andersen was the winning goalie when the two teams met earlier this season. I do like Carolina to win this game and already have them tied to one parlay piece with the Calgary Flames alternate team total Under 3.5. I will also link them to the Anaheim Ducks team total (Over 2.5) to get us a “plus money” wager.
NHL Predictions and Best Bets:
Regulation Draw (+330) – .25 units
Carolina ML/Anaheim TT over 2.5 (+130) – .25 units
Wagering on players to score the first goal of the game can be very profitable. Many sites will allow you to bet on the player to score the first goal for the home or away team, which is usually half the odds of betting the first goal of the game. I am one who prefers option two because the payout is on average +700. Below is a breakdown of each team’s leader in scoring their first goal of the game.
| Team | Player to score teams 1st goal | Notes |
| Anaheim Ducks | Beckett Senecke – 3 times | Carlsson/Gauthier 2 each |
| Los Angeles Kings | Alex Laferriere – 4 times | 3 times – 1st goal of the game |
| San Jose Sharks | Macklin Celebrini – 4 times | 1st goal of the game 3 times and first home goal, 3 straight and four of the last 5 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | Pavel Dorofeyev – 6 times | Never the first goal of the game |
| Calgary Flames | Morgan Frost – 3 times | 2 times – 1st goal of the game |
| Edmonton Oilers | Jack Roslovic – 3 times | 1st Oilers goal in B2B games |
| Vancouver Canucks | Multiple players with 2 | |
| Seattle Kraken | Jaden Schwartz – 5 times | 3 times the first goal of the game |
| Boston Bruins | Morgan Geekie – 5 times | 3 on the road, 2 at home |
| Buffalo Sabres | Multiple players with 2 | |
| Detroit Red Wings | Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond each with 4 | Both players have scored the game’s 1st goal twice |
| Florida Panthers | Brad Marchand – 5 times | 1st goal of the game -2 times |
| Montreal Canadiens | Oliver Kapanen – 5 times | Only 1 time the 1st goal of the game |
| Ottawa Senators | Multiple players with 2 | |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Jake Guentzel – 4 times | 3 times the first goal of the game |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Multiple players with 2 | |
| Colorado Avalanche | Martin Necas – 5 times | All 1st goal of the game |
| Dallas Stars | Johnston/Rantanen – 4 each | Maverick Bourque (2) – both first of game |
| Chicago | Nazar and Bedard both with 3 | |
| Utah | Schmaltz and Cooley with 3 | |
| Winnipeg | Multiple players with 2 | |
| Minnesota | Boldy/Johansson each with 4 | Each with three of the four the first home goal |
| St. Louis | Kyrou and Holloway 3 each | All 3 first goals of the game |
| Nashville | Ryan O’Reilly – 3 times | Twice the first goal of the game |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Multiple players with 2 | |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Multiple players with 2 | |
| NY Islanders | Emil Heineman – 5 times | 3 times the first goal of the game |
| NY Rangers | Mika Zibanejad – 6 times | 4 times the first goal of the game |
| New Jersey Devils | Timo Meier/Arsemi Gritsyuk – 3 times each | All three goals were the game’s first goal for both |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Owen Tippett – 4 times | First goal of the game – 1 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Sidney Crosby and Justin Brazeau – 3 each | All three goals were the game’s first goal for both |
| Washington Capitals | Brandon Duhaime – 3 times | All first goal of the game |
