Mcb777 CasinoNHL Best Bets Today: Matchups, Odds, Picks, Predictions for Saturday

Sportsbook Review's NHL best bets for today's slate.

This Saturday’s slate is nearly packed to the brim, with every team in action aside from the Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes. Here are our NHL picks and best bets for Saturday.

The possibilities are endless as 30 of 32 NHL teams are set to play on Saturday. With only one game Friday night, the Los Angeles Kings are the sole team that will be on the second half of a back-to-back. The Kings had won four of their last five games ahead of Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Canucks, and will face the Seattle Kraken in one of Saturday’s finales.

Crucial points will be on the line as these teams sit back-to-back in the Pacific Division standings – separated by exactly two points.

Elsewhere, the Ottawa Senators will play their second straight Saturday afternoon game as they host the scorching hot New Jersey Devils. Can the Sens end the Devils' 11-game winning streak?

Here are our best bets for Saturday’s NHL slate (odds via BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, and FanDuel Sportsbook; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Saturday’s NHL Schedule and Odds

(odds via DraftKings)

New Jersey Devils (-150) vs. Ottawa Senators (+130)
Calgary Flames (+115) vs. Florida Panthers (-135)
Chicago Blackhawks (+340) vs. Boston Bruins (-425)
Detroit Red Wings (-140) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (+120)
Philadelphia Flyers (+115) vs. Montreal Canadiens (-135)
Buffalo Sabres (+230) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-275)
Colorado Avalanche (-130) vs. Washington Capitals (+110)
Pittsburgh Penguins (-120) vs. Winnipeg Jets (+100)
New York Islanders (+130) vs. Dallas Stars (-150)
Carolina Hurricanes (-120) vs. Minnesota Wild (+100)
Tampa Bay Lightning (-130) vs. Nashville Predators (+110)
Anaheim Ducks (+195) vs. St. Louis Blues (-230)
Vegas Golden Knights (-115) vs. Edmonton Oilers (-105)
Los Angeles Kings (+120) vs. Seattle Kraken (-140)
New York Rangers (-155) vs. San Jose Sharks (+135)

Saturday’s NHL Best Bets

Moneyline: Golden Knights (-111 via FanDuel) ★★★★★
Spread: Rangers -1.5 (+160 via DraftKings) ★★★★★
Total: Blackhawks-Bruins Under 6 (-105 via Caesars) ★★★★★
Upset: Flyers (+118 via FanDuel) ★★★★★
Prop bet: Tage Thompson anytime goal scorer (+170 via DraftKings) ★★★★★

Saturday’s NHL Top Picks

Moneyline: Golden Knights (-111) ★★★★★

The Vegas Golden Knights head north to take on the Edmonton Oilers, and the oddsmakers are torn on who to take. For example, DraftKings had the Oilers as -115 favorites with the Golden Knights as slight underdogs at -105 as of Friday night; however, the lines were flipped Saturday morning. FanDuel currently has the best moneyline odds with Vegas at -111, and there’s a lot to like about taking the first-place Knights (14-4) to win outright.

Vegas may be the away team, but that could be to its benefit given its 8-1 road record this season. Edmonton is just above .500 at 9-8, but that includes an abysmal 4-6 mark at home. Both squads average over 3.5 goals for per game, but the Oilers also allow a similar amount whereas the Golden Knights yield just 2.39 goals per game.

Edmonton (31.7%) has the far superior power play compared to Vegas (22.2%), but there’s a significant gap in the other direction between the Golden Knights (77.2%) and the Oilers (71.8%) when it comes to the penalty kill. Edmonton will certainly put up a fight, but Vegas should be able to pull out the win in the end.

Spread: Rangers -1.5 (+160) ★★★★★

Is there anyone who expected the New York Rangers to be the worst team in the Tri-State Area? They’re only two points behind the New York Islanders with equal games played; however, their 8-6-4 record doesn’t look nearly as good as the Isles’ 11-7 mark. Luckily, this matchup should inspire confidence against the lowly San Jose Sharks.

There have been bright spots in San Jose this season, including a 5-2 win in Vegas on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the Sharks' 6-10-3 record is a lot more indicative of what they actually are. The Sharks beat the Rangers 3-2 in overtime when these teams last met nearly a month ago, but they’re also 5-5-3 since including a five-game losing skid sandwiched in the middle.

San Jose’s inability to get consistent goaltending has been a problem as well. Sharks netminders have combined to record a 3.26 goals against average and a .892 save percentage. As such, New York has a good chance to win by two or more goals.

Total: Blackhawks-Bruins Under 6 (-105) ★★★★★

A pair of Original Six squads with aging cores get set to hit the ice as the Chicago Blackhawks head to TD Garden to take on the Boston Bruins. The obvious difference is that the Bruins are having a start to remember at 15-2-0 entering the day, whereas the Blackhawks would love a re-do as staple forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane come ever closer to retirement. Boston is 12-1 over its last 13 games and has a plus-33 goal differential.

Across the ice, times are changing quickly in Chicago. Toews leads the team with seven goals and Kane leads the team in points, as per usual, but the contributions from the rest of the lineup are predominantly pedestrian. The Blackhawks are averaging just 2.50 goals per game, and the Bruins are allowing an average of only 2.12 goals per game.

Surprisingly, Chicago has received fairly solid goaltending including a 5-on-5 save percentage of .930. Boston is 10-0 at home and has this game all but in the bag, however, several metrics indicate that it will actually be a low-scoring affair.

Upset: Flyers (+118) ★★★★★

Things were finally looking up for the Philadelphia Flyers when the season began. They stormed out of the gate with a 5-2 record under the tutelage of discipline-first head coach John Tortorella, but now find themselves in the midst of a five-game losing skid. The Montreal Canadiens, by all accounts, are overperforming in what should be a rebuilding year; however, an 8-8-1 record hardly says ‘unbeatable’.

Unfortunately, the Habs have become accustomed to track meets while averaging exactly three goals per game and yielding an average of 3.47 goals against and 33.5 shots against per game. The Flyers have struggled to score, but this is a good spot for them to bust out of their funk. If there was ever a time to take them as underdogs, it would be now.

Prop: Thompson anytime goal (+170) ★★★★★

Twenty-five-year-old center Tage Thompson has been dominating the headlines in the Buffalo Sabres' media since early last season – and finally for the right reasons. After scoring just 15 goals and 26 points through his first 104 games with the Sabres, he’s exploded for 50 goals and 40 assists over his last 95 games. Thompson scored 38 goals in 78 games last season, and already has 12 goals through 17 games for the 2022-23 campaign.

With goals in four of his last five games, Thompson will step into a plus-matchup against a good-not-great Toronto Maple Leafs defense that will be without two key top-four contributors in Jake Muzzin and T.J. Brodie. Netminder Matt Murray will make his third straight start for the buds, which honestly has little effect on this market since he’s been average so far with a .903 SV% through three games.

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NHL odds and best bets from 11/19/2022 at 10:56 a.m. ET.

Written By:
Luke Garrison

Luke Garrison is a 29-year-old professional writer and graphic designer living in Hamilton, Ontario. After graduating from the University of Guelph with a bachelor’s degree in English, he earned a post-graduate certificate in Sports Journalism from Centennial College. He has been writing about sports for 14 years and betting on them for 10 years. His hobbies include photography, traveling, playing sports, video games, and hanging out with friends. There’s nothing he enjoys more than a good concert, and his favorite food will always be pizza.