Previews for NHL games from December 9 – 15.
Tampa Bay Lightning @ Montreal Canadiens
The back end of a back-to-back, riding a 4-game losing streak? With two straight shutout losses? That’s Tampa right now. When the Lightning and Canadiens drop the puck, it should be an automatic fade the Lightning bet, right? Not so fast.
While the Canadiens are the slight moneyline favorite at -118 to Tampa’s -103, Tampa is one of the streakiest teams in the NHL.
They stumbled out of the gates to start the season, going 1-4-2. Then they immediately remembered they’re a perennial Stanley Cup contender and won five straight. Now they’re back on the skids.
But Montreal might be just what they need to get right. The Habs are streaky too, often right in the same game. They regularly take the second period off, getting outscored 41-28 in the middle 20. Against a veteran team like Tampa, they can’t afford another lapse.
Add in the fact that the Lightning are 6-4-2 on the road, never allowing more than 3 goals in those games, and there could be room for a slight upset.
Colorado Avalanche @ Nashville Predators
NHL betting doesn’t get much easier than hitting Colorado every night.
The Avalanche are on a tear this season and could be on their way to a historic regular season record. They’re 21-2-6, heading into Nashville to face a 10-4-4 Preds team that is still looking for some consistency.
While the game doesn’t suggest an underdog win in any way, the player props are a solid way to play whenever Colorado is on the ice.
The Colorado-Nashville game features a surprisingly low -214 edge for the Avs, with the Preds getting +174. Could be a result of a road swing that has the Avalanche playing its third road game in 4 nights.
There’s more value in anytime goalscorer odds like Cale Makar’s +280. He leads the NHL in points for defencemen, and while he’s an assist machine, he’s due. His last goal was over two weeks ago. Plus, he seems to love preying on the Predators. In 20 games against Nashville, including the regular season and the NHL playoffs, Makar has 9 goals and 24 total points.
Vegas Golden Knights @ New York Islanders
The Vegas-Islanders game has the visiting Golden Knights listed as the clear moneyline favorites at -141. But is NYI’s +116 better value? We think so.
The mantra in the NHL is that a team always needs to ride the hot goalie. Right now, the Isles’ Ilya Sorokin is the hottest keeper in the NHL. He’s coming off a week where he was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week, and his wins came against teams with more firepower than Vegas has.
Sorokin was a scorching 3-0-0, including a shutout against the Lightning and a win over the mighty Avalanche where he faced 38 shots and kept Nathan MacKinnon off the scoresheet entirely. Since November 1, the Islanders’ goalie has 3 shutouts and a microscopic 1.84 GAA.
That could lend itself to a SU New York win, with Vegas in the middle of a 5-game road swing. At the very least, the O/U looks tempting with Sorokin’s play lately. At 5.5, the Under could be the move. Not only could Sorokin shut the door on Vegas’ Jack Eichel and Thomas Hertl, but New York is also coming off a road trip that just included two weekend games in Florida. Their legs might not be up to creating many scoring chances.
Florida Panthers @ Colorado Avalanche
Yeah, we’re double-dipping on the Av games this week – that’s how impressive and must-see-TV worthy they are. Especially when the game is Florida vs. Colorado, the defending Stanley Cup champions against the likely champs this season.
This isn’t quite the same Florida team that has dominated the league in recent years with two Cups in a row. They’re currently sitting 6th in the Atlantic, hovering dangerously close to a .500. It’s like they aged a few years since June.
They’re also giving up more goals per game than they score. Not the stat you want heading into the altitude against Colorado.
Watch live NHL betting odds for an edge here, especially 3rd period bets that favor Colorado or fade the Panthers. Having an aging team without much time to adjust to the Rocky Mountain air can suck the endurance out of their lungs and their legs.
Plus there’s the send-a-message factor. You know the Avs will want to let the reigning Cup champs of the past two seasons know that there’s a new sheriff in town.
Few people will suggest that anyone’s NHL Futures bets should include fading Florida to make the playoffs and even make a deep run. They’re too talented and they’re built for the postseason grind. Oddsmakers have them at +800 to win it all, good for the third-best odds in the entire NHL. But right now, they look ripe for the picking with injuries (Barkov and Tkachuk are the big ones) and age creeping in.
Edmonton Oilers @ Toronto Maple Leafs
This All-Canadian Saturday night matchup is of interest to NHL hockey betting fans for just one reason: star power. And goals.
Between the Oilers’ Connor McDavid and Toronto’s Auston Matthews, we’re looking at two elite snipers, and each of them has to pull their team out of the middle of the pack before we get too deep into the season.
Matthews has two 60+ goal seasons in the past five years. McDavid has one himself. Matthews is averaging just under 50 goals per year over that time, while McDavid hits an average of 40 each year.
Both teams are running hot and cold this year, and both are – on paper – way too talented to be on the playoff bubble at this point of the season.
The Oilers look like they might be righting their ship with 3 wins in their last 5 games to start this week. Same for Toronto, with 4 W’s in their last 5 before this week, and that single loss was by shootout.
Either way you want to wager, the Over could be the way to go. Edmonton scored 15 goals in their last two games heading into this week, and you know Toronto’s aces like Tavares, Nylander and Matthews will start filling the net soon.