Friday brings a six-game schedule in the National Hockey League, including five contests that have playoff implications. Read on for our top NHL best bets for Friday based on the best NHL odds.
The Minnesota Wild visit the Toronto Maple Leafs in a matchup of two teams both in a playoff position.
Toronto has already made a big splash deal ahead of the trade deadline, acquiring center Ryan O'Reilly and depth forward Noel Acciari, and it sits in second place in the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, Minnesota is still expected to make moves before the deadline and is in third place in the Central Division.
The Florida Panthers host the Buffalo Sabres in a battle of teams in pursuit of the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers are tied with the Detroit Red Wings for that spot, but Florida has played three more games and the Sabres are two points behind.
Here are our best NHL picks for Friday's schedule (odds via DraftKings and BetMGM; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
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Friday's NHL schedule and odds
(odds via DraftKings)
- Minnesota Wild (+170) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-200)
- Buffalo Sabres (+180) vs. Florida Panthers (-210)
- Ottawa Senators (+215) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (-255)
- Montreal Canadiens (+130) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (-150)
- Los Angeles Kings (+105) vs. New York Islanders (-125)
- Colorado Avalanche (-110) vs. Winnipeg Jets (-110)
Friday's NHL best bets
- 60-minute Moneyline: Maple Leafs (-125 via DraftKings) vs. Wild ????
- Spread: Hurricanes -1.5 (+100 via BetMGM) vs. Sen ators ????
- Total: Canadiens-Flyers Under 6.5 (-120 via BetMGM) ???
- Prop: Alex Tuch anytime goal (+180 via DraftKings) ????
Friday's NHL top picks
The Toronto Maple Leafs stumble occasionally, including in recent losses to Chicago and Columbus, but they have been a dominant force on home ice.
The Maple Leafs are 22-6-4 at Scotiabank Arena, which is tied for the third-best points percentage on home ice. Of Toronto's 22 home wins, 18 have come within 60 minutes.
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov has been sensational at home, posting a 16-2-1 record with a .924 save percentage in 19 games.
This poses a challenge for a Wild team that is having great difficulty scoring. In 22 games since Jan. 1, the Wild have scored 2.31 goals per 60 minutes, which is tie d for 30th.
Though the Maple Leafs are heavy favorites on the ML, there is value to be found in taking the Leafs to win in 60 minutes. DraftKings offers the Leafs at -125 while the rest of our top-rated sportsbooks range from -130 to -140. There is enough difference there to make DraftKings a much more appealing venue for this wager.
The Carolina Hurricanes control play like no other team, and it is leading to dominant results.
In the past 15 games, Carolina is 13-1-1, and eight of those 13 wins have been by more than one goal. Since Jan. 1, the 'Canes are controlling a preposterous 62.5% of score-and-venue-adjusted expected goals during five-on-five play. Their standard of play is to utterly crush the opposition.
While the Ottawa Senators are pushing to get into the playoff picture, going 7-2-1 in the past 10 games, they are still a mediocre poss ession team. The Sens have an 11-13-2 road record, with 10 of those 13 losses by a margin of multiple goals.
Four of our top-rated sportsbooks all have the Hurricanes -1.5 (+100) on the puck line, which is better value than FanDuel (-104).
The question when it comes to this Canadiens-Flyers game is: who will score?
Injuries have depleted an already suspect Montreal lineup. Nick Suzuki, who has just three goals in the past 26 games, is one of two active Canadiens to have more than 10 goals. Josh Anderson is the other.
Philadelphia has six players with at least 10 goals, but their goal-scoring leader, Travis Konecny, is sidelined with an upper-body injury. With Konecny's 27 goals out of the lineup, Kevin Hayes, Owen Tippett, Scott Laughton, Morgan Frost, and Tony DeAngelo are the Flyers' top scorers, and that is why this game is going Unde r.
Some books have dropped the line to 6, but there is better value to find Under 6.5 (-120) at BetMGM or even at FanDuel (-130).
The Buffalo Sabres can score anywhere, and Alex Tuch ranks second on the team with 27 goals in 56 games.
Buffalo ranks second in the league with 3.81 goals per 60 minutes on the road and Tuch has recorded at least one goal in 12 of 28 road games.
Consistency has been fleeting for the Florida Panthers and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Since Jan. 1, he has a .910 save percentage in 15 games but has allowed three goals or more in nine of those 15 games.
Though there tends to be a wider variance in pricing for player props, there is consistency in the marketplace for an anytime goal by Tuch. DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and PointsBet all have this prop priced at +180 while Caesars is a little behi nd at +175.
NHL best bets made 2/24/2023 at 12 p.m. ET.
Here are our best sportsbooks:
- FanDuel: No Sweat First Bet up to $1,000 | Read our FanDuel Review
- Caesars: Earn Up to a $1,250 Bet Credit | Read our Caesars Review
- DraftKings: Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets | Read our DraftKings Review
- PointsBet: Earn Five Second-Chance Bets Up to $50 Each | Read our PointsBet Review
- BetMGM: Get a Bonus Bet of Up to $1,000 | Read our BetMGM Review
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