With six games on the docket on a relatively busy night in the NHL, there are plenty of opportunities to line your pockets with a little extra cash. Read on for our NHL best bets for Monday based on the best NHL odds.
As the NHL's regular season quickly winds down, there are still plenty of teams jockeying for playoff positions. Although Monday's slate of games includes a handful of clubs that sullenly waved bye-bye to the playoffs ages ago (Anaheim, Montreal, Arizona), there are still a few intriguing matchups with postseason implications.
Chief among these matchups is a tri-state showdown between the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. Holding onto the No. 1 wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, the Islanders will likely have to fight tooth-and-nail to make sure they keep a tight grip on said spot, while the Devils find themselves comfortably ensconced within the upper echelon of the conference, 17 points ahead of their rivals from Long Island.
With that in mind, here are our best NHL picks (odds via FanDuel and PointsBet; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Monday's NHL schedule and odds
(odds via DraftKings)
- Montreal Canadiens (+185) vs. Buffalo Sabres (-215)
- Florida Panthers (-135) vs. Ottawa Senators (+115)
- New Jersey Devils (-130) vs. New York Islanders (+110)
- Seattle Kraken (+110) vs. Minnesota Wild (-130)
- Colorado Avalanche (-230) vs. Anaheim Ducks (+195)
- Edmonton Oilers (-315) vs. Arizona Coyotes (+260)
Monday's NHL best bets
- Total: Oilers vs. Coyotes Over 6.5 goals (-162 via FanDuel) ????
- Puck line: Avalanche -1.5 (-105 via PointsBet) vs. Ducks ????
- Player prop: Mikko Rantanen Over 3.5 Shots (-120 via FanDuel) vs. Ducks ????
- Moneyline: Devils (-126 via FanDuel) vs. Islanders ????
Monday's NHL top picks
With most books listing the goal total as 7, FanDuel's Over/Under of 6.5 immediately jumped out at me. Led by this season's MVP, Connor McDavid, the Oilers are the highest-scoring team in the NHL (3.92 goals per game) and boast the sport's deadliest power play. The Coyotes, on the other hand, rank 23rd in both the penalty kill and goals surrendered.
Edmonton has combined with their opponents to score seven-plus goals in six of their past seven games, including a recent 4-3 victory over the Coyotes. I expect more of the same when the two teams clash on Monday night.
I don't care that the Avalanche are a road team in the second game of a back-to-back, they should be able to handle business against the bottom-feeding Ducks. The Avalanche are the superior team in goals for, goals surrendered, Corsi For percentage, expected goals for, expected goals against, and expected goals-for percentage.
The defending Stanley Cup champions have also won nine of their past 10 games and are starting to heat up as they head into the postseason. With most books hovering around -115, Pointsbet offers the best line at -105.
Averaging nearly 3.71 shots on goal per game, backing Rantanen at -120 is a bit of a no-brainer, especially since most sportsbooks have this bet at -130. Ranking 13th in the league in total shots, Rantanen has been bombarding opposing goaltenders with rubber recently, launching 4.4 shots per game over his past five games. He's topped the four-shot plateau three times during that stretch.
Facing a Ducks squad that sits dead last in the NHL in shots surrendered, I expect Rantanen to open up a shooting gallery and direct at least four pucks on goal.
With most odds floating around -130, your best bet if you're backing New Jersey is at FanDuel. With similar records over their past 10 games, I'm backing the somewhat hotter and overall better squad. Led by 40-goal man Jack Hughes, the Devils are the superior team in Corsi for percentage, expected goals for, expected goals against, and expected goals-for percentage.
Sure, there's always a chance that ace goaltender Ilya Sorokin can stymie the potent Devils offense, but I just don't see that happening on Monday night.
NHL best bets made 03/27/2023 at 8:45 a.m. ET.
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- PointsBet: Earn Five Second-Chance Bets Up to $50 Each | Read our PointsBet Review
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