Sports Betting

NHL Best Bets, Opening Weekend Games

If you are looking for series winners or outright bets to win the Stanley Cup, please check out my previous article that can be found here. If you’re looking for my NHL Best Bets for the Opening Weekend Games, you’re in the right place.

Saturday August 1st

New York Rangers (+110) vs Carolina Hurricanes (-120) 12PM EST

This game comes down to goal scoring and defence. I believe that Rangers are better set up in both categories. New York goaltender Igor Shestyorkin played 12 games this season and posted a scintillating 0.932 save percentage. If he doesn’t start, look for King Henrik Lundqvist who looked really good in the exhibition to back stop the Rangers to victory. Take the New York Rangers @ +110

Edmonton Oilers (-140) vs Chicago Blackhawks (+130) 3PM EST

DO NOT WAIT! I will no longer like this line if it reaches -150 or lower. Both Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen looked solid in their half game on Wednesday. Connor McDavid had 2 shots and 2 goals. Chicago looked pretty good in their warm up Thursday, however St. Louis didn’t look all that great against the Blackhawks that afternoon. Take the Edmonton Oilers @ -140 while the getting is good.

New York Islanders (-105) vs Florida Panthers (-105) 4PM EST

My faith in the Florida Panthers is low until they show some life. The Islanders might not score five goals like the Lightning did on Wednesday, but the Panthers also were unable to score. NYI are a much better defensive team, and were able to beat the Ranger 2-1. Take the New York Islanders @ -105

Winnipeg Jets (+100) vs Calgary Flames (-110) 10:30PM EST

The Winnipeg Jets looked scary good agains the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night. Calgary and Vancouver both looked like they played similar games, where they carried the play for a majority of the game but were unable to beat quality goaltending. Connor Hellebuyck is a quality goaltender up for the Vesina Trophy. Calgary took too many penalties against Edmonton and their defence and goaltending didn’t look quite play off ready. This will be a tight series but I really liked how the Jets looked in their tune up. Take the Winnipeg Jets @ +100 to win game 1.

Sunday August 2nd

Arizona Coyotes (+105) vs Nashville Predators (-115) 2PM EST

Nashville looked dominant agains the Dallas Stars in their tune up. Both goalies didn’t allow a goal and Victor Arvidsson was able to get two, both assisted by Filip Forsberg. Arizona gave up a short handed goal as well as a power play goal against the Golden Knights on Thursday. Take the sharper looking Nashville Predators @ -115

St.Louis Blues (-105) vs Colorado Avalance (-105) 6:30PM EST

The St. Louis Blues had quite the rough outing agains the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. Jordan Binnington was stellar in the minutes he played but the rest of the Blues showed some rust. Colorado looked really good beating Minnesota 3-2. Nathan McKinnon didn’t look like he missed a beat, scoring a goal and flying into the offensive zone. I have faith St.Louis will find their game, but it won’t be in this contest. Take the Colorado Avalance @ -105.

Columbus Blue Jackets (+132) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (-145) 8PM EST

Both of these teams had dominant preformances in their exhibition games. I think Columbus is being undervalued here and with the return of goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and forward Cam Atkinson, this could be the upset of the first round. Even if it isn’t, I like the Leafs to receive a wake up call here. This line seems to overvalue the Leafs on this night. Take the Columbus Blue Jackets @ +132

Minnesota Wild (+105) vs Vancouver Canucks (-115) 10:30PM EST

Minnesota looked like the stronger team in their exhibition game being edged out late by the Colorado Avalanche 3-2. Minnesota is better on the back end and can find offence from anywhere. Vancouver looked good as well, however had some defensive lapses against Winnipeg. I don’t believe that this is out of Vancouver’s system yet as they have a young core. Take the Minnesota Wild to win game 1 @ +105

Thanks for check out this article. For more NHL betting information, as well as all other sports that interest you, sign up for your Win Daily membership. It’s only $19.99 for the month and will give you access to all the articles and cheat sheets. You will also get access to our Expert Discord Chat where you can talk to all the Win Daily pros in person 24/7. Also watch us on Twitter, YouTube and Twitch as we have live video podcasts constantly throughout the day on a wide range of sports and e-sports. If you miss it, you can check out those podcasts or many other great interviews and insights anywhere you listen to podcasts. Hit me up on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at @Zakspuckpicks.

NHL Best Bets, Play in Round and Outrights

Many of these picks have been previously discussed on the live stream that can be watched on YouTube here. I highly recommend watching the show in its entirety, but if you just need your NHL fix, scroll ahead to the 45 minute mark to see my beautiful bald head covered by a glorious WinDaily hat (found here). Here are some of our favorite NHL Best Bets for the Play in Round and Outrights.

New York Rangers (+110) Carolina Hurricanes (-136)

The New York Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in all four games during the regular season. While there has been an almost five month pause between the regular season and the start of the play in series, I do not think this is a scenario that can be ignored. To add to that, the top two lines for the Rangers really found their game as the season progressed. With NYR’s Artemi Panarin nominated for the Heart Trophy, given out to the leagues MVP during the regular season, it is added value to take the underdog here. Carolina were looking to get two quality defenders back, however their number one defenseman, Dougie Hamilton sustained an injury in training camp and is unlikely to play for this play in series. It may be surprising to some that I would go against a team that beat a high powered Maple Leafs team with their minor leagues zamboni driver, but these are crazy times. Take the New York Rangers @ +110

Chicago Blackhawks (+135) vs Edmonton Oilers (-167)

I said on the live stream that I liked this pick even though the juice was higher than I like to bet. This is still the case, however there have been some updates since that live stream. Corey Crawford is back in net for the Blackhawks after reportedly recovering from Covid 19. They then comes in and posts a shut out against the defending Stanley Cup Champions. This would normally scare me off this pick and tell you that I am second guessing this pick. Here are two reasons I am not. Edmonton boasts the top power play in the league. The second reason, Edmonton had the best player in the league who had two shots on net… and two goals. I also failed to mention that aside from Connor McDavid who had a 100% shooting percentage, they also have the leagues top goal scorer and heart trophy candidate in Leon Draisaitl. Put your mind at ease and swallow the juice. Take the Edmonton Oilers @ -167.

Florida Panthers (+100) vs New York Islanders (-122)

A New Jersey Devils fan suggesting to take both teams from New York? I must be coming down with something. Don’t get me started on why I think the Penguins will also win their series and how surprisingly good the Philadelphia Flyers looked. I had hoped, for sanity sake, that Sergei Bobrovski would turn back the clock and show what he displayed last year when he stood on his head and was a major reason that Columbus swept the heavily favoured Tampa Bay Lightning. Alas, this is not the case. Those same Tampa Bay Lightning got five goals past goalie Bob, en route to a 5-0 victory, in Wednesday’s exhibition game. The New York Islanders, who struggled before the Covid break, played a great defensive game and came away with a 2-1 victory over the high scoring New York Rangers. This result doesn’t bode well for the Panthers as they will need to outscore the Islanders to make up for their defensive shortcomings. I don’t believe this will happen. Take the New York Islanders @ -122

You are probably wondering, “why did I open this if he is just going to spit out the same information he did on the live stream?” Well I hopefully am adding more humour in this article to brighten your day! OK FINE. Here are two more series I quite like the looks of.

Arizona Coyotes (+115) vs Nashville Predators (-139)

Looking at the statistics for this series, a lot of the numbers point to the Arizona Coyotes being the most likely to come out of this series the victor. Better goals against, better PP%, a much better PK%. However, I took myself through a self taught course on what they call Corsi statistics. These stats are relatively new to the hockey world but explain a lot of how Nashville is the favourite. The Predators, over the course of the season held the puck 51.7% of the time. As we know, its much harder to score if you don’t have control of the puck. They also had 33 less high danger scoring chances than the Coyotes but managed to score 7 more high danger goals. Juuse Saros took over the crease from long time net minder Pekka Rinne, and stole the show. Nashville also has goal scorers Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg returning to their lineup. As long as Nashville can stay out of the penalty box often than they did in the regular season (which shouldn’t be difficult at 9 minutes per game) I really like their chances. Take the Nashville Predators @ -139

Minnesota Wild (+100) vs Vancouver Canucks (-122)

How is this for a confident opening? I do not understand this Minnesota Wild team. Their roster on paper looks like a group that were really talented 5 years ago and cast offs from teams that “no longer required their services”. However, I must admit, I really like their chances against the Canucks. Since the trade deadline, they have had a drastic spike in their power play percentage and a lot like Nashville, their high danger scoring chances converted to goals sits at a staggering 15.8% (that’s really good). Another similarity to the Predators is that the Wild made a goaltending switch from Devin Dubnyk to Alex Stalock who vastly improved their Goals Against Average. Vancouver is a high paced group with a lot of young talent. They will have their time of success, but it doesn’t come this year. Take the Minnesota Wild (+100)

Bonus selection!! This line just seams way off to me and I have undervalued them this whole season. Both of these teams looked really good in their exhibition games so it is a bit of a stretch. They have very opposite styles in this team is much more defensive than their opponent. Also, their opponent has a history of starting slow in the regular season, and their goalie tends to take a while to find his dominant game. Take the Columbus Blue Jackets @ +140 to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs

Outrights to Win the Stanley Cup

No changes in thoughts here!

• Boston Bruins +650 (prefer the Bruins in the +650 range)
• Tampa Bay Lighting +650
• Vegas Golden Knights +800 (Prefer Vegas in the +800 range)
• Colorado Avalanche +800
• Washington Capitals +1000
• New York Ranger +4000 (please bring me medicine!!!)

Thanks for check out this article. For more NHL betting information, as well as all other sports that interest you, sign up for your Win Daily membership. It’s only $19.99 for the month and will give you access to all the articles and cheat sheets. You will also get access to our Expert Discord Chat where you can talk to all the Win Daily pros in person 24/7. Also watch us on Twitter, YouTube and Twitch as we have live video podcasts constantly throughout the day on a wide range of sports and e-sports. If you miss it, you can check out those podcasts or many other great interviews and insights anywhere you listen to podcasts. Hit me up on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at @Zakspuckpicks.