Will the Golden Knights’ dominance versus the Senators continue? Will the Penguins-Oilers matchup tonight turn high-scoring? Can the Predators build off their latest victory and hammer the lowly Blackhawks? Check out our Friday NHL Prediction & Best Bets.
Thursday NHL Best Bets Recap
For Thursday, my three recommendations were the Bruins (+105) over the Stars, the Jets (-130) to stay undefeated with a win over the Kraken and the Avalanche (-135) to beat the Utah Hockey Club. While the Bruins were taken behind the woodshed in a 5-2 loss at home, the Avalanche smoked the Hockey Club 5-1 and the Jets overcome the Kraken 4-3 in overtime.
The 2-1 night evened my season record at 22-22, but a $100.00 bettor would still be down -$413.00.
Friday NHL Prediction: Vegas Golden Knights -155, 6:00 p.m. ET
The Senators did beat the Golden Knights 4-3 in a shootout last February, which was the last time these two teams met. That said, that was the Golden Knights’ lone loss to the Senators in the last 10 meetings between these two teams.
Vegas has struggled a bit of late, dropping three of its last four games overall. That said, they got back on track in their last game, whipping the Kings, 6-1. As for the Senators, they’re coming off a 4-0 win over the Hockey Club in Utah and now have three wins in their last four games. Still, ownage is ownage. I’ll be on Vegas tonight.
Friday NHL Prediction: Nashville Predators -1.5 (+140), 8:30 p.m. ET
We’ll have to take the Predators on the puckline to get any sort of value on Nashville tonight, but the Preds should be able to cruise in Chicago. In the last 10 meetings between these two teams, the Predators are 9-1. You’d have to go back to March of 2023 to discover the last and only time the Blackhawks have beaten the Predators since December 17 of 2021.
Not only that, but Chicago has struggled mightily to start the season. The Blackhawks have two wins on the season and one of those victories came against the lowly Sharks. Otherwise, they’re 2-6-2 on the season.
Granted, the Predators are 2-7-1 on the season so they have nothing to brag about. Still, they’re coming off a 4-0 win over the Bruins so perhaps that win will jumpstart Nashville to start playing better.
Friday NHL Prediction: Penguins-Oilers over 6.5 (-120), 9:00 p.m. ET
If there was going to be a high-scoring game among the four contests in the NHL on Friday night, this would be it. The over is 6-4 in the last 10 meetings between these two teams, cashing in three out of the previous four meetings since October of 2022. While the over is just 2-4-1 in Edmonton games this season, it’s been profitable in Pittsburgh contests, going 5-2-1.