Will the Sabres and Penguins struggle to get over the total on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh? Will the Avalanche and Bruins struggle to keep the puck out of the net in Denver? And can the Utah Hockey Club overcome its first loss when it takes on the Ducks? Check out our Wednesday NHL Best Bets.
Tuesday NHL Best Bets Recap
I recommended the Lightning (-135) over the Canucks, the Golden Knights (-135) over the Capitals and the over in the Blackhawks-Flames matchup. While the Golden Knights failed to show up in a 4-2 loss to Washington, the Lightning routed the Canucks, 4-1. Unfortunately, after the Blackhawks and Flames combined for two goals in the opening period, Calgary shut Chicago down in the final two frames of a 3-1 victory. Thus, my Tuesday NHL Best Bets finished just 1-2.
The losing night dropped my season record to 13-11. A $100.00 bettor would be up +$20.00.
Wednesday NHL Best Bets: Sabres-Penguins under 6 (+100)
I like that we’re getting even juice on this play because I think the under is the best bet on the board. Buffalo has already played four games to start the season and thus far, they scored more than one goal in a game just once (a 5-2 win over the Panthers in their last game). Other than that, the Sabres haven’t provided much offense. In fact, dating back to last season, the under is 6-1-3 in the Buffalo’s last 10 games.
On the other side, the Penguins’ scoring has been sporadic. They were shutout by the Rangers in their first game, then scored six goals at Detroit before mustering only two tallies in Toronto. Then, facing the Habs in Montreal, they scored another six. Weird start to the season for Pittsburgh.
The under is 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings between these two teams. The over hasn’t cashed in a Buffalo-Pittsburgh matchup since November 2, 2022. That’s a span of five consecutive meetings.
Wednesday NHL Best Bets: Bruins-Avalanche over 6.5 (+100), 9:30 p.m. ET
The Aves have dropped three straight games to start the season. Their biggest issue has been goal prevention, as they allowed eight games to the Golden Knights, six goals to Columbus and six goals to the Islanders. Yikes.
The Bruins, meanwhile, have had their own defensive issues. They allowed six goals in Sunrise, FL to open the season versus the Panthers, then allowed four goals to Montreal before shutting down the Kings in a 2-1 overtime win. Then they allowed another four goals in a loss to Florida.
This is a big total tonight in Colorado but the combination of crap goal tending and high-powered offenses are perfect to take the over.
Wednesday NHL Best Bets: Utah Hockey Club (-130), 10:00 p.m. ET
How about the start for the Utah Hockey Club? They finally suffered their first loss on Monday night in New Jersey, where they were shutout, 3-0. That said, they hammered teams before that dud. They opened their season with a 5-2 win over the Blackhawks at home, then posted back-to-back road overtime victories over the Islanders and Rangers, respectively. In those games, the Utah Hockey Club scored five and six goals, respectively.
As for the Ducks, they beat the lowly Sharks 2-0 in their opener, then fell 3-1 to the Golden Knights. It doesn’t appear as though the Ducks got any better offensively over the offseason and I expect Utah to rebound tonight off its first loss.