NHL Best Bets
That Rangers-Devils game was an absolute breeze last night. The Devils never found a way to get in the game despite Jack Hughes having an absurd 10 shots on goal. It will be a relatively quiet night around the NHL tonight, as there are only three games across the league. The matchups aren’t all that enticing, but the Edmonton Oilers are in the perfect spot for a bounce back tonight as they welcome in the Minnesota Wild for our NHL best bet.
Minnesota at Edmonton (-192, 6.5)
The Edmonton Oilers are coming off of a crazy loss on home ice against the Boston Bruins. They found themselves down 4-1 before coming all the way back to force overtime at 5-5. However, in overtime, they failed to convert on the man-advantage, which eventually led to a Boston game-winning goal in dazzling form by Charlie McAvoy.
I only gave this backstory because it was a very emotional game for the Oilers, who are probably frustrated with the result and hungry to return to the win column. Edmonton hasn’t been playing their best hockey. They’re still playing well, but they have some things to tighten up, and against a team like Minnesota they should have no problem doing so, and a good candidate for my NHL best bet tonight.
Believe it or not, the Wild have been playing well since returning from the NHL All-Star break. In that span, they’re 5-1-1 but still need to clean some things up defensively. In those seven games, the Wild allowed 3.29 goals against per contest. In their last two games, they have allowed a combined 13 goals against.
The Oilers haven’t been defending all that well either, as they’re allowing 4.00 goals against per game since returning from break, but they’re a team driven by their offense. The Oilers have scored 15 goals in their last three games, and these two teams never seem to play in low-scoring affairs.
Connor McDavid has 14 assists in his last five games, while Leon Draisaitl has tallied three goals and five assists in that span. Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek have combined for 24 points (each having 12) in the Wild’s last five games, so both teams have offensive weapons that are feeling it right now.
The Wild and Oilers have already met twice this season. Both games had a minimum of seven goals scored, which makes me think that we will see something similar tonight because they’re trending on both sides of the puck.
I think Edmonton does take this game, but I see it being a track meet up and down the ice.
NHL Best Bet(s): Edmonton Oilers to win in regulation -120 (play to -135) | Over 6.5 -130 (play to -140)
February Record: 13-14 (-2.28 units)
2023-24 record: 93–107 (-37.06 units)
