NHL Picks: Weekend of Back-to-Backs Make for Interesting Betting Options
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The NHL plunges into the January holiday weekend with some games sure to get the bettors and fans pumped up.
Expect decent wagering, as some of the juice may be more on NFL Super Wild Card weekend. That means more value for those NHL picks. Some surprises are likely.
So let's get you ready for your NHL betting.
NHL Schedule Breakdown This Weekend
Let us do this first in terms of game allotment.
- Friday – 3
- Saturday – 14
- Sunday – 3
- Monday - 11
Thankfully, the continuous action and balanced schedule spice things up for the bettors.
Who plays back-to-back this weekend? Here are those teams.
- Pittsburgh (Friday, Saturday)
- New Jersey (Friday, Saturday)
- Edmonton (Friday, Saturday)
- Vancouver (Saturday, Sunday)
- Carolina (Saturday, Sunday)
- Montreal (Saturday, Sunday)
- Arizona (Saturday, Sunday)
- N.Y. Rangers (Sunday, Monday)
Again, this is straightforward, and there are no late games on Sunday night. Monday features 11 games on Martin Luther King Day, including five matinees and a 6 p.m. start in Vegas.
What To Look Forward To in the NHL This Weekend
The biggest thing to look forward to is some of those quirks in the schedule. For example, eight teams play back-to-backs. By the way, Vancouver and Carolina get no rest on Saturday and Sunday, then play each other. Consider the Canucks’ adventures lately and bet accordingly.
New Jersey heads to the West Coast and faces Anaheim and Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday night. Jack Hughes and the group go up against the worst team in the NHL at even strength, then one of the worst. Keep in mind Los Angeles has played better of late. It will be interesting to see who starts in goal for both teams on Saturday.
New Jersey completes the long weekend by playing in San Jose (1 p.m. local start). The expectation is for quite a few goals in this three-game set. Do we see an Over set at 7.0 at some point?
If there is even better news, there is this: The Monday schedule may be more dynamic than the Saturday version. This is significant as the 16th features the most games on the week opener since Thanksgiving. Calgary and Nashville are one of the late games at a mere 8 p.m. on the East Coast. That is relatively easy to take.
Saturday has two more traditional rivalry games, too. Boston and Toronto play each other, and then Philadelphia and Washington. Do not sleep on contests like Edmonton and Vegas. Consider how much of an adventure Vegas is at home (not in a good way). Scoring is still up and figures not to correct itself anytime soon. League average save percentage hovers around .900, while shots are up to just over 30 a night per team.
More About NHL Wagering For The Weekend
Hockey bettors are in a unique position this weekend where there is a little bit of something for everyone. There is the late slate of games on Saturday, the early slate on Monday, and the Vancouver-Carolina contest on Sunday alone.
Seattle and Chicago on Saturday could be another wild game. The Kraken comes off a season-defining win in Boston. Chicago is on a three-game winning streak.
The Rangers and Blue Jackets are a solid game. Watch out for the Blue Jackets here. New York will score, but Columbus could get three past a backup goaltender depending on Jaroslav Halak. Strange things can happen.
Some Quick Points For Your Betting Info
- Pick on Overs with Vancouver until it can stop someone.
- Ride the Filip Forsberg anytime goal prop with prime Predators matchups against Buffalo and even Calgary
- Check out Jack Hughes. The goal, point, and shot props are in play for New Jersey all holiday weekend.
- Alex Ovechkin goal props for Saturday at Washington, D.C. should be on high alert.
- Does Philadelphia, of all teams, keep rolling this weekend? Is regression near Saturday?
- Expect another big game from Buffalo's Tage Thompson on Saturday night.
- Tampa and St. Louis could feature offensive fireworks as well.
Good luck, and once again, thanks for reading! We will have a few more plays on social media as conditions warrant.
Thanks to BetMGM for solid weekend lines and TSN for the easy-to-follow segmented schedule.
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