We are in the thick of the 2021/22 NHL season, and things are certainly heating up! Today there are heaps of games for us fans to sink our teeth into. With so many teams taking the ice, it is going to be an exciting day of NHL action, so you don’t want to miss this.
How will today’s games shake out? Which teams will be in the winners circle, and who will need to bounce back after a loss? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain, we are in for some great games! So sit back, relax and if you like to have a bet, then you have certainly come to the right place.
Look below to find our free NHL picks, as we preview the best five games on today’s schedule.
Carolina Hurricanes @ Los Angeles Kings – 4.00PM ET
The Carolina Hurricanes are in the middle of a pretty decent road trip when they travel to Los Angeles to take on the Kings. The Hurricanes are building nicely throughout November, and they are currently on a three game winning streak, which takes their season record to 13-2-0. After winning the first five games in November, the Kings have dropped their last two, and things don’t get easier on Saturday afternoon, when they take on the Hurricanes.
Denis Kirilov
The Carolina Hurricanes and the Los Angeles Kings will open the weekend for the NHL. The Hurricanes is probably the best team at the moment, while the Kings are finding it hard to keep their high-level play and after their 7-game winning streak they are now at two consecutive defeats. Both teams are quite conservative when it comes to the playing style during their matches as none of them wants to concede an easy and early goal in their net. The Kings haven’t conceded more than 2 goals in regular time for the past 9 matches, while the Hurricanes have the same achievement for 5 games in a row already.
This winning run for the Kings brought them back to the top positions in the Western Conference, but after these two losses, they went down to the 9th place. It’s still early in the season and the situation is pretty tight between the mid-places in the table, but they will need to figure something out in order to get back to their momentum that might play a significant role for their chances for the Playoffs. The Hurricanes, on the other hand, might be in the more competitive Conference, but the way they are playing at the moment doesn’t suggest not qualifying for the elimination matches. Keeping in mind both teams’ conservativeness, I will take the option for “under goals” in this game.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Under 5.5 (-128)
Tony Battalio
Unlike most of the other top teams in the National Hockey League, the Carolina Hurricanes are putting together a somewhat impressive month of November. They come into this game on a three game winning streak and have an overall record of 13-2-0 on the season. They will be looking to extend their winning streak and further separate themselves from the pack as a potential Stanley Cup winner later on this season.
Heading into the weekend like Stevie pic.twitter.com/VJdDWhPLVb
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) November 20, 2021
The Los Angeles Kings have put together a decent month for themselves as well. However after starting the month with five straight victories they have lost their last two contests. They will be looking for a momentum boosting victory on Saturday against the Hurricanes but it will not be easy at all. As for the result of this game, I look for the Carolina Hurricanes to come out on top in a back and forth contest.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes (-176)
Michael Lantz
On Thursday night the Carolina Hurricanes won a tense 2-1 battle against an up-and-coming Anaheim Ducks squad that’s been taking the Pacific Division by storm. Now, Carolina stays in the Southern California region to take on the LA Kings in what should be another close matchup.
After a seven game winning streak, the LA Kings have cooled off, going winless in their last two. They’ll look to bounce back against a 13-2-0 Carolina team that has won three straight. LA has been a bit of an ebb and flow team, they started out subpar, went on a win streak and now find themselves in losing ways. A lot of this has to do with the performance of Anze Kopitar—who has only had two points in the last five games. At home the Kings are 5-3-0 this year—a fine record, but nothing that’ll intimidate opponents. I’ll pick Carolina to win a close one.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes (-176)
Minnesota Wild @ Florida Panthers – 6.00PM ET
The Minnesota Wild begin their three game road trip when they take on the Florida Panthers, who are currently in the middle of a four game home stand. The Wild will be looking to back up a dominant performance against the Stars last time out, where they won, 7-2, and this takes their season record to 11-5-0. The Panthers are on a two game winning streak, with wins over the Islanders and Devils, where they conceded just one goal in each of those games, and their season record is currently standing at 12-2-3.
Denis Kirilov
Both the Minnesota Wild and the Florida Panthers are among the favorites to be one of the first teams to clinch a Playoffs spot. The Panthers started off their campaign with a fantastic 8-0 run. However, the tight schedule and the tough matchups led up to them getting four consecutive losses for the span of just 6 days. They eventually got back to the right track after crushing the hopes of the Islanders and the Devils with two convincing wins at home. The Panthers are surely a team to watch this season as they managed to do all this without some of their key players. At the moment, Aleksander Barkov, Noel Acciari, and Mason Marchment are sidelined for the fixture against the Minnesota Wild.
On Minnesota’s side there are no issues in terms of suspensions and injuries. They are all considered to be 100% healthy and are expected to be able to play against Florida. The Wild had two really contradicting games recently. They lost to the San Jose Sharks who had most of their players coming back after being sidelined for Covid-19. Two days later, they smashed the Dallas Stars at home, defeating them 7-2. Dallas is actually a team that doesn’t really concede many goals on average, but this game surely worsened their defensive statistics. Minnesota has the potential to defeat their upcoming opponent, but my preferences here will go towards the more dominant and consistent team among these two – the Florida Panthers.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Florida Panthers (-160)
Tony Battalio
Minnesota will kick off a three game road trip to the southern United States to play a Florida Panthers team that has been stuck in a slump as of late. The Wild are currently 11-5-0 on the year as they have got off to a great start and look like a potential playoff team come next year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Following this game, the Wild will make stops in Tampa Bay and New Jersey so there are certainly no easy games on this trip.
The Florida Panthers got off to a blazing start this season. However once we entered the month of November the wheels started to come loose a bit. After their head coach was dismissed, Florida started racking up losses like they were going out of style. However they come into this game on a two game winning streak so they may have found a quick fix for the time being. Time will tell if that quick fix becomes permanent or if their engine will blow out before we reach the end of the road. As for the result of this game, I think the Minnesota Wild will pull off an impressive road victory on Saturday evening.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild (+132)
Michael Lantz
At 11-5-0, the Minnesota Wild continue to be an under the radar team in the competitive Western Conference. Since the beginning of November, they’ve been averaging over four goals per game. This is thanks in large part to last season’s Calder Trophy winner, Kirill Kaprizov, who has scored six points in the last five games, to help steer Minnesota in an upward position. On Saturday night, the Wild will face a Florida Panthers team that’s looking like one of the Eastern Conference best.
That being said, the Panthers haven’t gone without their own struggles. After starting the season 10-0-1, the Miami-based team went winless in four straight. After that minor slump, they’ve come back with a vengeance, outscoring their last two opponents 10-2. In those two games they’ve had a deep offense, with various players racking up points. Minnesota, when at full-strength, has been very good on the road, and Florida hasn’t scored under five goals at home this season. So, without being able to pick a legitimate winner, I’ll go with the over for this one—which should be a thrill.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Over 6 (-115)
Pittsburgh Penguins @ Toronto Maple Leafs – 7.00PM ET
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the middle of a three game road trip and they travel to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs on Saturday night. The Penguins have won just three of their eight games so far in November, but last time out they dominated the Canadiens, 6-0. Who will be the team to stop the Maple Leafs? They are currently on a five game winning streak, with wins against the Flyers, Flames, Sabres, Predators and Rangers.
Denis Kirilov
The Toronto Maple Leafs is one of the best teams when it comes to home matches. They have won 9 out of their 12 encounters in Scotiabank Arena so far this season. The main factor behind this magnificent performance is their defense. They rarely concede more than 2 goals in Canada in front of their home crowd. The Penguins, on the other hand, struggled in the first part of this campaign, because they couldn’t use some of their best players in the face of Sidney Crosby, Brian Dumoulin, and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby and Dumoulin made their comebacks in the 6-1 defeat against the Washington Capitals. Later on, they surprisingly lost to the Buffalo Sabres in the mythic PPG Paints Arena. In their most recent game, the Penguins crushed the Montreal Canadiens, 6-0, which was a fantastic opener for their road trip in Canada.
However, the match against the Maple Leafs won’t be anything near the one against Montreal. The runners-up from last year seem to be way out of rhythm at the moment and any team can beat them by such a huge margin. Toronto, on the other hand, are far more conservative and cautious in the way they enter into a particular match. They know that it will be tough against the Penguins and they will wait for their moment, even if that takes two or three periods. I believe they will once again elevate themselves in front of the 20,000 audience in Scotiabank Arena and the Maple Leafs will leave the ice with the victory.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Toronto Maple Leafs (-178)
Tony Battalio
The Pittsburgh Penguins continue their brief three game road trip as they head up north of the border to Toronto for this game on Saturday night. The Penguins have struggled thus far throughout the month of November having only picked up three wins in their first eight games of the season’s first full month. They have shown flashes of impressive play even without superstar Sidney Crosby on the ice.
1st Star
The Leaf: Blueprint Moment #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/PBEf02I2WU
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 19, 2021
The Toronto Maple Leafs come into this match up on a five game winning streak. They have racked up wins against teams like the Philadelphia Flyers, the Buffalo Sabres, the Calgary Flames, the Nashville Predators, and the New York Rangers who are all impressive teams in their own right. As for the result of this game, I look for Toronto’s winning streak to continue on as they should pick up a nice home victory here to make it 6 wins in a row.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Toronto Maple Leafs (-178)
Michael Lantz
Welcome back, Sidney Crosby! After the Pittsburgh Penguins captain rejoined the squad last Sunday, the team dropped two ugly games. Luckily, on Thursday night, the Penguins thrashed the Montreal Canadiens, in a game that included a goal from Pittsburgh’s beloved captain. They’ll hope his presence elevates their 6-6-4 record to playoff contention. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, they’ll have to play one of the NHL’s hottest teams: the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs have won nine of their last ten and continue to make big strides, as Auston Matthews is now up to 15 points in 15 games and captain John Tavares is at 16 points. But, everyone knew that the Maple Leafs would have a strong offense—the biggest breakthrough has come in goaltending as American Jack Campbell has worked his way into becoming one of the league’s elite goalies. When these two teams faced off earlier in the year, Pittsburgh won 7-1. But that was when the Maple Leafs were struggling to put it together. A month later, they look like a different team. I’ll go with Toronto to supply a little payback.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Toronto Maple Leafs (-178)
Columbus Blue Jackets @ Vegas Golden Knights – 10.00PM ET
The Columbus Blue Jackets are in the middle of a three game road trip when they battle against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night. The Blue Jackets are coming off two wins in a row, against the Red Wings and Coyotes, and their season record is currently sitting at 9-5-0. The Golden Knights have won four of their last five, with their only loss coming against the Hurricanes, 2-4.
Denis Kirilov
A lot of players are expected to be missing for the Vegas Golden Knights for their upcoming match against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Seven of them are most probably out for the game with injuries, while Jonathan Marchessault and Mike Amadio are placed in the Covid-19 protocol. It’s a pity for the Golden Knights as they managed to pick a pretty good momentum that might find its end in the upcoming days. The team from Nevada won 9 out of their last 12 games in the NHL and showed an amazing improvement compared to how they were playing in the opening matches for the season. However, this run led them only to the 7th place in the Western Conference, but they know they deserve better.
This will be yet another hard season for the Columbus Blue Jackets. It’s an inevitable process, since they find themselves in a Conference where at least 10 teams can compete equally for the Playoffs spots. They will need to perform some miracle in order to clinch such an opportunity in the spring. Nothing seems impossible in the NHL, so I wouldn’t count them out of the race yet. However, they rarely get victories over their direct opponents. The Blue Jackets tend to make the best out of their matches against the weakest teams in the League and then lose their most vital fixtures. I think this will be precisely the case here. Knowing the Vegas Golden Knights’ schedule for the upcoming days and weeks, it seems that this will be one of the easiest games they will have. Hence, these points are much-needed and everyone from the team knows that, so I will go with them as the final winner on Saturday in T-Mobile Arena.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Vegas Golden Knights (-154)
Tony Battalio
The Columbus Blue Jackets have been one of the early season surprises so far during the 2021-22 National Hockey League season. Columbus is in the middle of a three game road trip and have compiled a 9-5-0 record on the year, as they are currently on a two game winning streak. They are playing great hockey at the moment and If they keep it up they will surely find themselves competing for a playoff spot later on in the year.
The Vegas Golden Knights have picked up victories in four of their last five games; their only blemish over that run came from the Carolina Hurricanes. The Golden Knights head into this game with a record of 10-7-0 on the year and are looking to make a playoff run this season. I expect this matchup to be a back and forth goal scoring affair but when the final horn sounds I look for the Columbus Blue Jackets to extend their winning streak to three and keep this road trip going in the right direction.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets (+128)
Michael Lantz
The Vegas Golden Knights are on a mission to prove that despite big injuries, they can stay atop the NHL’s Pacific Division. They’ve won three out of four, and are thrilled to have Mark Stone back in the lineup. Stone has contributed in each game since his return, providing an assist in each contest, but even in his absence Vegas have been up and running thanks to the likes of Chandler Stephenson, Reilly Smith and more. On Saturday they face a Columbus Blue Jackets squad that, to much surprise, is 9-5-0 on the season.
After two straight wins against the Colorado Avalanche, the Columbus Blue Jackets have been a bit unpredictable. They followed those Avalanche matches with consecutive losses to the Capitals and Rangers. But, after those games they beat the Red Wings by two and then gutted one out against the Arizona Coyotes in a shootout. Maybe not the prettiest of wins, but still a win none-the-less. Now Columbus faces Vegas, who are making up for some lost ground that they’ve experienced with so many injuries. At the end of the night, I think Vegas uses the always-rocking T-Mobile Arena to their advantage and pulls the carpet out from beneath the Blue Jackets’ feet.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Vegas Golden Knights (-154)
Chicago Blackhawks @ Edmonton Oilers – 10.00PM ET
The Chicago Blackhawks are in their second of a four game road trip when they take on the Edmonton Oilers. After a slow start to the season, the Blackhawks are starting to give their fans something to cheer about, as they have won four games in a row, however, a game against the Oilers is certainly a step up to the type of opponents they have been facing recently. The Oilers have been slightly inconsistent so far in November, and last time out they got a shootout win against the Jets, 2-1.
Denis Kirilov
The Chicago Blackhawks will have one of the toughest teams as their opponents on Saturday in the NHL. They will travel to Edmonton to try their luck against the 1st team in the Western Conference. The Oilers lead the table with 24 points out of 16 games, having recorded 12 wins and 4 losses. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are in the form of their lives as they lead the NHL individual points leaderboard. They aren’t just first and second in the table; they are far ahead from everybody else. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins completes the attacking trio for the Oilers as the team isn’t looking to stop their dominance anytime soon. Although a total of 8 players are missing for Edmonton, they continue their punitive action in the NHL.
The first 10 games this season were one of the worst opening runs for the Chicago Blackhawks in their entire franchise history. The team lost 9 out of their 9 matches in the beginning of the campaign and they managed to break the curse in their 10th attempt after a victory over the Ottawa Senators. The tables have turned swiftly as the Blackhawks are now in a 4-game winning streak. However, looking at the teams they have defeated recently doesn’t give me enough reasons to think that their form has actually drastically changed. I think that there is a colossal difference between the two teams at the moment and I will go with the more trusted source so far – the Edmonton Oilers. I believe they will also cover their spread against the Blackhawks.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Edmonton Oilers -1.5 (+112)
Tony Battalio
The Chicago Blackhawks are in for a rough one on this second leg of their four game road trip. After a slow start Chicago has rolled off four victories in a row but they will need to continue this trend if they want to fully recover from their miserable start that saw them become the second to last team to pick up a win this season. Chicago currently possess a record of 5-9-2, as they still have a long way to go to recover.
McDangling into the weekend like… 🕺 pic.twitter.com/hTbbSpcmKQ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 20, 2021
The Edmonton Oilers have got off to a great start this season, led by Connor McDavid who looks more and more like the National Hockey League MVP with every game that passes. Edmonton currently holds a record of 12-4-0 on the year as we approach the season’s quarter mark. Edmonton has stood out as a potential Stanley Cup contender and champion. If this level of play continues they will certainly pull themselves away from the pack of contenders and become a Stanley Cup favorite. As for the result of this one, I look for the Edmonton Oilers to pick up a home victory in this game.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Edmonton Oilers (-225)
Michael Lantz
After losing to the Winnipeg Jets 2-5 on Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers got a consecutive shot at their Manitoba rivals, and won in what’s been one of the best games of this short season. They got a 2-1 victory in shootout, but not before a magnificent Conor McDavid goal in regulation to tie the game 1-1. The Oilers have looked a tad burnt out on offense over the last week, but I expect them to gain strength. Will it be against the Chicago Blackhawks?
Maybe ten days ago I would’ve said yes, but the Blackhawks have been hot—winning four in a row. After an ugly start to the season, this team is starting to show opposing teams that they shouldn’t be counted out quite yet.
Sure, having Patrick Kane has been a huge help for this Blackhawks team, but you can’t help but to watch Alex DeBrincat and be impressed. The young forward has nine goals on the year which plants him within the league’s ten best. Chicago is feeling fully confident going into the weekend, but Edmonton won’t make it easy for them on their home ice.
I think the Oilers pull away in this one, but it won’t be easy.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Edmonton Oilers (-225)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of writing, courtesy of FanDuel.
