We are loving the action throughout this impressive NHL season so far. As we move towards the mid way point in the season, each division’s ladder is starting to take shape. Every single win or loss can have a significant impact on where each team will finish at the end of the season, so it is important that you don’t miss any of the action!
Here at SportsTips, we are just as keen on the NHL as you are! We spend each and every day going through the best games and previewing them for you. Our experts offer up their free NHL picks, which means that you not only get enjoyment out of watching some intriguing games, but also make extra cash while doing so!
Look below to find our free NHL picks, as we preview the best five games on today’s schedule.
Montreal Canadiens @ Carolina Hurricanes – 7.00PM ET
The Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes are back for their first competitive ice hockey game, after four and five postponements in a row, respectively. Prior to the postponements, the Canadiens lost to the Lightning in overtime, 4-5, which takes their season record to 7-21-4. The Hurricanes are currently on a two game winning streak, with wins against the Red Wings and Kings.
Denis Kirilov
The runners–up from last year found themselves in a pretty tight spot in the beginning of the current season. They started off with a couple of straight losses and have been unable to make a comeback yet. The team surely deserves a better place in the standings, but they simply don’t show any improvement at all. The Canadiens are last in the East with just 18 points out of 32 matches. They will need to do a miracle to get a chance to reach the Playoffs, but we all know that the season is quite long and it is subject to plenty of changes. However, things are looking quite bad for them so far as they are the team with the most conceded goals in their Conference (114 goals). The team will need to make some real amendments in order to escape the void they are falling into.
The Carolina Hurricanes are one of the most pleasant teams to watch this year. They display an offensive style of play which resonates with the great scoring abilities of players like Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov. However, both of them will be missing for the upcoming game against the Canadiens. They will still be able to use a significant part of their roster. The Hurricanes are in the battle for the top spot in the East, having just 3 points less than the leader, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team also plays fantastic defense that has been one of their core elements this campaign. I am reluctant to pick them over Montreal, as the guests have a huge list of missing players for this fixture. Therefore, I will suggest picking the Hurricanes’ spread in this game.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes -2.5 (+118)
Tony Battalio
The Montreal Canadiens are one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League so far this season. They are coming into this game with a record of 7-21-4 on the year which puts them 18 games below the .500 mark. In their first game back from the extended break they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime on Tuesday. Now they will be facing another top team in the Carolina Hurricanes while trying to break the one game losing streak. If they don’t start picking up some victories soon they will find themselves out of the playoff race by February, in a tough Atlantic division.
We’re back at it tomorrow. It’s been a while.
“The guys just want to play. It’s that simple.”
Read » https://t.co/7oM0q7CUUU pic.twitter.com/Lvga3m3AvZ
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 30, 2021
On the other hand, the Carolina Hurricanes are one of the best teams in the National Hockey League this season and look to be a strong contender in a very crowded Eastern Conference. Carolina comes into this game with a record of 21-7-1 on the season. Carolina was one of the teams most affected by the Covid 19 postponements, but prior to them they were on a two game winning streak. Now they will be looking to pick up their third straight victory, and finish 2021 off on the right foot with a victory in this game. I expect Carolina to do exactly that as I have them winning this game at home.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes -2.5 (+118)
Michael Lantz
Even though they took an overtime loss on Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens have to be happy with their performance. They took the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning to the brink, despite being one of the worst teams in hockey. They’ll hope to build off this performance as they face another top team on Thursday in the Carolina Hurricanes.
Carolina sits two points behind the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division. If they can grab a win on Thursday, they’ll be back breathing down Washington’s neck. They’ll hope to have goalie Frederik Andersen back from COVID protocol, as he’s been one of the top players at his position. Regardless, the Hurricanes talent should be able to take a toll on the Canadiens. Even though the Habs played well against the Lightning on Tuesday, I can’t see them taking out a well-rested team of the Hurricanes caliber just two days later.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes -2.5 (+118)
Nashville Predators @ Columbus Blue Jackets – 7.00PM ET
The Nashville Predators wrap up their road trip on Thursday when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Predators are playing on back-to-back nights, and last time out they lost to the Capitals, 3-5. The Blue Jackets finally get to play a game after multiple postponements, and they are currently on a two game losing streak.
Denis Kirilov
The Nashville Predators will try to keep their heads up high after their devastating loss to the Washington Capitals. The team hasn’t conceded so many goals in a single game in a long time and this might hurt them in the short-term. This loss ended their 7-game winning streak, started in the beginning of December and went all the way through the weekend before Christmas. The team defeated some of the toughest teams in the NHL in this period including the Colorado Avalanche and the New York Rangers. Their most recent outcome didn’t let them climb to the top of the Western Conference, but now they have an easier opponent in the face of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets are 10th in the East with 29 points out of 28 games. They have lost 8 out of their last 10 games in the League which affected their chances of reaching the Playoffs. The team found the right way to the final victory against teams that don’t impress much this season – the San Jose Sharks and the Seattle Kraken. On top of that, they will be without Boone Jenner and Jack Roslovic who are among their top players in front positions. I really don’t see how they can outplay the Predators, even though the team from Nashville is not considered to be a top contender for the title. I have no other choice, but to go with a win for the guests who seem to be the superior team in this head-to-head comparison.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Nashville Predators (-115)
Tony Battalio
This will be the second game of a back to back for the Nashville Predators. In their previous game they lost to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday evening. The loss to Washington drops their record on the year to 19-11-1 as they are still seven games above the .500 and still find themselves in the playoff race. As the season heads towards the halfway point, and the February break. The loss to the Capitals snaps a seven game winning streak for Nashville, as they head to Columbus for this one. Nashville currently finds themselves in second place of the Central division, only a single point behind the Minnesota Wild for first place. They will be looking to get back to their winning ways quickly with a victory in this game.
The Columbus Blue Jackets had a surprisingly great start to the 2021-22 season. Not many people would’ve expected one of the worst teams in the league last year to be in the playoff conversation this far into the year. Especially in such a loaded Eastern Conference playoff scene. However Columbus currently finds themselves right at the .500 mark with a record of 14-13-1 so far this season. However they have been slumping as of late and will need to recapture some of that early season magic if they want to remain in the conversation. As for the result of this game I expect them to try and do exactly that with a victory at home in this one.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets (-104)
Michael Lantz
The Columbus Blue Jackets were probably a little thrilled with the pause in play, as they had lost four of five with their one win being a close overtime victory against the Seattle Kraken. They currently sit at sixth in the Metropolitan Division, and if they have any shot at making the postseason in their competitive division, they need to get on a win streak soon.
That won’t be easy against a Nashville Predators team that’s third in the Central Division and looking to bounce back after their 3-5 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. Nashville’s strong defense came out a bit cold after some time off, giving up three goals in the first period, before buckling down and looking a bit more like themselves by the end of the game. They’ll hope to continue their play from periods two and three in that game against a Columbus team that’s looking for a fresh start. I think Nashville will make those adjustments and pull off a close victory on the road against Columbus as they look to stay atop with their competition in the Central Division.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Nashville Predators (-115)
Tampa Bay Lightning @ Florida Panthers – 7.00PM ET
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers face off against each other on Thursday night. The Lightning are currently on a four game winning streak, with wins over the Kings, Senators, Golden Knights and Canadiens. The Panthers are playing on back-to-back nights, and last time out they got the win against the Rangers, 4-3.
Denis Kirilov
The game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers is a long-awaited matchup that promises to be electrifying and unpredictable. The reigning champions from Tampa found their way back to the top in the Eastern Conference – a place that was occupied not long ago by the Panthers. The team from Florida, however, dropped three games in a row before Christmas, which came in decisive for their 5th place at the moment. They are 4 points behind the Lightning, who are coming into this fixture in a high mood, winning their last 4 games in the NHL. Both teams have spectacular players in front positions who know how to make the best out of even the smallest mistake.
Steven Stamkos, Alex Killorn, and Ondrej Palat will try to outscore Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, and Sam Reinhart. All of them are expected to play in this match which further electrifies the situation. The Lightning and the Panthers faced each other twice this season as the hosts defeated their opponents when they were on top of their level, while the reigning champions got their revenge later on in November when they were picking up the pace. I think that the Panthers have made the correct changes after these unpleasant losses and they will be back on top soon. My pick here goes in their favor as I expect a dominating performance from their attacking players.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Florida Panthers (-152)
Tony Battalio
The state of Florida will be the showcase in this one as the states two National Hockey League franchises will meet on the ice on Thursday evening. The Florida Panthers will be playing the second game of a back to back in this one as well. In their last game they defeated the New York Rangers by a score of 4-3. Now they will host the two time defending Stanley Cup champions in this contest. The Florida Panthers are in a great spot as the season resumes as they got off to a blazing hot start and quickly established themselves as a challenger to their fellow in-state team that has absolutely dominated the game of hockey the past two years. As they come into this game with a record of 19-7-4 on the year, they will be looking to add win number 20 here in this one.
Quick trip. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/rHcVTPsMJt
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 29, 2021
The Tampa Bay Lightning finally started to pick up some momentum before the season went on a short pause. They will come into this high profile contest with a record of 21-6-4 on the season. They are finally starting to play like they are on a quest to pick up that third straight Stanley Cup trophy after a mediocre start to the 2021-22 season. The Tampa Bay Lightning also come into this game with a four game winning streak and tons of momentum as they were one of the least affected teams by the Covid 19 postponements. As for the result of this game, I have them picking up the victory in this one as well on the road.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning (+126)
Michael Lantz
One of the NHL’s best rivalries gets its third battle of the year as the Tampa Bay Lightning face the Florida Panthers in Miami. Tampa Bay squeezed past the lowly Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, 5-4 in overtime. They’ll have to play better against a Panthers team that is just four points behind them in the Atlantic Division and have scored 108 goals this season—which is among the league’s best. Florida have been pretty dominant at home so far, tallying a 15-3-0 record. But, they can’t get carried away on that stat as the Tampa Bay Lightning are exceptional on the road, posting a 10-3-2 record away from Amalie Arena. Tampa’s 21-6-4 record this year, just continues to show that they are showing no signs of slowing down in their pursuit of a third straight Stanley Cup.
They’ve once again gotten an outstanding performance from Steven Stamkos, who is in the top five in points scored across the NHL. They’ve also continued to get great production from the likes of Brayden Point and world-class defender Victor Hedman. This will be the first game played in Miami, as the Panthers thrashed the Lightning 4-1 in their first showdown in October, only to have the Lightning steal an overtime win in their next matchup about a month later. With the Panthers coming off a gritty 4-3 win just last night against the Rangers, and with how good the Lightning play away from home, I’ll take Tampa in this rubber match.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning (+126)
Calgary Flames @ Seattle Kraken – 10.00PM ET
The Calgary Flames hit the road on Thursday night and they take on the Seattle Kraken. The Flames are on a four game losing streak, which has dropped their season record to 15-7-6. The Kraken are on a three game losing streak and this takes their record to 10-17-4.
Denis Kirilov
One of the top performing teams before Christmas, the Calgary Flames, will travel to Seattle to face off this year’s rookies in the NHL. The Kraken didn’t manage to surprise us a lot so far. They are sitting in 15th place in the West with 24 points out of 31 games. The Kraken are only ahead of the Arizona Coyotes who are dead last with 15 points to their name. The worst part of Seattle’s game is their defense. They are conceding quite many goals per match which cannot be regularly matched on a daily basis from their offense. For instance, the Flames have conceded just 62 goals, compared to the Kraken’s 111 goals. On top of that, the Kraken lost their first game after the COVID-19 break against the Philadelphia Flyers, suffering a late equaliser and a goal in overtime.
Both teams are coming into this game on a losing streak. The Flames surprisingly lost their last four games in the NHL before Christmas as they were defeated by their direct rivals for the top spots in the Conference and for the Stanley Cup overall. Losing consecutively to the Vegas Golden Knights, the San Jose Sharks, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Boston Bruins definitely took their confidence away. They have also not played since December 11th, when they lost to the team from Massachusetts. The Flames recorded some of the severe COVID-19 cases which were among the primary reasons for the short break. However, Calgary seems to be quite a fantastic guest as they lead the away standings in the Western Conference with a 11-6-2 record. I think I will go with the Flames here, since they seem to be the more ambitious and determined team among both.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Calgary Flames (-184)
Tony Battalio
The Calgary Flames have managed to put together a decent season for themselves thus far. They come into this game with a record of 15-7-6 on the year, as they are hanging above the .500 mark through their first 28 games. As a Canadian based franchise they were one of the heaviest hit teams by the COVID-19 Pandemic cancellations. As they have missed a total of seven games already and have yet another one postponed that was set for New Years Eve, which brings the total to eight. They will be looking to gain a little bit of momentum after such a long break with a victory in this game.
The Seattle Kraken will be playing the second game of a back to back in this one after their game on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. Their first season in the National Hockey League hasn’t quite gone according to plan as they find themselves well below the .500 mark. If they don’t turn it around quickly they may find themselves out of the playoff race and preparing for the draft by the time March comes around. As for the result of this game, I don’t expect them to get a win here either as I have the Calgary Flames picking up the victory as they will be the more well rested team, however due to the rust they will likely have it will be a lot closer than people think in my opinion.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Calgary Flames (-148)
Michael Lantz
The Seattle Kraken continue to sit at the bottom of the Pacific Division after a tough 3-2 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers last night. They had some solid defensive moments, but once again were unable to stay disciplined after scoring the goahead 2-1 goal, allowing the Flyers to score 15 seconds later and eventually win in overtime. This has been a repeat scenario for the Kraken, who are obviously still a very young franchise, but can’t continue to drop points in this manner. Things won’t get easier for them as 24 hours later they face a Calgary Flames team that’s in a playoff position and have allowed the fewest goals in the NHL (62).
The Flames outstanding defensive performance has been attributed in large part to the man they have in front of the goal: Jacob Markstrom. Markstrom is a Vezina candidate who is near the top statistically in most goaltending categories. Even though the Flames are near the middle of the pack with 87 goals, it’s not because they’re lacking offensive talent. Johnny Gaudreau has 30 points on the year and Elias Lindhom has 27. With one of the league’s best goalies and an offense that’s always capable of getting hot, I expect Calgary to take down the kraken with ease.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Calgary Flames -1.5 (+146)
Philadelphia Flyers @ San Jose Sharks – 10.30PM ET
The Philadelphia Flyers are on the road and they take on the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. The Flyers are currently on a two game winning streak, with wins against the Senators and Kraken. The Sharks won last time out against the Coyotes, 8-7, in a shootout, which takes their record to 16-14-1.
Denis Kirilov
The Philadelphia Flyers slowly, but surely regain some positions in the Eastern Conference. They were in a mini-crisis until mid-December, losing 10 games in a row. Now, Philly is on a 5-1 run lately which helped them climb back to 9th place in the East. However, they will still need to do a lot if they want to close the gap between themselves and the 7th place of the Pittsburgh Penguins who are 8 points away at that moment. The Flyers took a narrow 2:3 win over the Seattle Kraken after the break which meant that they have won their last three away games against teams from the West. The Flyers are struggling much with their offensive plays, scoring just 80 goals in 30 matches.
The San Jose Sharks enjoyed a fantastic and dramatic first game after the COVID-19 break. They hosted the last team in the NHL, the Arizona Coyotes, who surely outplayed them during the match. Their opponents had 46 shots on goal, compared to the Sharks’ 27 shots on goal. In the end, however, both teams ended up scoring 7 goals each as the Coyotes almost made a miraculous comeback in the dying moments of the fixture. They eventually lost after penalties as Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl came in clutch to save the Sharks from an unpleasant defeat. In my opinion, this game displayed the inconsistency and the uncertainty within the Sharks’ roster and I think we can trust the Flyers to come out on top in the end here.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Philadelphia Flyers (+146)
Tony Battalio
The Philadelphia Flyers will remain out west this time to play the San Jose Sharks In the second leg of a back to back for the team. In their last game they took on the newest team in the National Hockey League, the Seattle Kraken. It was a back and forth game for Philadelphia, so they would like to get a better handle on this game against the Sharks. The Philadelphia Flyers will be looking to pick up some momentum as we move towards the second half of the season, after they struggled through the seasons first couple of months.
1,200 games in the books for @Burnzie88 ✔️😁 pic.twitter.com/lMPQ3BEnTz
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) December 30, 2021
As for the previously mentioned San Jose Sharks they are coming into this game with a record of 16-14-1 as they are hanging just above the .500 mark through their first 31 games of the year. San Jose will be looking for a victory here to get momentum rolling. As for the result of this game I expect them to do exactly that with a victory at home over the Philadelphia Flyers in this.
Tony’s NHL Pick: San Jose Sharks (-176)
Michael Lantz
The Philadelphia Flyers escaped Seattle with a 3-2 overtime win last night. James van Riemsdyk scored just 15 seconds after the Kraken took a 2-1 lead in the third, and then Ivan Provorov won it for Philly in overtime. It was the Flyers fifth win in six games, as they’ve looked like a new team since firing coach Alain Vigneault. They hope to keep their climb back into contention going on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks.
The Sharks made their return from the NHL’s pause on Tuesday as they had a shootout win against the Arizona Coyotes in two ways: they literally won in a shootout, and the final score was 8-7 in their favor. The Sharks will take the two points, but it has to be a bit troubling that they gave up 7 goals to quite possibly the worst team in the NHL. Sharks goalie James Reimer started off the season looking like a Vezina candidate, but recently his stats have dropped, and the team might want to consider their other goalie Adin Hill, who despite having a 6-9 record while tending, has shown some upside. The Sharks are happy to have gotten off 8 goals from different players against the Coyotes, but they will want to tighten up their defense if they want any chance at making a postseason run. I think they’ll adjust against a Flyers team, who despite catching a little bit of heat lately, don’t have me completely convinced with their play.
Michael’s NHL Pick: San Jose Sharks (-176)
If you’re looking for more NHL news, information and predictions, head over to our NHL hub page for all your ice hockey needs!
*Odds and spreads correct at time of writing, courtesy of FanDuel.
