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!
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Look below to find our free NHL picks, as we preview the best five games on today’s schedule.
Ottawa Senators @ Florida Panthers – 7.00PM ET
The Ottawa Senators kick off a three game road trip when they take on the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. The Senators have won four out of their last five, which includes wins against some of the best teams in the league including the Hurricanes, Avalanche, Devils and Lightning. The Panthers have won three of their five games so far in December, which brings their season record to 18-5-4.
Denis Kirilov
The Ottawa Senators will travel to Florida on Tuesday in an attempt to keep on building on their fantastic performance recently. The Senators have won 4 out of their last 5 games in thrilling fashion. They became a totally different team last week as they managed to outclass the Avalanche and the Devils in overtime and in penalties respectively. Ottawa also got the better of the Hurricanes and the Lightning in regulation. In their last match against Tampa, they were perfect on the ice as they kept a clean sheet and at the same time scored 4 goals through a hat-trick by Brady Tkachuk. However, this was not enough for them to climb in the current standings as they will need to put in a lot of effort if they want to make the Playoffs.
The Florida Panthers are feeling quite well from the start of the season, currently topping the Eastern Conference with 40 points from 27 games. They have suffered two unpleasant losses lately as they were defeated by some of their direct opponents in the face of St. Louis and Colorado. However, Florida has only lost twice by more than a single goal which further suggests their fantastic form. The team relies much on its depth and balance, but also on great individual skills. Led by Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad, the Panthers strive for perfection in every single game which makes them a contender for the Stanley Cup. However, the season is long and plenty of things might change, but I don’t see another outcome for this game than Florida covering their spread.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Florida Panthers -1.5 (-128)
Tony Battalio
Ottawa travels south of the border for a three game road trip that kicks off in the Sunshine State. They have won four of their last five games, however they are still struggling this season. It won’t get any easier for them as they have to play one of the top teams in the National Hockey League on Tuesday night on the road. If they can manage to pick up a win over the Panthers it will extend their streak to five of their last six and improve their record as they try to inch closer to the .500 mark.
🎥 Bennett, Coach Brunette, and Thornton on tonight’s loss in Colorado. #FLAvsCOL pic.twitter.com/C6edoDSP8l
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 13, 2021
The Florida Panthers got off to a blazing hot start before a slight bump in the road derailed their season for around a week. Now they come into this game with a record of 18-5-4 on the year. They have won the majority of their games so far this month, as they look to reinsert themselves as the favorite for the Stanley Cup as the year is closing out. In this game I expect them to do just that as I have the Panthers picking up the win in this one at home.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers (-330)
Michael Lantz
The Ottawa Senators pulled off a shocking win on Saturday as they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0. Despite being 8-16-1, Ottawa showed they should be taken seriously as they beat one of the NHL’s best teams for their fourth win in five games. This team’s young core is being led by Drake Batherson and Brady Tkachuk, who’ve scored 24 and 21 points respectively. Now the Senators will look to continue their run of quality play against another top team in the Florida Panthers.
Florida still sits at second in the Atlantic Division after losing 2-3 to the always lethal Colorado Avalanche—a team that has one of the best offenses in the NHL. They’ll look to bounce back at home against this Ottawa Senators team that looks to be climbing out of the cellar a bit. The Panthers can’t take the Senators for granted, but I can’t see Ottawa getting out of Florida with a clean sweep of its teams; I also can’t see the Senators being the ones to hand the Panthers consecutive losses.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers (-330)
Los Angeles Kings @ Tampa Bay Lightning – 7.00PM ET
The Los Angeles Kings start a four game road trip in Tampa Bay when they take on the Lightning. The Kings are currently on a two game winning streak, with wins against the Stars and Wild. The Lightning had their winning streak broken last time out, going down to the Senators, 0-4, and this brings their season record to 17-6-4.
Denis Kirilov
The Los Angeles Kings have always been a tough team to play up against. The Tampa Bay Lightning have found the right way back to the leading positions in the East. They are 6th in the Conference, but are currently only a win away from 1st place. The Lightning enjoyed a fantastic performance in November, which was later transferred into December. They started the last month of the year with 5 straight wins as they managed to defeat some of the top teams in the NHL including the Maple Leafs, the Bruins, and the Blues. They, however, came across the Ottawa Senators in their last game who simply dismantled them, 0-4.
The Kings had two really contrasting runs in November. First, they got on a 7-game winning streak, skyrocketing themselves into the top 3 of the West. However, later on they suffered five straight losses and combined with their 50% win-rate recently, they dropped down to 12th place. The team has won its last two matches overcoming two well-performing rosters – Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild. On top of that, they defeated the team with the top scorers in the NHL, the Edmonton Oilers. Moreover, they didn’t concede any goals from their best players, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. The Kings definitely have ambition to reach the Playoffs and they will need to continue winning tough games like these. In my opinion, they have what it takes to defeat the Lightning who are surely tired after such an intense schedule before Christmas.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Los Angeles Kings (+168)
Tony Battalio
The Los Angeles Kings kick off a cross country four game road trip in Tampa Bay. They have been victorious in their last two games, including knocking off the best team in the league, the Minnesota Wild. They will be facing the two time defending Stanley Cup champions, who just had a winning streak of their own broken in their last game. It would be a huge win for the Kings in this one.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have put together a great season so far as their record is 17-6-4 so far on the season. They started out of the gate slow on their quest for a third straight championship but as the season has progressed they are starting to separate themselves from the middle of the pack. However it is still a crowded group of contenders at the top. As for the result of this game, I have the Lightning quickly getting back into the winning column, with a victory at home.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning (-205)
Michael Lantz
The Los Angeles Kings are coming off two big wins where they beat two of the NHL’s hottest teams. The Kings shutout the Dallas Stars last Thursday and then knocked off the Central Division leading Minnesota Wild 2-1 on Saturday. They’ll look to keep the big wins coming as they face off against one of the NHL’s best in the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After a big 5-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs—which gave them five straight wins—the Tampa Bay Lightning suffered a confusing 0-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. Tampa Bay knows they can conserve energy sometimes; that’s it’s necessary to do so if you want to go on deep runs. Still, there’s no excuse for that lopsided loss to a team of Ottawa’s calibre. They hope to bounce back at home against a Kings team that’s going on a nice run, and have looked very good on defense in the process. While I want to give this Kings team the benefit based on their recent performance, I don’t see the Lightning falling back-to-back, especially at home.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning (-205)
Carolina Hurricanes @ Minnesota Wild – 8.00PM ET
The Carolina Hurricanes five game road trip comes to an end on Tuesday night when they hit the ice and take on the Minnesota Wild. The Hurricanes have won three of their four games so far this road trip, with wins against the Jets, Flames and Oilers. The Wild are looking to turn around a two game losing streak, which has put their season record at 19-8-1.
Denis Kirilov
The Carolina Hurricanes and the Minnesota Wild will come up against each other in one of the most captivating matches on Tuesday in the NHL. Both teams are fighting for 1st place in their respective Conference. The Wild will try to defend their top position against Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville, and Calgary, while the Hurricanes will try to snatch the first place from the Panthers’ hands. The Wild have been the surprising factor this season as not only they top the Western Conference, but they are also one of the highest scoring teams in the NHL. They have been known for their conservative defensive plays throughout the last couple of campaigns and to see such a change in their style is simply incredible.
The Carolina Hurricanes are 4th in the East with 39 points from 27 matches as they have one of the most consistent teams in the NHL so far. The team found a way to win 4 straight games recently against teams like the Sabres, the Jets, the Flames, and the Oilers. However, they lost their last game to the Vancouver Canucks, 1-2. Carolina has also a really balanced roster that is able to be rotated in many ways. The Hurricanes are surely one of the hidden favorites for the Stanley Cup, and if they manage to keep their magnificent level of play, they will have really decent odds to lift the trophy. In my opinion, the guests from Carolina will get the upper hand in this ice-hockey spectacle on Tuesday.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes (+118)
Tony Battalio
This game is sure to be the best game of the evening as two of the top teams in the National Hockey League meet in an early week showdown. It’ll be the finale of a lengthy road trip for the Hurricanes as the fifth and final game takes them to chilly Minnesota to play the league best Wild. The Hurricanes come into this game with a record of 19-7-1 on the year. They recently had a four game winning streak broken in their last game so they will be looking to start another streak with a win in this high profile match up.
There’s no place like home.#DeterMNation | #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 14, 2021
The Minnesota Wild come into this game with the best record in the National Hockey League. They currently sit at 19-8-1 on the year, a full ten games above the .500 mark. However they are currently on a two game losing streak after losses to Los Angeles and Las Vegas in their last two games. I don’t expect the losing streak to last long though, as I have the Minnesota Wild picking up the victory in this marquee game at home.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild (-142)
Michael Lantz
This one should be good as the Carolina Hurricanes look to reclaim the number one spot in the Metropolitan Division, in a matchup against the number one team in the Central Division: the Minnesota Wild. Minnesota were the hottest team in hockey, winning eight straight before falling to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Unfortunately, they started to pull a 180 from their win streak, and made losing a trend by falling to the Vegas Golden Knights, one night later. Minnesota will look to avoid three straight losses against a Hurricanes team that is very good.
Except the ‘Canes, will be without star players Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis who were placed in COVID protocols. Those two will be a massive loss on the offensive front, and even though Carolina has quality depth, I think this Minnesota team is too lethal with talent and should be able to take advantage of this hobbled Hurricanes team at home.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild (-142)
New York Rangers @ Colorado Avalanche – 9.00PM ET
The New York Rangers start a short two game road trip when they take on the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night. The Rangers lost to the Predators last time out, 0-1, which brings their season record to 18-6-3. The Avalanche have won four games in a row, and are looking to make it five tonight, they also have a season record of 16-7-2.
Denis Kirilov
The New York Rangers take on the Colorado Avalanche in an attempt to stop their winning streak. The Avalanche won 4 straight games ahead of this match and will be looking to further cement their position as a top contender for the title. The New York Rangers were one of their victims, losing 3-7. This sequence of games also marked another interesting statistic for the Avalanche. They scored 7 goals in three consecutive matches, thus becoming the first team to do so since Pittsburgh in 1995. The team is unsurprisingly the highest scoring one with 109 goals for 25 games. The Avalanche is also the only roster from the NHL that have scored 7 goals six times this season.
The Rangers, on the other hand, seemed to be a solid team in defense, but they didn’t manage to stop Nazem Kadri, Logan O’Connor, and Mikko Rantanen. They had to go through a devastating 2nd period in which they conceded a total of 5 goals. The team from New York is still in the fight for 1st place in the East with 39 points from 27 games, a point shy of the leaders, the Florida Panthers. The team will surely try to seek this opportunity and upset the Avalanche on the road, but I think Colorado is too much for them right now. The pre-season favorites to win the Stanley Cup have finally proved to us that they are a really dangerous team that can sweep any opposition. I will go with Colorado covering their spread in this match.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Colorado Avalanche -1.5 (+120)
Tony Battalio
In another exciting matchup for the Tuesday evening slate, the Colorado Avalanche welcome the New York Rangers. The Rangers dropped their last game to Nashville by a score of 0-1 so they will be looking to bounce back into the winners column in this one. They currently have a record of 18-6-3 on the year which is exceeding the expectations that were set for them before the season began. This game against Colorado is the first game of a quick two game road trip that ends in Arizona to play the league’s worst team, the Coyotes.
The Colorado Avalanche come into this game on an impressive four game winning streak. They currently sit in third place in the Central Division and have a record of 16-7-2 so far this season. They will be looking to take full advantage of home ice in this one. I look for this game to go down to the wire and be back and forth the entire way and potentially even go into overtime. However when the final buzzer sounds I have the New York Rangers picking up the hard fought win on the road.
Tony’s NHL Pick: New York Rangers (+168)
Michael Lantz
Last week’s meeting between these two teams got ugly: Colorado had an offensive explosion at Madison Square Garden, beating the Rangers 7-3. The Rangers are considered one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams, and have steadily made their way up the Metropolitan Division standings, but folks maybe were second guessing them after they were unable to handle a Stanley Cup calibre team at home. They’ll look to prove last Wednesday was a fluke, as they get a second crack at Colorado on Tuesday. The Avalanche are finally feeling healthy and are looking like the powerhouse offense everyone expected. After getting run over by the Maple Leafs on December 1st, the team has started to pour the goals in, scoring 33 times in six games.
For the first couple of games the offense was bailing out a bad defensive performance, but a 5-6 loss to the lowly Ottawa Senators and giving up five goals to the equally-bed Philadelphia Flyers seemed to be some nice slaps in the face for this team, as they’ve looked a lot sharper in their past three games. That included the showdown against the Rangers last week. Colorado will hope to repeat that at home as they continue to be a bit unpredictable on the offensive side of the puck. Even though Colorado’s been good defensively in the past week or so, I’m not fully convinced, this could be a prime opportunity for Colorado to provide some payback. But, I’ll play it safe here, and take this Avalanche team that slowly appears to be morphing into the Stanley Cup contender we’ve wanted all season.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Colorado Avalanche (-205)
Toronto Maple Leafs @ Edmonton Oilers – 9.00PM ET
The Toronto Maple Leafs kick off a four game road trip in Edmonton when they take on the Oilers. The Maple Leafs have been a tad inconsistent so far in December, winning three of their last six games, which brings their season record to 19-8-2. The Oilers are continuing to struggle, and are currently on a five game losing streak, which brings their season record to 16-10-0.
Denis Kirilov
The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to get as much advantage as possible from the bad situation within the Edmonton Oilers’ team. Edmonton is on a 5-game losing streak. The team went from one of the highest scoring runs to where they have scored a total of only 8 goals in their last 5 matches. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid have been having trouble finding the net recently, as the Canadian has gone scoreless in his last 4 games. Draisaitl, on the other hand, found difficulties in scoring a single point in 3 out of his last 5 appearances. The situation with the Oilers’ roster is really concerning as they are unable to use 8 players due to injuries and other problems.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the mix for 1st place in the East, as they are tied with Florida and Washington, each having 40 points. The team has been quite inconsistent this past week as they have had troubles in defense. The Maple Leafs have conceded at least 3 goals in each single match in their last 6 fixtures. The team relies much on Auston Matthews and his ability to get them out of trouble with miraculous plays in front positions. However, I think the attack of the Oilers is superior to the Maple Leafs’ and I will go with Edmonton in this one.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Edmonton Oilers (+114)
Tony Battalio
This all Canadian match up is going to be a good one to round out the Tuesday night slate. As the Toronto Maple Leafs travel west to Edmonton to play one of the best one-two punches in the entire league. The Maple Leafs come into this game with a record of 19-8-2 on the year. They won their last game against the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 5-4.
Late game heroics 🔥#LeafsForever | @LGCanada pic.twitter.com/mV5GetSSvc
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 12, 2021
Now they will look to start to string some wins together with a victory in this one. A win or overtime loss could potentially move the Maple Leafs into first place in the Atlantic Division. The Edmonton Oilers are one of the best teams in the National Hockey League this season despite the current losing streak they are on. They are led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl who are arguably the top two players in the league as well. However I expect them to snap that lengthy losing streak they are on, with a victory here at home.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Edmonton Oilers (+114)
Michael Lantz
Ever since winning ten of eleven in November, the Toronto Maple Leafs have fluctuated a bit between wins and losses. They lost consecutive games to the Wild and Jets before winning, losing, and winning against the Blue jackets, Lightning, and Blackhawks respectively. They’ll hope to make winning constant again, as they face an Edmonton Oilers team that’s once again realizing Leon Draisiatl and Conor McDavid can’t do it all. The Oilers have lost five straight, and have only scored one goal in three of those losses.
For a team that’s considered one of the premier offensive organizations in the league, this lack of scoring is a bit of a concern. It certainly won’t get easier as they face a Vezina Trophy candidate in Jack Campbell and a Leafs team that’s hungry to stay atop the Atlantic Division. As good as the Maple Leafs have looked lately, I just can’t see this Edmonton team dropping another. Back in front of a home crowd and in front of one of their cross-country rivals, I expect the Oilers’ two Hart Trophy winners to step up and send fans home happy.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Edmonton Oilers (+114)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of writing, courtesy of FanDuel.
