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.
Washington Capitals @ Florida Panthers – 7.00PM ET
The Washington Capitals are on the road when they take on the Florida Panthers. The Capitals and Panthers played each other a couple of days ago, and the Capitals came out victorious, 4-3. The Capitals also won their game last time out, 4-2, against the Hurricanes, bringing their season record to 14-3-5. The Panthers are currently on a two game losing streak, and last time out, they lost to the Kraken, 1-4.
Denis Kirilov
The Washington Capitals and the Florida Panthers are among the leading teams in the Eastern Conference. After a great run recently, the Capitals occupy 1st place with 33 points out of 22 matches, while the Panthers dropped to the 4th place with two straight losses in their last games against Washington and Seattle. This is going to be their third meeting this season and both of the previous games were simply amazing to watch. Florida outclassed the Capitals in the early days in November, while Washington had their revenge on Friday after a 4-3 win at home.
Now, once again we will see a change in the arena as the Panthers will host the game and the thousands in FLA Live Arena will hope to see a fascinating win over a tough and direct opponent for the Stanley Cup. It’s early to say yet, but I think both teams might have earned their ticket with this amazing start of the season. However, such games will show us even more details and insights on the particular rosters so that we can eventually come up with a better idea on how good they actually are. In my opinion, it’s time for the Panthers to go back to their dominating times early on in this season and I think that Jonathan Huberdeau will lead his team to the final victory. I also believe this win won’t be just by a single goal, but more like a 2-3 goals dominance.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Florida Panthers -1.5 (+176)
Tony Battalio
This game between Washington and Florida is by far the most interesting one of the Tuesday night slate. It is a rematch of a game that happened last week on Black Friday, in that contest the Capitals came out on top by a score of 4-3 at home. Now they have to travel to Florida to play the Panthers in this one. The Washington Capitals come into this game with a record of 14-3-5 as they will look to close out the month of November on a high note. This month has been a somewhat rough one for them as they have a record of 9-3-2 thanks to a slow start, however they picked it up at the end. They come into this one on a three game winning streak, having won five of their last six games as well.
The month of November has featured some 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 goaltending from our netminders. Which save is your favorite so far?#ALLCAPS | @socios
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 30, 2021
Florida comes into this game after a rough month of November that saw them lose six of their twelve games up to this point, including the previously mentioned one to the Capitals just four days ago. They had a hot start to the season come off the rails when they lost their head coach after he stepped down following the fallout from the Blackhawks scandal. Despite the rough month, they are still at the top of the pack for potential Stanley Cup winners. As for the result of this game, I expect the Washington Capitals to capture their second win over Florida in the span of 4 days with a big win on the road.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Washington Capitals (+122)
Michael Lantz
For the second time in four days, the Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers face off in a battle between two of the Eastern Conference best. The Capitals won a nail biter last time 4-3; then they went on to beat another one of the league’s best, the Carolina Hurricanes, on Sunday night. The Capitals have been rolling since a tough 2-5 loss to the expansion Seattle Kraken last week. Alexander Ovechkinni a looking like a Hart Trophy front-runner as he continues to climb up the all-time goals list. The Caps will look to keep things going with another win against Florida on Tuesday night.
The Panthers have run into a bit of trouble, as they’ve given up four goals in three of their last four games. This once heralded defense and goaltending, has taken a hit which included a home loss against the Seattle Kraken. They’ll hope a loss to the expansion franchise will do what it did for the Caps and give them a nice slap in the face. On the other hand, it should be noted that the Panthers have taken some hits on offense lately as star Aleksander Barkov and former all-star Anthony Duclair are both out. Still, they’ll need their defense to step up in those players’ absence. I’m not sure it’ll happen against such a dominant offensive team right now, with so many injuries. Give me the Caps to take another.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Washington Capitals (+122)
Arizona Coyotes @ Minnesota Wild – 8.00PM ET
The Arizona Coyotes end their two game road trip in Minnesota when they take on the Wild. The Coyotes are playing on back-to-back days, and are hopeful to keep the momentum going after winning their game yesterday, 1-0, against the Jets. The Wild are currently on a three game winning streak, with wins against the Devils, Jets and Lightning, which takes their season record to 14-6-1.
Denis Kirilov
The Arizona Coyotes have started playing smart and they rarely conceded 5 or more goals. One of the last occasions of such occurrence was precisely against their upcoming opponent – the Minnesota Wild. The game finished 2-5 with Minnesota taking a demanding lead early in the first two periods. They were visibly the better team, but at that point in time, the Coyotes really struggled as they just got their first win of the season in their 12th game. However, now Arizona looks a lot better with their 4 wins in the last 7 games. They managed to outplay the likes of the St. Louis Blues, the Detroit Red Wings, the Los Angeles Kings, and the Winnipeg Jets – all in a dramatic fashion by the slimmest of margins.
Arizona began focusing more on their defense as they know better than everyone in the NHL how demotivating it is to concede 4-5 early goals. The team has won each one of their 5 wins this season by a single goal and this might not display any dominance, but it shows fantastic performance in the most important moments of the games. The Minnesota Wild, on the other hand, are 3rd in the West, coming into this match with a 3-game winning streak. They will try to make the best use out of this opportunity and challenge the top places occupied by the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames. I think that the match will be a lot more tactical than everyone might expect and it will be really difficult to pass the 6-goal mark. So, I will choose under 6 goals for this meeting at Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Under 6 (-110)
Tony Battalio
Stop the presses the Arizona Coyotes have picked up a win. On Monday night Arizona defeated the Winnipeg Jets to improve their record to 5-15-2 through the season’s first 22 games. It’s the Coyotes third win in their last five games as they look to climb out of the basement of the National Hockey League. Now they will play the second of a back to back against one of the NHLs better teams this season, the Minnesota Wild.
The previously mentioned Minnesota Wild come into this game with a record of 14-6-1 on the year as they have gotten off to an impressive start. They also enter this game with a three game winning streak holding victories over New Jersey, Winnipeg, and Tampa Bay. As for the result of this game, I look for Minnesota to pick up another win and extend their winning streak to four games.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild (-365)
Michael Lantz
The Arizona Coyotes once again came through with another impressive performance on Monday night as they blanked the Winnipeg Jets 1-0. Despite how abysmal the Coyotes have looked at times this year, there’s been a significant improvement in the blue lines as of late. They’ll hope to have another close battle on Tuesday as they face one of the NHL’s best, the MInnesota Wild.
The Wild have won three straight, including a 7-1 thrashing of the Winnipeg Jets and strong 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. At 14-6-1, this Minnesota Wild team has quietly climbed to the top of the conference, with a team that really spreads out the scoring. They may not have the blockbuster names the Oilers or Flames do, but they’ve found a way to play some cohesive hockey. The Coyotes have looked significantly better as of late, but with this one being in Minnesota, I’m not sure I can pick them. I’ll go with the safe bet and take the Wild.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild (-365)
Columbus Blue Jackets @ Nashville Predators – 8.00PM ET
The Columbus Blue Jackets travel to Nashville to take on the Predators. The Blue Jackets are coming off a couple of days rest, but last time out they suffered a loss to the Blues, 3-6, which brings their season record to 12-7-0. The Predators are one of the many teams that has been very inconsistent in November, and this inconsistency has brought their season record to 11-9-1.
Denis Kirilov
This will be a very exciting matchup on Tuesday in the NHL. Both the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Nashville Predators are expected to have a ferocious fight for the last spots for the Playoffs in their respective Conference. The Predators are 10th in the West with 23 points out of 21 games, just 2 points behind 4th place occupied by the St. Louis Blues. The Blue Jackets are 7th in the East with 24 points in 19 matches which is a really good average comparing it to other teams. However, they are also 2 points away from 11th place.
Both teams have shown a slight improvement from previous years as this is most visible in Columbus. They might still not be a title contender, but they surely have what it takes to defeat the best teams in the NHL. Whether the Blue Jackets can transfer this performance into the Playoffs and hold on to a particular lead in the series, that’s a question we might get answers to in the spring. So far, they are looking good and although they lost their last encounter ahead of this match, I think they are the better team at the moment. The Predators shouldn’t be underestimated though, as they won 4 out of their last home games. However, I think this game will serve as yet another statement of how good Columbus actually is and I will go with them winning on the road.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets (+130)
Tony Battalio
The Columbus Blue Jackets are coming off of a couple days rest after their loss to St. Louis in their last game by a score of 3-6. Despite the loss they have put together an impressive season thus far as we have reached the quarter mark of the year. Not many people would have predicted the Blue Jackets would have a winning record let alone be 12-7-0 up until this point. Columbus has won three of their last four games, as they head into this second game of a four game road trip, looking to bounce back from the loss on Saturday.
Three home games this week?!
That’s something to smile about. @DeltaDentalTN | #Preds pic.twitter.com/1mEnAXLoja
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) November 29, 2021
The Nashville Predators come into this game sitting just barely above the .500 mark on the season with a record of 11-9-1. They have had a pretty average month of November, having compiled a record of 7-6 through 13 games this month. They will be looking to close out the month with a home win, as it is also the first game of a three game homestand. As for the result of this game, when the final horn sounds, I look for the Columbus Blue Jackets to come out on top in this one.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets (+130)
Michael Lantz
The Nashville Predators just can’t figure out what team they want to be. To be fair, maybe I just can’t figure out what kind of team they are. They refuse to go on any true win or lose streak as they sit at 11-9-1 on the year. After a brutal 2-6 loss to the Avalanche on Saturday, they’ll look to continue the confusion with a matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
At 12-7-0, the Blue Jackets have exceeded a lot of expectations so far. Before a 3-6 loss to the Blues on Saturday, they were on a three-game win streak and were generating a lot of offense. They still looked solid with three goals against the Blues on Saturday, but they had a down night on defense. They’ll look to bounce back against an unpredictable Predators team. Despite the Blue Jackets having a little bit more of an identity, I still like the way Nashville has been playing at home lately. They’re 4-1 in their last five at home, so I’ll pick them to stifle a Blue Jackets team that’s good, but not great, at home.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Nashville Predators (-156)
Tampa Bay Lightning @ St. Louis Blues – 8.00PM ET
The Tampa Bay Lightning and St. Louis Blues face off against each other in back-to-back games, and this is the first of those two games, which will be played in St. Louis. The Lightning have only lost four games so far this month, but one of those losses was last time out, 2-4, to the Wild. The Blues on the other hand got a big win last time out, 6-3, against the Blue Jackets, bringing their season record to 11-7-3.
Denis Kirilov
The match between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the St. Louis Blues promises to be a fascinating one as both teams are highly placed in their respective Conference. The Lightning managed to bounce back after a hesitant start and they are now 6th with 27 points out of 20 games. The St. Louis Blues took the best out of their fantastic early games in the season and even after suffering a bit more recently, the team is 4th with 25 points in 21 matches. Both teams are capable of scoring a lot and producing a spectacle that is worth watching.
David Perron and James Neal are expected to miss the upcoming fixture for the Blues, while Nikita Kucherov, Erik Cernak, and Brayden Point will be absent for the Lightning. Even the injury list is somewhat evenly spread. It’s not easy to choose a winner among these teams but these three consecutive wins in front of thousands in Enterprise Center make me lean towards the Blues. On top of that, the Lightning might be performing really well away from home as they won 5 out of their 8 games on the road, but they frequently concede at least 3-4 goals. Keeping in mind that the Blues is not some random team that can be easily outscored, I will go with them in this one. I hope that Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas, and Vladimir Tarasenko will once again come up clutch and continue St. Louis’ streak at home.
Denis’ NHL Pick: St. Louis Blues (-105)
Tony Battalio
The National Hockey League has reached the quarter mark of the 2021-22 season and the two time defending Stanley Cup champions are still not playing up to the level they should be. Tampa Bay comes into the game with a record of 12-5-3 on the year, as they have won three of their last four games. Despite the somewhat slow start to the year they are still a Stanley Cup favorite as they look to become the first team to three-peat in a couple of decades. This game against the St. Louis Blues is the finale of a quick two game road trip as they will look to draw even after the loss to the Wild on Sunday.
The St. Louis Blues got off to a hot start to open up the season but they have failed to carry that into the month of November as they possess a record of 11-7-3 through 21 games. The win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday snapped what was a skid of three losses in their previous four games. As for the result of this game, I expect the Tampa Bay Lightning to pick up another win to cap off the month of November and give themselves plenty of momentum heading into the winter months.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning (-114)
Michael Lantz
After a hot start to the season, the St. Louis Blues have sunk to 11-7-3, including losses over the last two weeks to inferior teams like the Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes. Luckily they got the push they needed on Saturday as they dominated the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3, in a showdown of two teams who are neck and neck record wise. The Blues hope that’s the win to turn things back around, and they’ll have a chance to further prove it against the defending Stanley Cup champs.
The Tampa Bay Lightning still haven’t been 100 percent convincing this year, but do they need to be? They know when to turn it on, and with Nikita Kucherov recovering from injury (much like last season) they’ll continue to conserve energy until it truly counts in the postseason. The Lightning lost to the Wild on Sunday 2-4, but Minnesota is a team they’ve constantly had issues with. Prior to that loss they had back to back shutouts, where viewers got a glimpse of why many still consider goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy the best in the world. This one has all the makings of a close one, but I’ll pull for the Blues to take it at home.
Michael’s NHL Pick: St. Louis Blues (-105)
Carolina Hurricanes @ Dallas Stars – 8.30PM ET
The Carolina Hurricanes travel to take on the Dallas Stars, who start a three game home stand on Tuesday night. The Hurricanes are coming off a loss last time out, 2-4, to the Capitals, and this takes their season record to 15-4-1. The Stars have won four games in a row, against teams like the Blues, Oilers, Avalanche and Coyotes, bringing their season record to 10-7-2.
Denis Kirilov
The Carolina Hurricanes will try to stop the incredible 4-game winning streak of their upcoming opponent in Dallas. The American Airlines Center hopes to see yet another masterclass performance from their players as they have won their last 5 meetings on home ice. The team from Texas has not only won these games, but they did so in high fashion. The Colorado Avalanche minimized the damages as they lost by just 2 goals, while the rest including fantastic teams like the Edmonton Oilers, the St. Louis Blues, and the Philadelphia Flyers lost by 3 goals. Even after this fantastic streak, the Stars are nowhere near the top of the table in the Western Conference. They are 11th with 22 points out of 19 matches.
On the other hand, the Hurricanes have been one of the best performing teams in the start of this campaign. They are now 3rd in the East after suffering some unpleasant upsets recently. The team lost to the San Jose Sharks and the Seattle Kraken away from home. On top of that, they had to leave the home ice empty-handed after a clash with the Washington Capitals. However, I think it’s high-time for this relentless team to assert their dominance once again. I expect a remarkable show under the “stars” with the Hurricanes eventually smashing Dallas’ winning streak. I will also recommend picking Carolina’s spread for a higher value.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes -1.5 (+205)
Tony Battalio
The Carolina Hurricanes have made a case to be the frontrunner for the Stanley Cup Trophy even with a recent slip up or two during a West Coast road trip. The Hurricanes have raced out to a record of 15-4-1 as they have tripled their W-L percentage and ratio. The Hurricanes went 3-1-1 over the course of their five game road trip against Seattle, Los Angeles, San Jose, Anaheim, and Las Vegas. Overall, from the start of the trip they have lost 3 of their last 7 games, including their last one against Washington, when Alexander Ovechkin scored his 19th goal of the year. They will be looking to finish this month strong and head into December with momentum to keep their fast start going as 2021 comes to a close.
Otter is on a tear, so it’s no surprise that he takes the reign for the @GEICO Save of the Week! #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/r6pfFPZ24Z
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 29, 2021
The Dallas Stars come into this game with a record of 10-7-2 as they are barely hovering above the .500 mark at the quarter point of the season. They come into this game with a four game winning streak and have won six of their last seven games. They got off to a decent start to the year, before hitting a rough patch, but seemingly have fixed things, for the time being at least. As for the result of this game, I have the Carolina Hurricanes picking up another win to keep their impressive start to the season rolling.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes (-118)
Michael Lantz
After a West Coast road trip that ended in back-to-back defeats, the Carolina Hurricanes looked back in business last Friday as they easily beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-3. Then, the Capitals came to town and took them back down a peg. They lost to a high powered Capitals team 2-4, putting them at 15-4-1 on the year and dropping them out of first in the Metropolitan Division with the Caps taking over that spot. Although they’re still a major contender, the Hurricanes are hoping this onset of losses are just some small bumps in a long season.
The ‘Canes will look to get back to their winning ways against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. The Stars have been sneaking their way back into the Western Conference playoff picture, as they’ve won six of their last seven. During this run, they’ve beaten top teams like the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers to sit at 10-7-2 on the season. Although they lack a big-time sorcerer, they’re an incredibly balanced offensive team that has defenders who aren’t afraid to get involved up front, including Miro Heiskanen, the defender who leads the team in points with 15. I know my constant moneyline picks have been boring, so I’ll switch it up a bit here. Going under 5.5 is risky, but neither of these teams have had that much offensive firepower as of late. So I’ll take a chance with the under.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Under 5.5 (-130)
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.
