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.
Philadelphia Flyers @ Florida Panthers – 7.00PM ET
The Philadelphia Flyers end their two game road trip when they take on the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night. The Flyers are playing on back-to-back nights, and are currently on a three game losing streak after losing 0-4 to the Lightning.The Panthers on the other hand, are on a three game winning streak, with wins against Islanders, Devils and Wild.
Denis Kirilov
The clash between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Florida Panthers will be the highlight on Wednesday in the NHL. The Panthers have been looking quite strong in their opening matches for the season, while the Flyers are always capable of making an upset. However, Philly lost its previous game against a relentless Tampa Bay team who dominated throughout each period and finally took the win by 4 goals. The Flyers are already in a 3-game losing streak and their upcoming schedule doesn’t really help them. They will have to first play the Panthers, and then try their best against the other monster in the early stages of the season, the Hurricanes.
The Florida Panthers continue their pursuit of the 1st place as they don’t give the Hurricanes a place to breathe. They are even at the top with 29 points each, but what distinguishes them from one another is their playing style. Florida has a quite more offensive approach as they managed to score 71 goals for just 18 matches. I think that they will continue their punishable action with a win over the Flyers on Wednesday. The Panthers are in a 3-game winning streak ahead of this game and they look confident enough to take yet another win and contest Carolina’s 1st place in the current standings. I will go with the Panthers as winners by at least 2 goals difference.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Florida Panthers -1.5 (+104)
Tony Battalio
The Philadelphia Flyers looked absolutely lost in their 0-4 defeat against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday evening on the road. Now they will continue on to the second game of their road trip against another top team in the Florida Panthers. They now sit at 8-5-3 through their first 16 games of the season. This is their second loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the span of 5 days, as they were also beaten by them 3-4 in a shootout last Thursday. That first loss was the loss that kicked off their current three game losing streak they will take into this game with the Panthers.
Flyers goaltender Carter Hart meets with the media following tonight’s loss to Tampa Bay. #PHIvsTBL https://t.co/7xwpXkFsAz
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 24, 2021
The Florida Panthers started off the season as one of the NHL hottest teams, however the fallout from the Chicago Blackhawks scandal that led to them dismissing their coach has seemingly caught up to them, as they have played averagely over the month of November. Despite the average play this month, they do come into this contest on a three game winning streak having picked up victories over the New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, and Minnesota Wild. As for the result of this game, I look for the Panthers to pick up another victory as the Flyers continue their poor run of play lately.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers (-240)
Michael Lantz
The Panthers started off the season with a 10-0-1 record, including huge wins over rivals like the Lightning, Hurricanes and Islanders. Following that brilliant run of hockey, the team went winless in four consecutive games. Luckily, it seems like it was just a funk, as they’re back on a three-game win streak where they’ve outscored opponents 15-6. They’re currently second in the NHL in goals per game, as they’ll look to continue their run against a Flyers team that continues to have a hard time figuring it out.
The Flyers have had some big wins this year, but have failed to put together a consistent offense. Despite strong goaltending and defense, the team must see an improvement in scoring if they have any chance in making a deep run. After a 0-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, the team is travelling into Miami with a lot of folks wondering: Will that loss break them or be the necessary slap in the face? I think the Flyers will overcome this tough scoring stretch eventually, but I’m not sure it’ll happen against a powerhouse like the Florida Panthers and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. I’ll take the Panthers to cover at home.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Florida Panthers -1.5 (+104)
New York Rangers @ New York Islanders – 7.30PM ET
The battle of New York is on in the NHL on Wednesday night, when the Rangers take on the Islanders. The Rangers are on fire at the moment, winning five of their last six games, with a season record of 11-4-3. The Islanders are on the opposite side of the spectrum, they are on a six game losing streak, with their season record standing at a lowly 5-8-2.
Denis Kirilov
The battle of New York will take place in UBS Arena. The Islanders host the Rangers in what promises to be an exciting match to watch. The Islanders are coming into this game with 6 straight losses, most of which came in their last 4 away games. The team has been further weakened by the Covid-19 which ruled out around 10 players for the hosts. They have been in shambles ever since and they hope that they can somehow put an end to this bad-looking run.
The Rangers took the Islanders’ place as the best team in New York as they are 5th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 11-4-3. They are looking to build on their amazing momentum as they won 5 out of their last 6 meetings in the NHL. Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, and Mika Zibanejad are playing on a very high level and this is further displayed on the current standings where the team is 13 points ahead of their rivals from New York. I think this streak might go on as the Islanders will have to depend on less experienced players who might not have what it takes to beat the Rangers. I will go with a victory for the guests here.
Denis’ NHL Pick: New York Rangers (-118)
Tony Battalio
Bragging rights will be on the line as this is a battle between both New York City franchises. Despite sharing an area code, a state, and fan bases, both of their seasons could not be more opposite as the Rangers look like a playoff team while the Islanders look like they’re heading for a potential number one overall pick. Despite the opposite trajectories on the year, we should still expect a great game with this being a rivalry game, and rivalry games always bring the best out of teams.
The New York Rangers come into this game having won five of their last six which has propelled them to a record of 11-4-3 on the year. Meanwhile the New York Islanders have been handed six straight losses and now sit at 5-8-2 on the season. The best thing about the Islanders season thus far has been the opening of their new arena, now they will be hoping to find a consistent rhythm on the ice while playing in it. As for the result of this one, I expect the New York Rangers to control this game from start to finish, as they hand the Islanders their seventh straight loss.
Tony’s NHL Pick: New York Rangers (-118)
Michael Lantz
One of the NHL’s greatest rivalries comes to the UBS Arena for the first time as the New York Rangers face the New York Islanders in a New York derby. So far the Islanders have been a bit disappointing, but they’ve had a bit of an excuse: they started the season with 13 straight road games. That being said, their first two home games haven’t exactly gone as planned, as they fell to both the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs. They hope to turn it around in this rivalry game on Thanksgiving Eve.
Meanwhile the Rangers sit at 11-4-3, as they continue to look like major players in the NHL’s Eastern Conference. They’ve had a great season from Chris Kreider who is currently fourth in the NHL with 13 goals. The Rangers will be a lot to handle on both sides of the puck, but I haven’t counted the Islanders out yet. They were considered a Stanley Cup favorite to start the year, but they’ve had such an unorthodox schedule to begin this season. I’m going to take a risk and say they get that first big win in their new barn—against their crosstown rivals.
Michael’s NHL Pick: New York Islanders (+100)
Anaheim Ducks @ Colorado Avalanche – 9.00PM ET
The Ducks wrap up their short two game road trip in Colorado, when they take on the Avalanche. One of the hottest teams in the NHL has started to cool off, after winning their first seven games in November, they have dropped their last two in a row, with narrow losses to Hurricanes and Predators. It looks like the Avalanche are turning things up, they have won five games in a row and will be hoping that a win against the Ducks on Wednesday will make it six in a row.
Denis Kirilov
The Anaheim Ducks are off to an incredible start to this campaign as they are placed 4th in the West. However, their momentum has been stopped as they narrowly lost their most recent two games against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Nashville Predators. They will try to get back to winning again, but they will have to overcome a really high-flying Colorado Avalanche team. They have been demolishing each single opponent they had to face recently. For the last 5 matches, they have been averaging 6.2 goals per game with just 2.6 goals conceded. The team had a huge need from that run as they started to slowly climb the ladder and are closing the gap to the top places in the Conference.
For me, the current form that Colorado is in might be a bit misleading, as they have only defeated teams who are struggling at the moment. The Ottawa Senators, the Seattle Kraken, and the Vancouver Canucks can’t really serve as a real benchmark. So, I will play it a bit safer and trust both teams’ goal-scoring abilities, as they know they will need to be effective in front of goal, if they want to defeat their opponent. My pick here is for “over 5.5 goals” in the game.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Over 6 (-120)
Tony Battalio
Just a few short days ago the Anaheim Ducks were the hottest team in the National Hockey League but since then they have lost two games in a row. Despite the two losses, they still have a pretty impressive record in the month of November and it is a month they needed as they started the season off slow. Now that they have recovered from their slow start they are looking more and more like a playoff team with each passing game. Now they will head on a short 2 game roadtrip looking to snap they’re losing streak and start another impressive winning streak as this month closes out.
Frankie seeing some action today! 👀#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/LVCiIuCWef
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 23, 2021
The Colorado Avalanche were the presumed preseason favorites to dethrone the two time Stanley Cup winning champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, however they have not quite lived up to those expectations yet. However they have seemingly started to turn a corner as they have now won five games in a row. As for the result of this game, I expect the Avalanche to pick up a big home victory over the Anaheim ducks as Anaheim will still be looking to stop their slide as we enter the month of December soon.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Colorado Avalanche (-240)
Michael Lantz
The Colorado Avalanche have been a team possessed since they lost Nathan McKinnon to injury a couple of weeks back. They now lead the NHL in goals per game after scoring an average of 6 goals per game since MacKinnon went down. They’ve been getting big production from captain Gabriel Landeskog and all-star Mikko Rantanen, but the biggest breakthrough has been courtesy of Nazem Kadri, who now sits fourth in the NHL in scoring. They’ll look to continue their offensive reign of terror, but it won’t be easy against an up-and-coming Anaheim Ducks squad.
Anaheim has had two close losses in a row, but this comes after they won seven straight. At 10-6-3, the Ducks have been thrilled to have Troy Terry and Ryan Getzlaf sit within the top 12 in scoring. They’ll need these two to be impeccable if they have any chance overpowering this Avalanche team. I’ll take Colorado at home in this one and as an additional treat, I’ll take the over.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Colorado Avalanche & Over 5.5 (+190)
Carolina Hurricanes @ Seattle Kraken – 10.00PM ET
The Carolina Hurricanes are nearing the end of their road trip, with two more games to go, including this one, when they take on the Seattle Kraken. The Hurricanes are coming off a tough overtime loss to the Sharks, 1-2, and their season record is currently standing at an impressive 14-2-1. The Kraken, on the other hand, got a surprising win last time out against the Capitals, 5-2, which stopped a six game losing skid.
Denis Kirilov
The Carolina Hurricanes’ streak has been once again stopped after just 4 games. The San Jose Sharks outclassed the Hurricanes in a dramatic fashion on Monday. That was the second game in a row for Carolina where they haven’t been allowed to make more than 25 shots on target. This is definitely a concerning thing, since they were easily dominating throughout the whole match and shooting around twice more than their opponents. It seems that their engine might have stopped or at least needs some refill.
After 6 straight losses, the Seattle Kraken found their way back to winning with a victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday. They have been whitewashed in their previous matches, as their opponents didn’t really leave them any chances of contesting. I think that the Hurricanes will try to win this game convincingly, as it seems an easy task at first sight. Keeping in mind that they will have to play with the Flyers and the Capitals in the upcoming days, I believe they will try to take everything they can from the match against the Kraken. I will choose them to win in regular time.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Moneyline 3-Way – Carolina Hurricanes (+100)
Tony Battalio
One of the NHL’s most dominant teams will line up opposite of the NHL’s newest team in this matchup on Wednesday evening, as the Carolina Hurricanes take on the Seattle Kraken in Seattle. The Hurricanes come into this game with a league best record of 14-2-1 as they look like a potential Stanley Cup favorite so far this season. Despite the loss to the San Jose Sharks in their last game, Carolina is still off to a very successful start to the year.
Unfortunately for Seattle fans, the same cannot be said for the upstart Kraken as they possess one of the league’s worst records and just recently snapped a six game losing streak with a surprising victory over Washington and Alexander Ovechkin. I don’t expect Seattle’s time in the winner’s column to last long, as I look for the Carolina Hurricanes to dominate this game and pick up another victory as they continue their impressive start to the year.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes -1.5 (+172)
Michael Lantz
After six frustrating losses, the Seattle Kraken got a huge morale booster with a 5-2 win over a good Washington Capitals team on Sunday night. The Kraken have started to improve on power plays and goalie Phillip Grubauer looked brilliant against a top 10 Capitals offense. They’ll hope to carry this confidence over against another colossal opponent in the Carolina Hurricanes.
Carolina will look to end their West Coast road trip on a high note. They ripped past the Golden Knights, Kings and Ducks before taking one point in an OT loss to the Sharks, which was a battle between two of the league’s top goaltenders in Frederik Andersen and James Reimer. Carolina hasn’t lost in consecutive games this season, and I don’t see that happening for the first time against the expansion Kraken. I think the Kraken will hang around for a bit, but I ultimately have the Hurricanes covering.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes -1.5 (+172)
Edmonton Oilers @ Arizona Coyotes – 10.00PM ET
The Edmonton Oilers enter the second game of their road trip when they take on the Arizona Coyotes, who themselves have a short two game homestand before heading out on the road again. The Oilers are playing on back-to-back nights, and last night they lost to the Stars, 1-4, which brings their overall season record to 13-5-0. The Coyotes are on a two game winning streak, as they have had two overtime wins against the Red Wings and Kings.
Denis Kirilov
After suffering a harsh 1-4 defeat against the Dallas Stars, the Edmonton Oilers will try to stop a potential losing streak in its tracks in their road trip game against the Arizona Coyotes. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid were completely shut down by Dallas’ defensemen, while John Klingberg posted his first three assists for the season helping his team get the final victory. This loss left them at 2nd place in the Western Conference, but a win over the Coyotes will put them back close to Calgary in the battle for the top.
Surprisingly, the Arizona Coyotes enjoyed their first two wins in a row this campaign after outclassing the Detroit Red Wings at home and defeating the Los Angeles Kings on the road. Both games were decided after overtime, as this meant that the Coyotes are yet to get a win by two or more goals this season. They are last in the West with just 10 points out of 19 matches. What changed for them recently is the fact that the Coyotes aren’t conceding goals like crazy. They have managed to minimize this amount to just 2.8 goals per match for their last 5 games. However, they will have a really tough challenge in the face of the Oilers and I don’t think they can continue their fabulous streak. I will take Edmonton to win in regular time.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Moneyline 3-Way – Edmonton Oilers (-135)
Tony Battalio
Edmonton comes into this game as one of the best teams in the National Hockey League, despite their loss to the Dallas Stars last night. They are still 13-5 as we approach the quarter mark of the 2021-22 season and still look to be a potential Stanley Cup favorite. As long as Connor McDavid is on the ice that will always be the case this season. McDavid is the front runner for league MVP up to this point in many people’s minds. This upcoming game against Arizona will be the second game of a three game road trip for the Oilers as they look to rebound from Tuesday’s huge defeat.
Three power play goals against were ultimately too much to overcome as the #Oilers drop the road trip opener in a 4-1 final from Dallas.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 24, 2021
The Arizona Coyotes are by far the worst team in the NHL this season and that does not look to be changing anytime soon. Even though they have started to pile up some victories, it does not change the fact that they have been practically bullied by the rest of the league. However they do come into this game having won three of their last four against Los Angeles, Detroit and St. Louis. This will be their toughest test yet this month as they currently hold a record of 4-13-2 through 19 games played this year. As for the result of this game, I look for the Edmonton Oilers to control this game from start to finish and cover the 1.5 goal spread.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Edmonton Oilers -1.5 (+120)
Michael Lantz
The Arizona Coyotes have won back-to-back games; yes you’re reading that correctly, the Coyotes won two gritty games in a row against good opponents in the Detroit Red Wings and the Los Angeles Kings. Now they’ll have a big test to make it three straight, as they face off against the lethal Edmonton Oilers offense.
Well, normally lethal, as the Oilers only scrummed together one goal in Tuesday’s 1-4 loss to the Dallas Stars. You can expect the Oilers to bounce back, but this Oilers defense has been their downfall, and it’ll be up to the Coyotes to be in full attack if they have any chance in this one. The Oilers are going to score against a 4-13-2 a team—that should be a given; so the Coyotes will have to try and match their aggression up top. Ultimately, I think the likes of Conor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will just be too much for this Coyotes team. Edmonton has had no problem when they’ve played teams well under .500 and that should continue on Wednesday.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Edmonton Oilers -1.5 (+120)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of writing, courtesy of FanDuel.
