With less than a week before the Olympic break begins for the NHL, Saturday’s slate of 14 games gives hockey fans plenty of action to look forward to. The fun goes all day too, as the first game of the day between the Kings and Flyers gets going at 12:30 p.m. ET. The final games of the day begin at 10:00 p.m. ET, giving us more than 12 hours of non-stop hockey. With that in mind, there are plenty of places to find value for Saturday’s slate, and we have prepared multiple NHL best bets with lines and odds courtesy of DraftKings at the time of writing. We will focus on 3 matchups in this article, but don’t forget to check out all of our NHL predictions for every game throughout the season, including all 14 matchups today.
NHL best bet: Buffalo Sabres ML vs Montreal Canadiens (-130)
The Buffalo Sabres enter Saturday’s matchup against the Montreal Canadiens riding a 5-game winning streak. Buffalo has already beat Montreal twice this month, winning by a score of 4-2 on January 22 at Bell Centre and 5-3 on January 15 in Buffalo. With the way the Sabres are rolling right now, they should feel good about taking down the Canadiens once again in this meeting. The Buffalo offense is firing on all cylinders right now, scoring 25 total goals over their 5-game win streak. Tage Thompson continue scoring at a high rate, and Rasmus Dahlin and Alex Tuch have recorded hat tricks in consecutive games. Montreal owns a team save percentage of .884, so Thompson and company seem to be in a solid position to light the lamp early and often once again.
The Sabres also have a strong advantage when it comes to the penalty kill. Buffalo ranks 7th in the NHL with a kill percentage of 83.1%, while Montreal ranks 27th at 77.1%. Furthermore, Montreal’s penalty kill has struggled even more on the road, sitting at 28th in the league with a kill percentage of 73.6%. The Sabres have been great on home ice all season long, owning a record of 17-6-3 at the KeyBank Center. Look for the Sabres to extend their win streak to 6 games.
NHL best bet: San Jose Sharks vs Calgary Flames over 6.5 (+114)
The last time the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames met, 9 total goals were scored in a 6-3 San Jose win on December 16. This matchup could yield a similar result when it comes to total goals. The Sharks have potted 11 total goals over their last 3 games, and Macklin Celebrini to post video game numbers. The former No. 1 overall pick is up to 4th in the NHL with 79 points on 27 goals and 52 assists on the season. Celebrini has found early-career success against the Flames, as he’s collected 8 points on 4 goals and 4 assists in 6 games against Calgary. Celebrini does most of the heavy lifting for the San Jose offensive attack, but Will Smith returning from IR earlier this month provided a big boost. Smith has tallied 8 points on 3 goals and 5 assists in his 6 games since returning to the lineup, which has led to the Sharks potting 3 or more goals in 4 of those 6 games.
While Celebrini has the San Jose offense clicking, the defense and goaltending remains a concern. The Sharks are allowing 3.44 goals per game this season, which ranks 29th in the league. They are allowing a ton of chances, and rank 30th allowing 30.5 shots on goal per game to their opponents. Calgary does not have a ton of offensive firepower, but they have been better at home. Calgary’s goals per game average goes from a league-worst 2.15 on the road to 2.81 when playing on home ice. Going up against a San Jose team that is not defensively stout, Calgary should be able to find enough offensive success in this matchup to take this one over the listed total of 6.5.
NHL best bet: New York Islanders ML vs Nashville Predators (-130)
After suffering a 5-0 loss to the Sabres on January 24, the New York Islanders have gotten back on track with 3 consecutive wins. New York has out-scored their opponents 11-3 during their 3-game win streak, and Ilya Sorokin is locked in between the pipes right now. The Russian netminder is 6-2-0 with a stellar .936 save percentage to go along with a 1.89 goals-against average and a trio of shutouts so far in January. He is slated to be in net for this matchup, and figures to give the Islanders a great chance at victory. The Predators rank 22nd in the NHL scoring 2.88 goals per game on the road, so Sorokin could be in line for a solid night.
After a rough start to the season, the Predators were able to moderately turn things around in December and early January. However, they enter this matchup losers of 3 straight and 5 of their last 6. Nashville has won just 2 of its 7 road games this month, and this road matchup against New York presents a tough challenge. Juuses Saros’ save percentage on the season drops from .903 at home to .885 on the road. Furthermore, his goals-against average increases from 2.87 to 3.26. Sorokin gives the Islanders the edge in net, which puts them in a great position to pickup a 4th consecutive victory.
Get set for a monster day of hockey with our expert NHL picks for all of Saturday’s games
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