Saturday has a loaded slate of NHL action with a handful of exciting matchups hockey fans will love and can enjoy starting in the early afternoon. The Senators start the day facing the Tampa Bay Lightning, while Saturday wraps up with a close contest between the Flames and Kraken.
We look to bounce back with our picks after a 2-2 record on Friday and Saturday gives us plenty of chances to have a big day.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Bet: Golden Knights ML (-115), Golden Knights Panthers Over 5.5 goals (-140)
The rematch of the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals won’t be as exciting as expected with the Panthers missing key players like Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk. Despite the injuries, they still managed to beat the Bruins and Blue Jackets while keeping things close with the Canucks in a 3-2 overtime loss.
It’ll be a tough game going against a Golden Knights team playing with a chip on their shoulder as many doubt if they are still a Stanley Cup contender. The public is still riding with the Panthers with 58 per cent of the bets on them to win and looks like a solid fade opportunity as the Golden Knights look to avoid their third straight loss.
In their last two matchups since their Stanley Cup final meeting, the Panthers have won both games and scored four goals in each game. The Cats should continue to score and make things difficult but the injuries should be too much and help the Golden Knights prevail.
Bet: Blues ML (+125), Robert Thomas Over 0.5 assists (-110)
The Hurricanes beat the Penguins decisively Friday night, scoring four goals while limiting a hot Pittsburgh offence to just one. They will have the daunting task of attempting to win both games of a back-to-back when traveling to the Music City to take on the Blues.
Carolina has won five of their last six games against St. Louis but it won’t be an easy as the Blues have shown to be feisty early on this season with their young talent like centre Robert Thomas.
The 25-year-old Aurora native has excelled in this matchup with 11 points, all of which are assists, in his last nine games versus Carolina. The public loves the Hurricanes with 87 per cent of the bets on the game being placed on them to win with many likely not knowing they played Friday and are in the middle of a lengthy road trip with four games still to go. The Blues will be a more hungry with more rest as they’ve been at home for over a week now.
Bet: Canadiens +1.5 (-140)
If you look into every puck line on the Saturday slate, the Habs have the lowest odds at -140 to cover. We love to take underdogs here as we finished with a 32-14 record last season and already have a 2-1 record this season.
This is a perfect spot for Montreal’s youngsters to show off their speed and take the pressure to an Islanders team that is the fourth-oldest in the league with an average age of 28.9 years old.
The Habs have the second-youngest team in the league, ranking just behind the Sabres, and have shown their young talent can make a difference with Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and rookie Lane Hutson all recording four or more points so far this season in five games.
Montreal has a 10-5-1 record in their last 16 games versus the Islanders and should keep the game close if not winning it outright.
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