Top NHL Betting Games of the Week (Nov. 28- Dec 04)

The 2016-17 NHL season is increasingly picking up the pace, as the top teams continue to separate themselves from the rest while the pretenders begin to freeze on the ice. What to look forward for in this week’s NHL betting lines? Plenty…including the following top NHL picks.

Top NHL Betting Games of the Week (Nov. 28- Dec 04)

Hottest #NHL teams: Last 10GP Sens 7-2-1 Preds 7-3-0 Jackets 6-2-2 Blues 6-3-1 Canes 6-3-1 Habs 6-3-1 Kings 6-3-1 Sharks 6-3-1

— Yahoo Sports NHL (@YahooSportsNHL) November 28, 2016

Buffalo at Ottawa, Tuesday, November 29

NHL Pick: Buffalo

The Senators have been one of the brightest starters to the season, entering Monday placed second in the Atlantic Division with a solid 14-7- 1 record that includes being the first team to beat Montreal at home this season. Not to forget, the Sens bring with them a four-game winning streak and an impressive 8-4- 1 home record into the week; something that is sure to cause fits to the Sabres, who were not-so- long-ago riding on a 0-6- 2 skid that included three back-to- back road defeats. The Sabres could, however, be a relatively different team this Tuesday, thanks to the expected return and possible season debut of the team’s star center Jack Eichel when Buffalo travels to Ottawa. As a highly-regarded #2 pick in the 2015 draft, Eichel lived up to his high price tag, leading Buffalo in scoring with 24 goals and finishing second among NHL rookies with 56 points in 81 games last season. His return should thus offer a major boost to Buffalo’s scoring department that has struggled without him. It’s a longshot betting against the in-form Senators, but it is a risk worth taking (at a small betting price with a high-potential payout), knowing what the presence of Eichel usually does to the Sabres and the fact that Buffalo has decently gone 2-1- 1 in its past four since ending the 0-6- 2 skid.

Toronto at Calgary, Wednesday, November 30

NHL Pick: Calgary

The Maple Leafs have been a good-enough team this year, especially when playing at home where they are 8-3- 0, including impressive home victories over Florida and Nashville in their recent home tilts. On the road, though, the Maple Leafs are a different team altogether, spotting a ridiculously bad 1-5- 4 record. Now, on any other day, we’d advice you to stay away from the Flames, who have an awful habit of burning themselves with erratic performances. But the Flames have quietly been making decent progress recently, winning five of their last eight overall games. As such, we feel that Calgary backers could be due for some sweet NHL betting value when the Flames host the road-horrible Maple Leafs this Wednesday.

NY Rangers at Buffalo, Thursday, December 1

NHL Pick: OVER 4.5/5.5/6.5 Goals

The Rangers are the highest scoring team in the NHL, averaging 3.70 goals per game, while the Sabres have been struggled to contain strong offensive teams, so that should mean an easy math for a high-scoring encounter when the two teams meet on Thursday. Plus, with Eichel back in the Buffalo lineup, we expect the Sabres to put up a decent couple of goals against the overrated Rangers defense that has given up an average of 3.33 goals per game in its last three outings entering Monday.

Montreal at San Jose, Friday, December 2

NHL Pick: Montreal

The Canadiens haven’t been as dominant on the road (4-3- 1) as they have been at home (12-1- 1), but they should be in a good spot for a win when they visit the Sharks on Friday. Yes, San Jose has played splendidly at home (7-3- 0), and the hosts will definitely want to prove a point against the Eastern Conference leaders. But with the Canadiens owning a balanced unit that ranks #2 in goals against and #5 in goals scored per game, we are inclined to believe that the visitors will use their offensive edge to outlast the imbalanced Sharks, who rank at #3 in goals against but poorly at #23 in goals scored per game.

Detroit at Pittsburgh, Saturday, December 3

NHL Pick: Pittsburgh

The slumping Red Wings (4-5- 1 in their last 10) are suffering due to a surprisingly-low output from their talent-filled offense. Entering Monday, the Wings rank #25 in goals scored per game (2.32) and that puts them in a perfect bet-against position when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins. Not only have the Pens been absolutely great at home with an 8-2- 1 record, but the #2 team in the Metropolitan division has been scoring at a healthy clip of 2.91 goals per game, led by the red-hot Sidney Crosby, who has scored 15 goals in 16 games. No way will Detroit walk out of Pittsburgh with a win when these two teams meet on Saturday.

Montreal at Los Angeles, Sunday, December 4

NHL Pick: UNDER 4.5/5.5 Goals

The Canadiens are allowing the second-least goals per game in the nation (2.14) and their offense hasn’t been lighting up the ice with big-scores lately. Case-and- point, Montreal has scored 3 or fewer goals in all its last 7 straight outings (including the 2 games that have gone to overtime in that 7-game stretch). The Kings, meanwhile, have been riding on their hot defense, winning five straight games entering Monday, and allowing two or fewer goals in that five-game stretch (including the 2-1 OT win over Chicago in their last outing). The Kings will probably slow down a bit on their winning roll, but we expect their new-found defensive efficiency—which has seen them improve to 2.41 goals allowed per game (ninth-best in the NHL)—to continue for a while, if not the whole season. And with that, they should be due for a strong and low-scoring performance when they host the Canadiens on Sunday, especially with Montreal having the tendency of playing rather cautiously in offense when skating away from home.