Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – November 20th Edition

What with the arrival of Thanksgiving on the calendar, the drumbeats in the sporting world are all going to be about football, football, football. However, the National Hockey League has a number of primo matchups this week for the sports betting enthusiast. Tampa Bay and St. Louis are making bids to run off with the Atlantic and Central Divisions, respectively, while the Vegas Golden Knights are still near the top of the Pacific Division, just one point behind Los Angeles with two games in hand. Let’s look at some of the best NHL betting picks & matchups on the ice this week.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – November 20th Edition

Trying to get out of bed on Monday morning. pic.twitter.com/Uc3qlmeNHz

— NHL (@NHL) November 20, 2017

Tuesday, November 21

Montreal at Dallas (8:30pm ET, RDS / FSSW)

Which Dallas Stars team are we going to see this week? The one that blanked the New York Islanders at home a week ago, or the one that tied things up in Carolina at 1-1 early last week only to take a 5-1 beating? The arrival of Ken Hitchcock at the helm has not meant much yet in terms of this team’s refusal to play consistent defense, night in and night out. The offense is elite, but the defense, even with Ben Bishop in goal, is still ridiculous. In comes a Montreal team that is even worse on defense, ranking 29th in goals permitted per game and having just taken a 6-0 beating at home from a young Toronto team on Saturday. This should be a game for Dallas to build its confidence on the back end. NHL Betting Prediction: Dallas 5, Montreal 1

Wednesday, November 22

Vegas at Anaheim (10:00pm ET, AT&TSN / FSW2)

Do you think that Marc-Andre Fleury still has a chip on his shoulder from the Penguins sending him to the bench in the middle of their Stanley Cup run? I do too. He’s done a fine job in net so far for the Golden Knights this year. Their offense has been the even bigger story, and William Karlsson continued his scoring rampage for Vegas on Sunday night, tallying two goals in a 4-2 Vegas win over division-leading Los Angeles. Anaheim is in fourth in that division, with a relatively anemic offense. They did beat Boston on Wednesday and Florida on Sunday, but I still like Vegas here. NHL Betting Prediction: Vegas 4, Anaheim 2

Friday, November 24

Nashville at St. Louis (8:00pm ET, FSSM / FSMW)

We have the defending Western Conference champs (Nashville) visiting a team that has a great shot in representing the West in the Stanley Cup Finals this year in the Blues. Nashville has shaken off a slow start to cruise to an 11-6-2 record so far this season, thanks to a sixth-ranked penalty kill and a defense that has decided to start playing again. The Predators knocked off Colorado at home, 5-2, and the defense is starting to play well ahead of Pekka Rinne once again — but consistency remains a problem. The Blues are high-flying on both offense and defense, with the seventh-ranked offense and the fifth-ranked defense, and they are getting goals in the clutch, as they showed in a 4-3 overtime thriller up in Vancouver on Saturday. NHL Betting Prediction: St. Louis 4, Nashville 3

Saturday, November 25

Washington at Toronto (7:00pm ET, CNSW)

The Capitals are climbing out of the doldrums of a slow start, but they’re still having problems on both ends of the ice, ranking 22nd in goals scored and 21st in goals permitted. They knocked off the Minnesota Wild, 3-1, on Saturday night, thanks to the go-ahead goal from Dmitry Orlov. They face a young Toronto squad, though, that is sailing along at 14-7-0 and just took Montreal to the woodshed by a 6-0 margin on Saturday. The Maple Leafs are young and hungry, and coach Mike Babcock has this squad right where he wants them. It will be interesting to see how far this Toronto team can go into the playoffs this season. NHL Betting Prediction: Toronto 3, Washington 2