Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – October 21st Edition

We’re about a tenth of the way through the 2019-20 regular season in the National Hockey League, and there are some expected teams near the top of the standings, such as the Capitals and the Penguins at the top of the Metropolitan Division. However, one of the big stories in the league so far is the hot starts for the Edmonton Oilers and the Buffalo Sabres, who have skated out to a 7-1-1 start to lead the Atlantic Division with 15 points, six ahead of the favored Tampa Bay Lightning. The Colorado Avalanche have started out even hotter, with a 7-0-1 record — no losses in regulation. No team in the NHL has lost more games than the Dallas Stars (2-7-1), winners of just one game in regulation. If you are thinking about adding hockey to your sports betting for the week ahead, check out our primo NHL betting picks.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – October 21st Edition

Two weeks is long enough to discover the cold, hard reality that your favourite team might not be quite as good as you were hoping. (@LukeFoxJukeBox)https://t.co/vbCRMsipk1

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 17, 2019

Tuesday, October 22

Toronto at Boston (7:00pm ET, ESPN+)

The Toronto Maple Leafs are entering a make-or-break season under Mike Babcock, as their roster is costing management a ton of money and will be difficult to keep together after the next free-agent cycle. The Leafs are currently in third place in the Atlantic Division, and they have won three of their last four, including a 4-3 win in overtime over the Boston Bruins on Saturday. Even with captain John Tavares on the shelf, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner combined to deliver the key play at 3:54 in overtime, as Marner clanked a shot off teammate Morgan Rielly to get the win. That was Rielly’s second goal of the game and Marner’s second assist. The Leafs got 42 saves out of Frederik Andersen to get the win. Boston got 25 saves out of Jaroslav Halak, but it was not enough when the shot clanked in during overtime. David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen all tallied for the B’s, who will now look for revenge on Tuesday night and hope to take advantage of Toronto playing the second night of a back-to-back. Boston controlled the action for most of the night, particularly during the second period, but Andersen stood tall for the Leafs. The Bruins now will host the Leafs wanting redemption — and the Leafs will still be missing Tavares. NHL Betting Prediction: Boston 4, Toronto 3

Los Angeles at Winnipeg (8:00pm ET)

The Los Angeles Kings have started painfully slow for the season, currently sitting in seventh place in the Pacific Division. However, they did end a three-game skid (in which they were outscored 10-2 combined) on Saturday when they delivered a 4-1 beating of the Calgary Flames at home. Four different Kings scored goals in that game, and Jamie Quick stopped 23 of 24 shots — including five saves while the team was short handed. If the team can get some more consistent play on their back end, they have the talent to put up goals. They travel to face a Winnipeg team that started out red-hot but just ended a three-game skid of their own, in which they were outscored 14-5. They ended that on Sunday, with a 1-0 win over the even hotter Edmonton Oilers. At the end of regulation, the game was scoreless, thanks to 28 saves from Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, and so after the five-minute overtime period the game headed to a shootout. Kyle Connor and Patrick Laine scored for the Jets as they took the win. In a game that the Jets started slowly (they did not put a shot on goal until the 8:06 mark of the first period), they turned up the screws on defense and ended up taking the win. They need to find ways to score, though, with the Kings coming to town. Both teams are coming in after a momentum-shifting win, but the ceiling is higher for Winnipeg right now. NHL Betting Prediction: Winnipeg 2, Los Angeles 1