For a second straight week, we’ve seen the underdogs come out on top in the NHL spreads. The most impressive upsets came from the ones who didn’t just cover the spread, but won straight up; these included the Ottawa Senators’ (+175) 3-0 shutout against the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Nashville Predators’ (+190) 4-1 victory against the Dallas Stars.
Will these live dogs continue to pay out this week? We’ve included a preview of Ottawa’s Saturday matchup against Vancouver (14-15 ATS) in our top five NHL bets for the week of December 16, including both standard NHL lines and Daily Specials.
Ottawa Senators (15-13-2 SU, 12-18 ATS) @ Vancouver Canucks (16-9-5 SU, 15-15 ATS)
Saturday at 10 PM ET
A Canadian faceoff is set for Saturday when the Ottawa Senators make their way to the West Coast to face the Vancouver Canucks. It’s the third stop in a long nine-game road trip that’ll take the Sens through the holidays. They’ll be without netminder Anton Forsberg for that road trip and have called up Leevi Merilainen from the AHL to serve as backup.
Ottawa has had a decent season; they’re fifth in the Atlantic and second in the Eastern Conference wildcard race thanks to a tiebreaker with Philly. That’s exciting news for a team that has been desparate to end their seven-year playoff drought.
Goaltender Linus Ullmark, whom the Sens traded for in the offseason, seems to have found his groove. He has won his last five starts, letting in just five goals over that span that included a shutout against Carolina.
Sitting fourth in the Pacific Division, the Canucks are also in the No. 2 spot for a wild card berth, but in the Western Conference. They’ll be eager to repeat their performance from November 23 when they beat the Sens 4-3. Jake DeBrusk (14 goals, 9 assists) scored two goals and added an assist that night in his best game of the season.
Winnipeg Jets (22-9-1 SU, 17-15 ATS) @ San Jose Sharks (11-17-5 SU, 23-10 ATS)
Tuesday at 7:30 PM ET
The Jets have found their equilibrium. After starting the season red-hot, they came back down to earth, and suffered four straight losses. Since then, they’ve gone 4-2 and are back at the top of the Central Division, sitting a point ahead of Minnesota. On Saturday, the Jets beat the rebuilding Montreal Canadiens 4-2; their Vezina-winning goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck (2.11 GA/A, .926 SV%) made 26 saves that night, and Kyle Connor scored a goal and added an assist.
They’ll be up against the rebuilding San Jose Sharks, who’ve been surprisingly good at beating the spread this season, despite sitting second-last in the Pacific Division. The Sharks have to dig themselves out of a hole after their atrocious 0-9 start to the season. They’re coming off of a loss to Utah where they stayed competitive, keeping it tied until the final minute of the game. Sharks left winger Fabian Zetterlund (10 goals, 12 assists) scored one goal and tallied an assist in that Saturday game, ending his three-game point drought.
When the Jets and Sharks faced off on October 18, the Jets had a heyday. They peppered San Jose’s goalies Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek with 36 shots, scoring eight goals. The Sharks managed just three goals on 22 shots.
Toronto Maple Leafs (19-10-2 SU, 18-13 ATS) @ Dallas Stars (19-11 SU, 14-16 ATS)
Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET
You won’t want to miss Wednesday’s matchup between the Atlantic-leading Leafs and the Stars. The Leafs have enjoyed the return of several offensive players who were out with various injuries in November. On Sunday, they faced Buffalo and had to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win; John Tavares scored back-to-back goals in the second period to pull ahead and then got an empty netter for his 14th career hat trick.
Unfortunately for the Stars, they’re without Tyler Seguin (9 goals, 11 assists). The forward finally went for a much-needed surgery to address a nagging hip injury and will be out for four to six months. This was strategic timing because if all goes well, he could be back in time for the playoffs. They’ll need to lean on his linemates Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment in his absence; rookie Logan Stankoven will fill in for Seguin on that line.
On Monday night, Dallas’ centreman Roope Hintz had his first two-goal game of the season as the Stars beat the Capitals 3-1.
NHL Betting: Daily Specials
Every day, NHL betting specials hit the board for all games scheduled that day and night. There’s a wide variety of betting options that range from player performances to team performances and more.
Player Performance Betting
NHL Odds: Player Scoring
The lower half of the Daily Specials board is mostly for Player Performance Betting. This is where you can bet on the top offensive threats—from all the teams set to play that night—to score above or below a goal total. On Monday, the Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, who lead the Stanley Cup playoffs odds, and Colorado Avalanche all played, and you had the option of betting on Jason Robertson, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon all to score 1+ goals each for +1100.
Perhaps on Friday, with the Leafs, Panthers, and Avalanche all playing, the Special will focus on Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Reinhart. Check in to see who’s featured on this fun one every day of the week. It’s an interesting way to beef up your bet slip.
NHL Bets: Combined Player Scoring
For the same idea but easier payout, you can bet on the top goal scorers to combine to reach a goal total. There are multiple totals available for any trio players, including 2+, 3+, 4+, with the odds adjusting to reflect the probability of each outcome. Find the right balance between risk and reward, and you’ll have something beyond the standard gamelines to get excited about.