Top Shelf Picks: NHL Best Bets Today (Predictions for Flames-Sabres, Hurricanes-Wild, Bruins-Ducks)

Breaking down the best NHL bets on the ice for the four-game slate on Wednesday, November 19.

Tage Thompson and the Sabres are home favorites on Wednesday night. / Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

The NHL has a four-game slate on Wednesday night.

The Edmonton Oilers visit the Washington Capitals to start things off at 7 p.m., with the Anaheim Ducks hosting the Boston Bruins to close it out at 10 p.m.. 

My best bets for Wednesday night are looking at Buffalo as home favorites, a low-scoring game in Minnesota, and Boston as road underdogs.

Let’s get right into the best bets – and their odds at the best betting sites – for Wednesday, Nov. 19.

NHL Best Bets for Wednesday, Nov. 19

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

• Buffalo Sabres (-155) vs. Calgary Flames
• Carolina Hurricanes vs. Minnesota Wild UNDER 6.5 (-130)
• Boston Bruins (+142) at Anaheim Ducks

Buffalo Sabres (-155) vs. Calgary Flames

The Flames are on the second half of a back-to-back after losing 5-2 in Chicago on Tuesday night. That was their second straight loss and fifth in their last six games, dropping them to 5-13-3 on the season.

The Sabres recently had a five-game losing streak but have since won two straight, including a comeback win in Minnesota and a 5-1 home win over Edmonton.

The Flames have struggled to score when playing on no days rest, averaging 1.62 goals per game in 13 contests over the last two seasons. And they should have backup netminder Devin Cooley between the pipes tonight, making things easier for the Sabres.

It might be tough to trust the Sabres as such big favorites, but this is a great spot for them. They’re 6-3-2 at home while the Flames are 2-9-1 on the road.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Minnesota Wild UNDER 6.5 (-130)

The Wild have been dealt a few tough blows recently with injuries to Marco Rossi and Ryan Hartman down the middle. They’ve scored a total of eight goals in their last four games, going under the total in each of those contests. That’s also thanks to them limiting the opposition to four goals in those four games, and 14 goals in their last eight contests.

The Hurricanes are typically a team that plays lower-scoring games, but they’ve gone over the total a bit more this season due to poor goaltending. That shouldn’t be the case tonight with Frederik Andersen likely to start against a Wild team that isn’t generating much offensively.

I’m expecting a low-event game tonight, and it’s a bit surprising that this total is still up at 6.5.

Boston Bruins (+142) at Anaheim Ducks

The Bruins are coming off a tough loss to the Hurricanes, and are once again underdogs as they head to Anaheim to take on the Ducks. Boston is still 12-9-0 on the season, though, and 4-5-0 on the road.

The Ducks returned from a winless three-game road trip with a comeback win over the Utah Mammoth on Monday night. They’ve been a great home team at 6-1-0, but the tide has to turn sometime given their bottom-10 expected goals share at 5-on-5.

This game should be closer to a pick’em, so I’ll take the Bruins as underdogs once again.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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