Its the 2nd Saturday of the NHL season and boy are we loaded up with action as 30 of 32 teams will be in action today! That of course gives many different avenues to pursue in the betting space and for the article today I narrowed it down to a trio of best bets that I am pumped up for. In today's piece you'll find a pair of Money Line bets with one of them being a huge plus money underdog and the other wager is a game total featuring a familiar team to topping the overs in high scoring affairs. As always stick to your budget and your plan and have fun, let's make some money this weekend!

  • Season Record: 5-8-0
  • Bankroll: -2.35 units

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**all bets are one unit unless specifically mentioned.

NHL Best Bets for October 21

Winnipeg Jets at Edmonton Oilers 

Its been a slow start to the season for the Oilers as they sit at 1-3-0 so far and have been outscored 17-11 during that span. Part of the reason is a lack of consistent goaltending from Stuart Skinner and Jack Campbell the former of which is starting in the net tonight. Skinner has a GAA of 5.27 which is outrageous but to be fair its a small sample size. I bring this issue up because I am eyeing up the game total and thinking this game is likely to go over. The Oilers are no stranger to high scoring games as over the years they have leaned on the offense because they can't play defense and it looks like it'll be that way again this season. Over on the road side are the Jets who are rebuilding this season and have gotten smacked around through 4 games allowing a total of 19 goals! This has of course led to them hitting the over in 3 of 4 games thus far and with the total hanging at 6.5 goals tonight I am going to be riding that over. 

Pick: Jets & Oilers Over 6.5 Goals (-130 on BetMGM)

 

San Jose Sharks at Nashville Predators

Let me start the analysis on this pick with saying its a half unit play, so let's not get too crazy! I am in on the Sharks today and while that is mildly crazy as they are 0-3-1 to start the season I think the market is way too heavy on Nashville tonight. Don't get me wrong, the Predators should be favored tonight but at -260 on the Money Line? The Preds aren't an overly impressive team at 2-3-0 and they rank just middle of the pack in Corsi metrics and have given up plenty of goals over their opening 5 games. Enter the Sharks who may be the leagues worst team this season but they have played competitive games so far and still have some talented player like Tomas Hertl, so at +215 its worth while taking a swing with the amount of variance the NHL has game to game. 

Pick: San Jose Sharks Money Line (+215 on Bet365) Half Unit Play

 

Vancouver Canucks at Florida Panthers

Here is another mispriced game by the books in my opinion as the Canucks head south to take on the Florida Panthers! The Panthers are overall unchanged at their core from last seasons run to the Stanley Cup final although the injuries to Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad are concerning long term. Talking just about tonight though I love this spot for the Panthers against a Canucks team that is 1-2-0 on the road so far and have lost both of their east coast road games leading into tonight. They will also be starting Casey DeSmith in net tonight and for all the Penguins fans out there you know this guy doesn't have it. That gives the Panthers a pretty hefty edge given the splits and goaltender for the Canucks but the real kicker is that Vancouver ranks 31st in expected goals this season at 37.76% and in case you are wondering average teams sit around 50%. This team is well below average and the Panthers should get the job done on home ice tonight with Sergei Bobrovsky in the cage. 

Pick: Florida Panthers Money Line (-140 on Caesars)