The slate of NHL games tonight is excellent with some teams that are riding high on two game winning streaks. The Wild and the Senators will get tested tonight with tough matchups to keep their streaks alive. Here we breakdown each game and give the best NHL Wednesday odds in the market.
Montreal Canadiens (+180) at Ottawa Senators (-225) – Wednesday, 7:00PM EST
Since Montreal’s miraculous Stanley Cup appearance in the “bubble,” they have struggled to get back to playing an elite level of hockey. In 2021-22, they finished dead last in the Atlantic Division. The Habs currently sit at 6th place in the Atlantic Division with a 14-12-2 record. They enter their Wednesday night matchup in Ottawa five points out of a Wild Card spot. While they sit at just .500, they are coming off a huge shootout victory against the Calgary Flames.
Monday night’s matchup saw up and coming star Cole Caufield leave the game with an upper-body injury. However, the Canadiens announced this morning that Caufield will travel with the team and is expected to be in the lineup tonight. Caufield is off to a great start 28 games into the season as he leads the team in goals (16) and sits 2nd in points (25) just behind Captain Nick Suzuki. Sam Montembeault will get the start in net for the Habs.
Ottawa announced some bittersweet news this morning ahead of tonight’s matchup with Montreal. The Sens’ 2020 3rd overall pick, Tim Stutzle will miss at least a week with a shoulder contusion. Originally, this was expected to be a more serious issue so this is actually good news. Stutzle, in his third NHL season, has 10 goals and 17 assists in 28 games played this year. He is a huge piece to this Ottawa team’s nucleus of young players. While they currently sit in last place in the Atlantic Division, this team will continue to grow their young talent and give the top teams in the Eastern Conference a run for their money.
Ottawa is riding a 2-game win streak in which they took down both Anaheim and Nashville. Tonight, they will be missing two centers in Tim Stutzle and Josh Norris. Norris hasn’t played since October 22nd, but this is the first game without Stutzle. Goaltender Cam Talbot will need to be sharp tonight as his Sens are missing critical pieces.
Both of these teams are desperate to stay in the win column as they look to keep pace in a very tight Atlantic Division. Missing both Stutzle and Norris will affect the continuity amongst the lines tonight. Montreal will win a close one.
Wicked Wager – Montreal Canadiens ML (+180)
Wicked Player Prop – Cole Caufield Total Points Over .5 (+105)
Detroit Red Wings (+195) at Minnesota Wild (-250) – Wednesday, 7:30PM EST
Detroit is playing much better hockey than a lot of us thought they would up to this point in the season. 2021-22 saw the Red Wings end in 6th place in the Atlantic Division with 74 points. They currently sit just three points behind both the Islanders and Rangers for the final two wild card spots. They are certainly in a position to make a run at a 7th or 8th seed this season.
Captain Dylan Larkin has been leading the way this season posting 27 points through 28 games, good for the team lead. Perhaps the biggest bright spot for this team has been the emergence of left winger, Dominik Kubalik. The 4th year player out of the Czech Republic currently has 25 points and is on pace to smash his previous career best of 46 points. Kubalik has been held off the score sheet in the team’s past three games, which all resulted in losses. Detroit has scored just three goals in their past three games and will need a spark from their big guns tonight.
Minnesota is hot. They are currently riding a 2-game win streak as well as eight wins in their last eleven games. The Wild are a much better hockey team than their 15-11-2 record shows. Luckily for the Minnesota faithful, their beloved Wild are finally playing to their potential and will try to jump 3rd place Colorado with a win on home ice.
They are playing a struggling Detroit team whose scored just three goals in their last three outings. However, Minnesota is coming off a hard fought 2-1 victory over Edmonton that saw future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury stop 20 of 21 shots. Fleury, not off to his greatest start, will look to build off the momentum from Monday night. The Wild are tied for 14th in goals allowed per game (3) and boast one of the strongest defensive cores in the NHL. They are currently #4 in the NHL in expected goals against per 60 minutes.
The Wild will keep their hot streak alive tonight with Detroit struggling to score goals and playing against a future Hall of Fame goaltender. Minnesota will handle the Red Wings on home ice and catapult themselves into 3rd in the Central Division by night’s end.
Wicked Wager – Minnesota Wild -1.5 (+105)
Wicked Player Prop – Dominik Kubalik Total Points Over .5 (-110)
Vancouver Canucks (+145) at Calgary Flames (-175) – Wednesday, 10:00PM EST
Vancouver hasn’t played a game since their 3-game win streak came to an end on Saturday at the hands of the Minnesota Wild. Prior to their 3-0 loss, Vancouver was coming off a 3-game stretch that saw them light the lamp sixteen times. Although this team sits at 12-13-3, 6th in the Pacific, they are capable of a scoring outburst on a nightly basis.
The biggest thing holding the Canucks back is simply youth and inexperience. Vancouver is the second youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 25.6, just behind the Buffalo Sabres. It will take time for this team to build continuity, but once they do, they will wreak havoc on the NHL for years to come. Granted they will need to retain all this talent year in and year out. In his 5th season with the Canucks, forward Elias Pettersson is leading the way with 34 points. Pettersson is currently on pace to set career highs in goals, assists and points this season. Vancouver’s youth and speed will need to be on full display tonight as they face Western Canada rival.
There is a lot of unease in the city of Calgary this season. The preseason favorite to win the Pacific Division is in 5th place currently. The Flames had the most eventful offseason by far and for now, it doesn’t seem to be going in their favor. This past summer saw them lose both of their franchise players in Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk. Both of these players have significantly outscored the entirety of the Calgary lineup as they both lead their respective teams in points. Not much of a surprise there.
The Flames come stumbling into this Wednesday matchup having dropped their last three games. In those contests, they managed to score just six goals. Like their opponent, the Flames lack continuity. They were not expecting to have such a shake-up to their lineup this past offseason. They will definitely figure it out as they possess too much talent not to. However, this team will figure it out when Jonathan Huberdeau returns to his full potential. Huberdeau is not off to a bad start with 18 points in 26 games. Coming off a year where he posted 115 points, the expectations in Calgary are extremely high. If Huberdeau can find his groove, this team’s offensive production is going to flourish.
Vancouver is coming off extra rest. They were shutout Saturday after going on an absolute tear the previous three games. The Flames are struggling to score right now and the Canucks will win a close one on the road.
Wicked Wager – Vancouver Canucks ML (+145)
Wicked Player Prop – Jonathan Huberdeau Anytime Goal Scorer (+180)