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NHL Odds & Best Bets Today: Schedule, Picks for Wednesday

Scott Cullen

Last Updated: January 18, 2023 8:47 AM EST • 4 min 17 sec read.

NHL best bets
NHL best bets

Wednesday offers a five-game slate of games in the National Hockey League, including some matchups with early playoff implications. Read on for today’s NHL Best Bets.

Now that the National Hockey League season has moved into the second half, games involving teams that are fighting for playoff spots become more prominent.

Clubs like the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning might already be looking ahead to the postseason, but the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, Colorado Avalanche, and Calgary Flames are among those scrambling to secure a spot in the postseason dance.

For each of these teams, there's also the knowledge that going on an extended hot streak could undoubtedly make things a lot easier as we get even closer to postseason crunch time.

That makes these games even more important for the teams involved, which could add some value for the sports bettor because there should be no issue with motivation.

Here are our NHL Best Bets for Wednesday (odds via FanDuel Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, BetMGM, and PointsBet; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Check out all of our NHL best bets.

Wednesday’s NHL Schedule and Odds

(odds via DraftKings)

  • Pittsburgh Penguins (-110) vs. Ottawa Senators (-110)
  • Boston Bruins (-195) vs. New York Islanders (+165)
  • Colorado Avalanche (+110) vs. Calgary Flames (-130)
  • Tampa Bay Lightning (-180) vs. Vancouver Canucks (+155)
  • Dallas Stars (-155) vs. San Jose Sharks (+135)

Wednesday’s NHL Best Bets

  • Moneyline: Flames (-128 via FanDuel Sportsbook) vs. Avalanche ⭐⭐⭐
  • Spread: Lightning -1.5 (+140 via DraftKings Sportsbook) vs. Canucks ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Total: Penguins-Senators Over 6 (-120 via DraftKings Sportsbook) ⭐⭐⭐
  • Prop: Tyler Seguin Over 0.5 Goals (+235 via Caesars Sportsbook) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wednesday's NHL Top Picks

Moneyline: Flames ML vs. Avalanche (-128 via Caesars) ⭐⭐⭐

After securing the top two seeds in the Western Conference playoffs last season, the Flames and Avalanche are fighting just to get into playoff position in 2023.

With 51 points in 45 games, the Flames are in fifth place in the Pacific Division, but they have been more reliable at home, posting a 12-7-2 record.

Even though their results have not been up to expectations, the Flames’ underlying numbers remain promising. During five-on-five play, Calgary is controlling 56.0% of score-and-venue-adjusted shot attempts, which ranks second, and 54.2% of expected goals, which ranks sixth.

Meanwhile, injuries have been the story of the season for the Colorado Avalanche and while the situation is getting better, the Avs are in fifth place in the Central with 47 points in 42 games.

The road has been a trouble spot for Colorado recently. The Avs are 4-6 in their past 10 road games, but three of those four wins have come in overtime and none of those six losses were in overtime or shootouts. In fact, four of them were by a margin or more than one goal.

The Avalanche have a .887 save percentage in 10 games since the holiday break, which ranks 26th, and they have allowed nine goals during four-on-five play. Shaky goaltending and weak penalty killing is not the path to road success, especially against a Calgary club that excels at controlling play at even strength.

Calgary has settled in as a -130 favorite at the top-rated sportsbooks, give or take a cent either way, but it's worth waiting to see if any afternoon news might shift the price before puck drop.

Spread: Lightning -1.5 vs. Canucks (+140 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

As usual, the Lightning are rounding into the form of a Stanley Cup contender. They have won eight of 10 games since the holiday break and rank fourth with 55.8% of five-on-five score-and-venue-adjusted expected goals.

Contrast that with the slow-moving car crash that is the Vancouver Canucks. Not only are the Canucks managing just 44.8% of five-on-five score-and-venue-adjusted expected goals, but they also have a league-worst .879 save percentage.

The Canucks are 8-10-1 on home ice, and eight of those 10 losses have been by 2+ goals.

DraftKings, Caesars, and PointsBet all have the Lightning at +140 on the puckline, while BetMGM has it priced at +135 and FanDuel is at +128.

That 12% difference between FanDuel and other top-rated sportsbooks should have massive influence on where to place this wager.

Check out our latest Stanley Cup odds.

Total: Penguins-Senators Over 6 (-120 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐

With Tristan Jarry injured, the Penguins are expected to start Casey DeSmith in goal. DeSmith has a .906 save percentage and 3.10 goals against average, and has allowed at least three goals against in six of his 11 road starts.

Match that against Senators netminder Cam Talbot, who also has a .906 save percentage to go with a goals against average of 2.86. Talbot has given up at least three goals in seven of 11 home starts.

The Senators have potted 39 goals during five-on-four play, which ranks second behind only the Edmonton Oilers. Ottawa is also getting No. 1 center Josh Norris back in the lineup for the first time since he suffered a shoulder injury on Oct. 22.

With the Penguins’ defense depleted by injuries to Kris Letang, Jeff Petry, and Jan Ruutta, there is even more reason to suspect that this game could be a high-scoring affair.

Most of the top-rated sportsbooks have the Over between -120 and -122, but BetMGM has shifted to a total of 6.5, with the Under priced at -115 and the Over at +105, which is fair, but I don’t like this game enough to move off the total of 6.

Check out our latest Stanley Cup odds.

Prop: Tyler Seguin Anytime Goal (+235 via Caesars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Opportunity can make a massive difference in a player’s production – and that is revealing itself right now with Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin.

The 30-year-old pivot has battled injuries in recent seasons and is more of a secondary scorer than the primetime offensive threat that he was at his peak. However, an upper-body injury to Roope Hintz has resulted in Seguin moving between Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski on the Stars' top line.

Seguin has three goals (including an empty-netter Monday against Vegas) and 14 shots on goal in four games since Hintz was injured, while playing nearly two more minutes per game.

He goes up against a Sharks squad that has a league-worst .869 save percentage at home and ranks 31st with 3.92 goals against per 60 minutes on home ice.

Strangely, there isn't as much variance in the price for a Seguin anytime goal as there are for some other players.

DraftKings, BetMGM and PointsBet all have the price at +220, while FanDuel sits at +225. Caesars comes in with the best price for this wager at +235, so that is the ideal place to make this bet.

NHL Best Bet picks made 1/18/2023 at 11:30 a.m. ET.

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Written By:
Scott Cullen
Scott Cullen is SportsbookReview.com's Sports Betting Analyst and is one of the most well-known sports betting writers on the web. He wrote about fantasy sports for TSN for many years, and he has also written for The Athletic, NHL.com, The Hockey News, Monkey Knife Fight, and McKeen's Hockey. Born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, Cullen was an Economics major at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario and played for the Laurier Golden Hawks hockey team.