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NHL Player Props & Best Bets Today: Can Predators Prey on Lightning?

Ryan Gilbert

Last Updated: December 7, 2023 3:45 PM EST • 3 min 32 sec read.

NHL best bets
NHL best bets

The NHL has a full slate with 13 games on the docket for Thursday night. Read on for our top NHL prop picks and best bets for Thursday based on the top NHL odds from our best sports betting apps.

The NHL has a full 13-game slate on tap for Thursday night, including some interesting matchups worth your attention.

In the first wave of games at 7 p.m. ET, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators face off in an Atlantic Division showdown. A couple hours later, the Arizona Coyotes host the Philadelphia Flyers in a battle between two teams that have exceeded early expectations. Late in the night, the New Jersey Devils and Seattle Kraken battle to close a busy night of hockey.

Here are our top NHL prop picks and best bets for Thursday (odds via our best NHL betting sites; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Thursday's NHL schedule and odds

(Odds via DraftKings)

Thursday’s NHL best bets

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Thursday’s NHL prop picks

Mats Zuccarello to record an assist (-110 via BetMGM)  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Minnesota Wild winger Mats Zuccarello is leading the way with a team-high 21 assists and 27 points on the top line with Kirill Kapriov. He’s also been incredibly consistent this season.

Zuccarello has recorded an assist in 17 of 23 games (73.9%) this season, including in 12 of his last 14 games. In fact, Zuccarello is currently on an eight-game assist streak for the Wild.

The first-line winger should keep it up tonight against a Canucks team that has a tendency to allow quite a few goals. Vancouver just lost 6-5 to New Jersey and with the total set at 6.5, the oddsmakers see some goals coming in this one.

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Jack Hughes Over 4.5 shots on goal (+114 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes has been an one-man shooting gallery since returning from injury a few weeks ago. He’s averaging 4.83 shots per game (87 in 18 games) and that has shot up over the last few weeks.

Hughes has racked up 52 shots in just eight games since returning from injury. That’s an average of over six shots per game. He’s had at least five shots on goal in all but one of those games, and in that game he still had seven shot attempts — they just missed the net or were blocked.

This is a great ladder spot for Hughes to go Over 5.5 SOG (+180) as well.

Thursday’s NHL game picks

Stars ML vs. Capitals (-135 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Dallas Stars suffered their second straight road loss with a 5-4 defeat in Florida last night, but they’re in prime position to bounce back tonight.

Despite the Washington Capitals’ strong start to the season at 12-8-2, they haven’t been playing all that well. Washington has the seventh-worst xGF% (47.13%) in the league at 5-on-5 play and that’s shown up recently with a 43.65% xGF in its last 10 games.

On the other side, Dallas is one of the best 5-on-5 teams in the league with a 53.93% xGF. The Stars have also shown a propensity to play well even on no days rest.

The Stars beat the Oilers 4-3 in Edmonton the night after winning in Calgary by the same final score. They won road games on back-to-back nights again in Winnipeg (3-2) and Minnesota (8-3) last month as well.

Predators ML vs. Lightning (-125 via FanDuel) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

While we’re backing the Stars on no days rest, we’re fading the Tampa Bay Lightning in the same situation.

Tampa Bay has strung two wins together now with a 4-0 shutout against the Stars and a 3-1 win over the Penguins last night. However, the Lightning are now going on the road where they’re 4-7-2 this season and backup Jonas Johansson (8-5-5, 3.44 GAA, .892 SV%) is projected to start.

Meanwhile, Nashville is 8-6-0 at home and had Wednesday off after sweeping a quick two-game road trip in Buffalo and Chicago. Starter Juuse Saros (10-10-0, 3.03, .900 SV%) should be in the net for the Predators. He’s been strong in net recently, with a 6-1-0 record and .914 SV% in his last seven games (17 goals allowed).

Back the rested team at home with the better goalie tonight.

NHL best bets made 12/7/2023 at 11:22 a.m. ET

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Written By:
Ryan Gilbert
Ryan Gilbert is a contributing writer at SportsbookReview.com, covering hockey and baseball. He is the lead NHL writer and editor at the Sports Gambling Podcast Network, where he also co-hosts the Hockey Gambling Podcast. Ryan covers the Philadelphia Flyers for Broad Street Hockey and co-founded Sons of Penn. His past stops include NBC Sports Regional Networks and NHL.com.