Check out our NHL Best Best tonight for the four-game slate, including Sabres vs. Flyers, Stars vs. Flames and more.
The Action Network's hockey experts have predictions and picks for all four matchups, including a pair of bets for the Blues vs. Avalanche nightcap.
With games on TNT and ESPN+, hockey fans have plenty of action to choose from.
And if you're looking for some action, we've got you covered with our top NHL picks for tonight.
NHL Best Bets Tonight
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our NHL betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 8:30 p.m. | |
  | 9:30 p.m. | |
  | 10 p.m. | |
| 10 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NHL Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Sabres vs. Flyers
By Ryan Dadoun
While Buffalo and Philadelphia feature strong offenses, I do believe these teams won’t combine to produce a high-scoring contest Wednesday.
Philadelphia goaltender Carter Hart has been strong this season with a 2.30 GAA and a .921 save percentage through seven contests and has been especially effective over his last five outings, allowing just nine goals on 139 shots (.935 save percentage).
Importantly, the Flyers expected goals against is just 22.38 – the third-lowest mark in the league – so this isn’t just a matter of Hart being hot, but him also receiving the defensive support that he needs and lacked last season (Philadelphia finished 21st in the same metric in 2022-23).
The Sabres should also get strong goaltending after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen posted a 23-save shutout over Colorado on Sunday.
When it comes to expected goals against, the Sabres are at 27.71, which puts them 18th overall, so Buffalo isn’t an ideal defensive team but not bad either.
By contrast, the Sabres finished 27th in expected goals against last season with the squad being known for winning only through overwhelming offensive force.
That’s not quite the Sabres this year. They can win the lower-scoring games. In fact, three of their four victories have come in contests with five or fewer total goals.
These teams are playing more well-rounded hockey, and that’s what we should see on display Wednesday.
Under 6.5 goals (+114, play down to +105)
Pick: Sabres vs. Flyers Under 6.5 (+114 at Betway) | Play down: +105
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Stars vs. Flames
By Greg Liodice
The Calgary Flames are going through it, big time. After reports that the Flames brass are holding off on discussing extensions on their core, the writing may be on the wall.
Not only that, the five game losing streak that they’re undergoing can’t help with morale. Tonight they host the Dallas Stars, and that could be even worse for the losing streak. Dallas has one of the more complete teams in the league, and have won four out of its last four games.
To go with that, the Stars have had the most efficient offense ranking first in expected goals with a 58.26 xGF%. Defensively, they’re also fourth with a 2.29 xGA/60 and have the league’s hottest goalie in Jake Oettinger.
Pair that with Calgary’s eighth worst offense with a 46.73 xGF%, and it just seems like the perfect storm for Dallas to come out on top.
The trio of Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Dillon Dube have been dreadful with a combination of -31. Huberdeau and Kadri were supposed to be huge additions to this team last offseason, but in the end were just disappointments. Now, they’ve become liabilities, which doesn’t bode well for Calgary’s future.
Dallas clearly has the better team here, and I don’t see a world where it doesn’t win in regulation.
Pick: Stars in regulation/60 minutes (+125 at bet365) | Play to: +115
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Blues vs. Avalanche
By Carol Schram
Although the Colorado Avalanche came out of the gate with six straight wins, they’re on pretty level ground with the St. Louis Blues heading into Wednesday’s TNT matchup in Denver. Both sides are looking to rebound after embarrassing shutout losses.
The Blues dropped a 5-0 decision in Vancouver last Friday while the Avalanche have been shut out twice — in Pittsburgh last Thursday and in Buffalo on Sunday.
So St. Louis will be the better-rested squad. The Blues also have a more stable goaltending profile, likely going back to Jordan Binnington while the Avs roll the dice on waiver pickup Ivan Prosvetov to make his first start for his new team.
The Avs may also be thin on the blue line. Cale Makar and Bowen Byram both missed practice on Monday in Denver, and while coach Jared Bednar said both are “banged up,” he does expect at least one of them to play.
Meanwhile, the Blues are underperforming offensively. Seven games in, Brandon Saad is the only player on the team with more than one goal – and he has two. That will change at some point, and it could very well be on Wednesday.
With the Blues as long underdogs, that sets up a nice betting opportunity. Even though the line has shifted somewhat in St. Louis’ favor, you should be able to find good value for the road dogs.
The pick: St. Louis Blues moneyline (+200 at BetMGM); play down to +190
Pick: Blues (+200 at BetMGM) | Bet to: +190
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Coyotes vs. Ducks
The Ducks return home after their first 4-0 road trip since the 2013 season. Their surprising early form is being respected in the betting markets, and they are only slight underdogs versus a quality Coyotes team.
Anaheim's new head coach, Greg Cronin, is clearly head and shoulders above former bench boss Dallas Eakins. Cronin has the Ducks playing a far better team game – particularly in the defensive zone, where Anaheim was a complete train wreck last season.
Even still, the Ducks roster likely will not perform at this level much longer.
More importantly, the Coyotes have played well enough that we can respect the Ducks surprising form and still argue there is value on the Coyotes, who opened at -120 and can be widely found at -130 as of this writing.
Arizona is skating a significantly improved roster, which figured to perform better in even-strength play. That has been the case as the team owns the league's fourth-best expected goal rating at 5-on-5.
Their power-play unit has also looked great and is clicking at 26% in the early going.
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Coyotes vs. Ducks
By Tony Sartori
Taking the under in this spot is backing the goaltenders more than anything else.
I am a huge fan of Karel Vejmelka and think he is going to be a legit force in this league – despite sometimes being overlooked solely due to the product in front of him. Through five appearances in the crease this year, he boasts a .926 SV% and 2.51 GAA.
Those strong numbers are also weighed down by a particularly poor performance against the Los Angeles Kings. He's allowed three or fewer scores in each of his other four outings, including against Anaheim just 11 days ago.
In that contest, Vejmelka stopped 32 of 33 pucks for a .970 SV% en route to Arizona's 3-2 win. On the other side of the ice, goaltender Lukas Dostal certainly did his job as he stopped 25 of 27 shots for a .926 SV%.
On the season, Dostal is now 4-1 with a .921 SV% and 2.79 GAA. These two netminders are set to square off once again on Wednesday, and I think we'll get a similar outing in terms of goal production.
There have now been five or fewer total goals scored in five of the past eight meetings. We are catching +116 on the Under 6 via FanDuel in this spot because both offenses have looked sharp thus far.
However, it's been a small sample size and both teams finished in the bottom four of the league in expected goals for per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 last year.
Pick: Coyotes vs. Ducks under 6.5 (-105 at Betway)
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