Top Shelf Picks: Best NHL Bets Today (How to bet Panthers vs. Hurricanes)

NHL action continues on Thursday night with a plethora of intriguing matchups. One of which is a game between two teams, who I think, are the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference in the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes.

In this article, I'm going to break down my three best bets for Thursday night's slate, one of which is on the game between the two Eastern Conference juggernauts.

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Best NHL Bets Today

• Avalanche -140 vs. Red Wings
• Hurricanes -115 vs. Panthers
• Islanders -110 vs. Blues

Avalanche vs. Red Wings prediction

I'm going to try to continue to fade the Red Wings as much as I can. Their metrics simply don't back up their 14-9-2 record over their last 25 games which screams "regression incoming" to me. For example, they're 30th in the NHL in 5-on-5 expected goal percentage over that time frame and 26th in CORSI%.

Now, they take on one of the Stanley Cup favorites in the Colorado Avalanche, who outrank them by a wide margin in almost every single stat you want to look at. I price the Avs at closer to -170 in this game so I think there's oodles of value on them at their current price point.

Panthers vs. Hurricanes prediction

In my opinion, the Panthers and Hurricanes are the two top teams in the Eastern Conference, despite the Bruins being ahead of the Panthers in the Atlantic Division standings and the Rangers being ahead of the Hurricanes in the Metropolitan.

These two squads are right next to each other stop the NHL in CORSI%, with the Hurricanes edging out the Panthers. They're also first and third in expected goal percentage with the edge being given to the Panthers.

Where the Hurricanes hold an advantage is special teams, outranking the Panthers on both the power play and the penalty kill. In a neutral site, I'd likely set this game as a pick'em, so with the Hurricanes being listed at -120 on their home ice, I think there's a bit of value there.

Islanders vs. Blues prediction

Somehow the St. Louis Blues are 14-10-1 in their last 25 games despite being 31st in the NHL in 5-on-5 expected goal percentage which spells major regression coming for them sooner rather than later. They're also 30th in CORSI% with only the Sharks and Blackhawks ranking worse.

The Islanders have issues of their own, but for my money they're a significantly better team than the Blues and I won't hesitate to back them at pick'em odds on the road.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

You can check out all of Iain's bets here!