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Top Shelf Picks: Best NHL Bets Tonight (Continue to Fade the Lightning)

Breaking down the best bets to place for Monday's NHL action.

By Iain MacMillan

Dec 2, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley (55) skates with the puck
Dec 2, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley (55) skates with the puck / Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports
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Looking to place some NHL bets tonight? You've come to the right place.

I've been hot in the NHL lately and I'm looking to continue that trend tonight. Just because there's Monday Night Football, doesn't mean we can't bet on some hockey as well.

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Best NHL Bets Today

  • Stars -110 vs. Lightning
  • Hurricanes vs. Jets UNDER 6.5 (-120)
  • Kraken -148 vs. Canadiens

Season-to-date record: 63-53-1 (+2.98 units)

Stars vs. Lightning prediction

The Stars and Lightning will play the second half of a home-and-home on Monday night after the Stars demolished the Lightning in Dallas on Saturday, beating them by a final score of 8-1.

I've been low on the Lightning this season and I see no reason not to continue to bet against them. This team has struggled all season and enters tonight ranking just 19th in 5-on-5 adjusted expected goal differential. The goaltenders haven't been confirmed yet for tonight, but I'm going to hope and pray that Andrei Vasilevskiy gets the start for them because he's been a shell of his former self, sporting a save percentage of just .859 in his first four starts this season.

The Stars are the better team and I'll jump on them as a pick'em to beat the Lightning for a second-straight game.

Hurricanes vs. Jets prediction

The Carolina Hurricanes have been the best defensive team in the NHL this season during 5-on-5 play, leading the league in expected goals against per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play at 2.14. The Jets also rank well in this stat, coming in at 11th at 2.47.

The biggest concern for us UNDER bettors in this game should be the goaltending matchup. Both teams are rolling with their backups who have sub .900 save percentages. Hopefully, we get some positive regression from both of them and both teams playing well in their own end should help that out.

Kraken vs. Canadiens prediction

I'm going to continue to fade the Montreal Canadiens, who have been one of the worst teams in the NHL lately. Over each team's last 10 games, they're dead last in 5-on-5 expected goal differential per 60 minutes at -0.93. They're also allowing 14.53 high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play.

Meanwhile, the Kraken have been trending in the right direction, ranking sixth in the NHL in 5-on-5 expected goal differential over the same time span.

This one's a no-brainer for me. The Canadiens should be much longer underdogs than their current price tag indicates.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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

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