NHL Picks (Today's Free Predictions, Tips, Parlays)

Free NHL Picks: Avalanche at Coyotes Odds
by George Monroy - 11/20/2013

The Colorado Avalanche finally hit their first rough patch of the season when they lost three straight games last week. The team had a particularly embarrassing loss to the St. Louis Blues where they allowed seven goals during regulation on only 24 shot attempts. Colorado even fell from first place in the Central Division into a tie for third. Don’t feel too bad for the team, though, because they are still sitting on 30 points—which is more than any team in the Eastern Conference—and are still on of the more talented squads in NHL.

Free NHL Picks: Devils at Ducks Odds
by George Monroy - 11/19/2013

The Anaheim Ducks have not won a game in nearly two weeks, and after four straight losses they still sit atop the Pacific Division with 32 points. Anaheim, in fact, has the most points in the entire NHL and is still a perfect 8-0 at home. The team, however, will be looking to end their slump when they return to the Honda Center for a two-game homestand starting on Wednesday night against the surging New Jersey Devils.

Free NHL Picks: Blues at Sabres Odds
by George Monroy - 11/18/2013

The Buffalo Sabres are playing their best stretch of hockey since the season began a month and a half ago. The team has won two of their last three games, three of their last six, and they even managed to win back-to-back games for the first time this season. Unfortunately, that mini-hot streak wasn’t enough to move Buffalo up in the standings, and the team is still sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with the worst record in the entire league.

Free NHL Picks: Red Wings at Islanders Odds
by George Monroy - 11/15/2013

The transition to the Eastern Conference hasn’t been as kind to the Detroit Red Wings as they might have initially expected. Prior to Thursday’s matchup against the Washington Capitals, the team was in the middle of their second four-game losing streak of the season. Detroit started with a loss to the Winnipeg Jets nearly two weeks ago and has since dropped three straight overtime games.

Free NHL Picks: Canadiens at Blue Jackets Odds
by George Monroy - 11/14/2013

The Montreal Canadiens may be playing on the road during their next matchup on Friday night, but the team is probably relieved to see the Columbus Blue Jackets on their schedule. Montreal was given a difficult schedule to start the month and had games against the Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning—essentially the best teams in both conferences.

Free NHL Picks: Stars at Flames Odds
by George Monroy - 11/13/2013

The Dallas Stars have not been receiving any help from the NHL schedule-makers over the last two weeks of the season. Dallas is currently in the middle of a seven-game stretch where they play six of those matchups on the road. However, that is not the difficult part of the Stars’ schedule.

Free NHL Picks: Maple Leafs at Wild Odds
by George Monroy - 11/12/2013

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a bit of a slump and have not won a game in regulation since the end of October. The team needed overtime and a shootout to beat the New Jersey Devils last week, and they have started the second month of the season losing two of their first three games. The Maple Leafs have fallen to the third spot in the Atlantic Division, but they will be looking to turn things around over the next few games as they play a very good Minnesota Wild team on Wednesday night and then head to Buffalo for a home-and-road situation against the struggling Sabres.

Free NHL Picks: Oilers at Flyers Odds
by George Monroy - 11/8/2013

Saturday’s matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers is a battle between two of the NHL’s worst teams. Both squads have a combined 19 points, which wouldn’t be good enough to make the playoffs in the Western Conference as nine teams already have 20 points or more. The matchup is probably not circled as must-see television on any fan’s calendar, but there is value to be had wagering on this game.

Free NHL Picks: Devils at Maple Leafs Odds
by George Monroy - 11/7/2013

The New Jersey Devils may only have three wins on the season, but two of them came back-to-back against the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning—two of the Eastern Conference’s premiere teams. Unfortunately, other than that small span of excellent play, the Devils have not had much to hang their hats on over the first month of the season.

Free NHL Picks: Rangers at Blue Jackets Odds
by George Monroy - 11/6/2013

The New York Rangers have made a drastic improvement on defense over the last few games and are finally starting to give the type of effort that Coach Alain Vigneault had envisioned when he took over the team during the offseason. The next step for the Rangers is to put together a solid winning streak and begin to move up the standings, where they currently sit near the bottom of the Metropolitan Division.

Free NHL Picks: Predators at Avalanche Odds
by George Monroy - 11/5/2013

It took the Colorado Avalanche six wins in a row before they finally lost their first game of the season last month. The team is now in the middle of another six-game win streak, but this time they hope to extend it even further when they play the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night. Colorado has been on a masterful pace to start the season and has only one loss during their first 13 games of the year.

Free NHL Picks: Senators at Blue Jackets Odds
by George Monroy - 11/4/2013

The Columbus Blue Jackets received a bit of good news on Saturday when the league announced that the team would be hosting the 2015 NHL All-Star Game in Nationwide Arena. Columbus was promised the event last season, but the game was canceled due to the lockout-shortened schedule. The announcement, which was made during the first period of Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, is the only piece of good news the Blue Jackets have received as of late.

Free NHL Picks: Ducks at Sabres Odds
by George Monroy - 11/1/2013

The Buffalo Sabres have been the NHL’s punching bag over the first month of the season and have provided bettors with more than a few excellent gambling opportunities. The team has managed to earn only one regulation win and five points over the first 15 games of the year. Unfortunately, things are about to get even worse for Buffalo as they start a brutal Western Conference trip where they play the Anaheim Ducks twice, the Los Angeles Kings twice and the San Jose Sharks over the next 10 days.

Free NHL Picks: Blues at Panthers Odds
by George Monroy - 10/31/2013

The Western Conference is a dog-eat-dog world. The St. Louis Blues found that out after being out of action for seven days last week. When the team returned, they had gone from first place in the West to seventh place in a matter of days. However, that is how fast-paced things are in the Conference this season. The Blues will have a chance to reclaim their spot atop the standings in the coming days when the team plays four games over the next week—three of which are on the road.

Free NHL Picks: Sabres at Rangers Odds
by George Monroy - 10/30/2013

The Buffalo Sabres’ newly-acquired forward, Matt Moulson, scored two goals in his debut with the team on Monday and nearly beat the Dallas Stars by himself. The Sabres traded for Moulson last week by sending team co-captain Thomas Vanek to the New York Islanders. In return Buffalo also received a first- and second-round draft pick. The move wasn’t enough to get the Sabres their first home win of the season, but Moulson did provide an injection of offensive energy during his 20 minutes on the ice.

Free NHL Picks: Red Wings at Canucks Odds
by George Monroy - 10/29/2013

Wednesday night’s matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks will be a battle of streaks. Detroit is currently on a four-game slide and has not won since they beat the Colorado Avalanche 13 days ago. Vancouver, on the other hand, is in the middle of a four-game win streak that includes a huge victory over the Western Conference-leading St. Louis Blues on Friday.

Free NHL Picks: Maple Leafs at Oilers Odds
by George Monroy - 10/28/2013

The Toronto Maple Leafs may have gotten their most impressive win of the young season on Saturday when the team shut down the Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins during a 4-1 victory. Toronto’s hot start to the season has them tied for the Atlantic Division lead with the Tampa Bay Lightning with 16 points apiece. Before the year began, most sportsbooks and NHL experts had the Maple Leafs as a mid-tier team receiving the eighth- or ninth-best odds to win the Conference.

Free NHL Picks: Sabres at Panthers Odds
by George Monroy - 10/24/2013

The Buffalo Sabres season has gone from bad to worse as forward Patrick Kaleta’s appeal of his 10-game suspension for hitting Columbus Blue Jacket’s defensemen Jack Johnson in the head was denied on Thursday. Kaleta is a repeat offender and was given a stiffer-than-usual penalty for the potentially-dangerous contact, which did not injure Johnson.

Free NHL Picks: Coyotes at Kings Odds
by George Monroy - 10/23/2013

The Los Angeles Kings are in the third game of an extended homestand where they will play eight of their next nine matchups inside of the Staples Centers. The team will probably be looking to put together a solid winning streak in order to gain some ground on a packed Pacific Division that already has four teams with six or more victories. Los Angeles may not have started the season the way it would have wanted to and suffered two losses during their first three games.

Free NHL Picks: Blackhawks at Panthers Odds
by George Monroy - 10/21/2013

The Florida Panthers have not won two games in a row all season, and to be quite honest they will have a difficult time making that happen when the team faces the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. Florida is coming off a 2-1 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, and they will try to take advantage of an extended homestand inside the BB&T Center.