Best NHL Bets Today: Expert Picks for Monday, March 17

Written by

Daniel Dobish

Published on March 17, 2025

More Home Runs. Fewer Strikeouts.

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The National Hockey League five games on the slate for Monday night, with three games in the 7 p.m. ET window, a 7:30 p.m. ET puck drop, and a final game at 8 p.m. ET. We'll dive into two games and go in-depth, looking to provide you with a couple of strong parlay possibilities, as we look to get lucky on this St. Patrick's Day. Let's get started.

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Best NHL Bets Today: Expert NHL Picks for
Monday, March 17

For the latest NHL Odds, including NHL Futures and NHL player props, visit RotoWire's NHL Betting page. For up-to-date NHL player news and NHL Injury Report info, head to RotoWire's NHL Lineups page. You can find more picks at Bookies.com/picks. Here are our NHL Best Bets today, featuring expert NHL picks for an action-packed slate of games.

Philadelphia Flyers at Tampa Bay Lightning

The Flyers (28-32-8) and Lightning (38-23-5) meet at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Monday night at 7 p.m. ET. The game can be viewed on ESPN+.

While the Lightning have a much better record than the Flyers this season, Philadelphia has won both of the meetings in the 2024-25 campaign.

On Nov. 7 at Amalie, the Flyers skated away with a 2-1 win in a shootout as heavy underdogs (+180) as the Under (6) cashed. Nikita Kucherov scored for the home side, while Owen Tippett scored for the visitors to force overtime with 4:16 left in regulation. Ivan Fedotov stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced to pick up the win, outdueling Andrei Vasilevskiy, who had 30 saves.

In the rematch Thursday in Philadelphia, the Flyers posted a 4-3 shootout win at Wells Fargo Center as moderate home underdogs (+130) as the Over (6) came through. Gage Goncalves had a power-play goal for the visitors, while Zemgus Girgensons and Cam Atkinson also lit the lamp. Bobby Brink had two goals for Philadelphia, while Ryan Poehling also notched a goal. In that matchup, Samuel Ersson stopped 17 of 20 shots, edging Jonas Johansson, who had 26 saves on 29 shots.

The Flyers have won three of the past four meetings in this series, with the Over going 5-1 in the past six since March 7, 2023.

Philadelphia is coming off a 5-0 loss to the Hurricanes at home Saturday, slipping to 1-6-0 in the past seven games, while the Under is 4-2 in the previous six matchups. The lone win in that seven-game stretch was over the Lightning.

Tampa Bay belted the Bruins 6-2 on Saturday at TD Garden, halting an 0-2-1 slide. The Over has hit in two in a row, while going 4-2 across the previous six contests.

Ersson (19-13-4, 3.02 GAA, .886 SV%, 2 SO) is expected to get the nod Monday, while Vasilevskiy (31-18-3, 2.28 GAA, .919 SV%, 4 SO) is likely to be in the crease.

We'd back the Lightning straight up normally, but they'll set you back two and a half times your potential return or more, and that's not recommended. Based on Philly's winning ways this season, let's take the underdog on the puck line. We'll also lean low.

As a bonus, let's roll the dice on Victor Hedman as an Anytime Goal Scorer (+450 at Bet365 Sportsbook). He has three goals and six points over the past five games.

Flyers +1.5 (-120 at BetMGM)
Under 6 Goals (-115 at Bet365 Sportsbook)
Victor Hedman - Anytime Goal Scorer (+450 at Bet365 Sportsbook)

Don't make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps without first consulting the latest NHL odds.

Los Angeles Kings at Minnesota Wild

The Kings (36-20-9) and Wild (37-25-5) renew acquaintances at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, and as a reminder, that's the capital of Minnesota, not Minneapolis. I find so many people think it's the latter, so that's why I belabor the point here.

Anyway, the Kings posted a 1-0 OT win against the Predators on Saturday behind Darcy Kuemper, who also blanked his former organization, the Washington Capitals, in the start before on Thursday, 3-0. Los Angeles has won five straight games, while allowing one or no goals in four of those matchups. The Under is 3-0 in the past three games, and 5-1 across the past six matchups.

The Wild suffered a 5-1 loss to the Blues on home ice Saturday, and they're just 1-3-1 in the past five games, and 3-6-1 across the previous 10 matchups, while the Under is 4-1 in the past five contests.

Kuemper (22-8-7, 2.16 GAA, .919 SV%, 4 SO) is expected to start, while Filip Gustavsson (25-15-4, 2.60 GAA, .914 SV%, 4 SO) is likely for the home side.

The Kings have won both meetings this season, outscoring the Wild 9-2 in the two meetings. That includes a 5-1 win in the Twin Cities on Nov. 5 as moderate underdogs, as Trevor Lewis scored two goals, while David Rittich allowed a goal on 24 shots.

Let's back the Kings on the moneyline until the Wild prove they can exorcise their demons against Los Angeles. The Under is a strong play, too.

Kings ML (-140 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Under 5.5 Goals (-130 at Bet365 Sportsbook)

Today's Best NHL Bet(s)

On Sunday, we pushed in the Panthers-Islanders game, and New York hit an empty-net goal with seven seconds left in regulation to flip the Under to a Push.

For Monday, we'll look to get back on track playing the Under in Kings-Wild.