Best NHL Bets Today: Expert Picks for Saturday, February 8

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Published on February 8, 2025

The National Hockey League (NHL) has a total of 14 games on the slate, as the schedule is heavy Saturday with a light schedule Sunday due to Super Bowl LIX. Traditionally, the other sports won't go up against football's biggest game. We'll piece together a couple of parlay opportunities, hopefully building some backroll to make some prop plays for the Super Bowl, the 4 Nations Face-off, etc. Let's get started.

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Best NHL Bets Today: Expert NHL Picks for
Saturday, Feb. 8

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.

Chicago Blackhawks at St. Louis Blues

The Blackhawks (17-31-6) meet the Blues (24-26-5) at Enterprise Center at 7:00 p.m. ET. Like all of the games below, it can be viewed or streamed on ESPN+.

Chicago routed the Nashville Predators 6-2 on Friday behind Petr Mrazek. Now it will turn to backup Arvid Soderblom in the second end of a back-to-back. It's crazy, but the Blackhawks are 1-2-3 in the past six starts by Soderblom, losing each of the five setbacks by a single goal.

St. Louis is 1-5-1 in the past seven games. The last time these teams met was New Year's Eve, a 6-2 win at Wrigley Field in an outdoor game. St. Louis has won three in a row in the series while averaging six goals per game (GPG) in the span – all over results. The Blues are 8-2-0 in the past 10 meetings since February 27th, 2022,. Back the Blackhawks on the puck line catching a goal and a half, and go over on the total.

Blackhawks +1.5 (-120 at Bet365)
Under 5.5 Goals (+100 at Bet365)

Don't place a single wager on your go-to sports betting apps without researching the latest NHL odds.

Buffalo Sabres at Nashville Predators

The Sabres (22-26-5) and Predators (18-28-7) meet at Bridgestone Arena in the Music City at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Buffalo scored a 4-3 win on January 31st at KeyBank Center as short underdogs at home (+110) as the over (6.5) cashed.

In that win, the Sabres got off to a quick start, with Ryan McLeod and Jiri Kulich scoring in the first 8:41 to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead. Luke Evangelista, Brady Skjei and Thomas Novak answered to help Nashville to a 3-2 lead, but Jason Zucker leveled things 3-3 before Kulich returned for his second goal late in the third period to thrill the home crowd.

Justus Annunen stopped 23 of the 27 shots he faced in the loss, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves in the win. That is the expected goaltender matchup in the rematch.

The Predators have dropped six in a row, but are worth a look on home ice. The Sabres are 1-3-0 in the past four road outings. Let's back the over, too, based on recent trends and the first meeting.

Predators ML (-135 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
Over 6.0 Goals (-104 at Fanatics Sportsbook)

New York Islanders at Minnesota Wild

The Islanders (25-22-7) and Wild (32-19-4) meet at 8:00 p.m. ET at XCel Energy Center in St. Paul.

New York suffered the 4-3 loss in Winnipeg on Friday and faces a quick turnaround. In the most recent game on no rest, the Islanders suffered a 6-3 loss at Florida, as backup goaltender Jakub Skarek stopped 27 out of 32 shots in his NHL debut.

Ilya Sorokin allowed four goals on 27 shots in Winnipeg. He likely gets the nod despite the back-to-back. The Isles have lost two of the past three games when playing on no rest.

The Wild scored a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday as short underdogs (+166) at home as the under (5.5) cashed behind Filip Gustavsson. The Wild won, but they're still struggling to light the lamp, posting just two goals in the past three games. The under is on a 4-1 run for Minnesota.

Let's take the Islanders catching the goal and a half for a second straight night and we'll go low on the total.

Islanders +1.5 (-190 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Under 5.5 Goals (-113 at BetRivers Sportsbook)

Today's Best NHL Bet(s)

On Friday, the Islanders didn't win outright in Winnipeg, but they were able to cut the lead to 4-3 midway through the third period. We held our breath with an empty net, catching +1.5 goals. The Jets couldn't get that fifth goal. We have to send Kyle Palmieri a thank you note for his third-period marker that helped us cover.

Let's keep it going on Saturday with under in the Islanders-Wild battle in the Twin Cities.