Best NHL Bets Today: Expert Picks for Sunday, March 23

Written by

Daniel Dobish

Published on March 23, 2025

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The National Hockey League has seven total games Sunday. We have two games with a 3 p.m. ET puck drop, and we're not going to focus on those games. We'll look to the evening slate, giving you more time to piece your parlays together. Let's pluck some winners and start building some bankroll for the stretch run and the Stanley Cup playoffs. Let's get started.

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Best NHL Bets Today: Expert NHL Picks for
Sunday, March 23

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.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Vegas Golden Knights

The Lightning (40-24-5) wrap up a three-game Western Conference road trip against the Golden Knights (41-20-8) at T-Mobile Arena with a puck drop of 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Tampa Bay opened the trip with a solid 3-2 victory in a shootout in Dallas on Thursday. However, the Lightning lost 6-4 to Utah in Salt Lake City as a slight underdog (+100), as Brandon Halverson allowed five goals on 24 shots in his first career NHL start.

With the rookie having started Saturday, Andrei Vasilevskiy (33-18-3, 2.23 GAA, .920 SV%, 5 SO) will be back between the pipes for this marquee game on The Strip. The 30-year-old backstop is 5-3-0 with a 2.36 GAA and .903 SV% with one shutout in eight starts in March.

These teams met in Tampa on Oct. 17, 2024, with the Lightning winning 4-3 as moderate favorites (-140). The Lightning have won the past three meetings in the series, including last season's visit to the desert on March 19, 2024, a 5-3 victory by the Lightning. The Over has cashed in each of the past five meetings in the series, while the Over is 7-1 in the past eight installments.

The Golden Knights doubled up the visiting Red Wings 6-3 on Saturday behind Adin Hill. As such, Ilya Samsonov is scheduled to draw the start against the Lightning. Vegas is 3-1-2 in the past six games since March 11. Samsonov (15-9-3, 2.81 GAA, .889 SV%, 2 SO) has allowed six total goals in his past two outings, and he is 1-1-1 with a 2.01 GAA and .909 SV% with one shutout in three March outings.

Against Eastern Conference teams, the Golden Knights are 8-1-2 in their past 11 tries, while the Over is 3-1 in the past four games against teams from the East.

For the Lightning, they've won five of the past six meetings with teams from the Western Conference, while the Under is 6-1 in the past seven games against clubs from the West, including 5-0 in the past five starts by Vasilevskiy against Western teams.

Let's back the Lightning to get the road win, and we'll go low on the total based on Vasilevskiy's trends trumping the series trends.

Lightning ML (+106 at BetRivers Sportsbook)
Under 6.5 Goals (-130 at DraftKings Sportsbook)

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

Carolina Hurricanes at Anaheim Ducks

The Hurricanes (42-23-4) wrap up a four-game road trip against the Ducks (30-31-8) at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Carolina is recovering after a 7-2 loss to the Kings on Saturday, rudely halting an eight-game win streak by the Canes. Despite the rout Saturday, Carolina has still outscored the opposition 29-17 across the team's previous nine matchups. The Under is 3-1-1 in the past five games and 7-2-1 in the previous 10 games since flipping the calendar from February to March. Now, the Canes look to bounce back against the Ducks. Easy, right? Well, not so fast.

The Ducks have actually won four of the past five meetings in this series, including a 3-2 OT win on Jan. 12 in Raleigh as a major underdog (+400) as the Under (6) cashed. In fact, if you bet Anaheim in the past five meetings in this series, you'd be +1155.

The Ducks are coming off a 4-1 win in Nashville on Thursday, and Anaheim is 2-1-1 in the past four games, splitting the Over-Under in the span. Against the Eastern Conference, Anaheim is 4-2-1 in the past seven tries, too.

Pyotr Kochetkov allowed seven goals on 25 shots in the loss to Los Angeles, so Frederik Andersen (10-5-0, 2.08 GAA, .915 SV%, 1 SO) will get the starting nod Sunday. Lukas Dostal (20-18-6, 2.96 GAA, .908 SV%, 1 SO) is expected to be in the crease for the home side.

Based on the recent trends in this series, let's roll the dice on the Ducks for the opportunity to nearly double up. We'll also go high on the total.