NHL Best Bets & Picks: Maple Leafs vs Islanders and Wild vs Kings – Expert Game Previews
The National Hockey League (NHL) has 13 total games on the slate for Saturday. We're going to focus on the seven games with a puck drop of 7 p.m. EST or later, including the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders doing battle on NHL Network.
We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Saturday's NFL Week 18 games, NBA and/or NCAA basketball action. Good luck with all of your plays, and Happy New Year! Let's get started.
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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.
Toronto Maple Leafs 
at New York Islanders 
The Maple Leafs (19-15-6) and the Islanders (22-15-4) square off at 7 p.m. EST on NHL Network.
Toronto won the Atlantic Division last season, but currently finds itself just one point out of the basement, although it is also just eight points back of first-place Detroit. The Atlantic Division is an absolute logjam.
The Leafs outlasted the Winnipeg Jets on New Year's Day, winning 6-5 as moderate favorites (-130) as the Over (6) cashed. Toronto is 4-0-1 in the past five games, picking up nine out of a possible 10 points. It slipped behind the Jets 4-1 early in the second period, and Joseph Woll was pulled after giving up four goals on 17 shots. Dennis Hildeby came on, stopping 22 of 23 shots for the relief victory.
Woll (8-4-1, 2.74 GAA, .914 SV%, 1 SO) is projected to go for the Leafs in net, while David Rittich (10-5-2, 2.46 GAA, .909 SV%, 2 SO) is confirmed for start for the home team.
From 11:04 of the second period on, the Leafs outscored the Jets 5-1, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson getting things started. With just three seconds left in the second period, Auston Matthews scored a power-play goal, his second of the night. In the third, Toronto bested Winnipeg 3-1, and Matthews netted an unassisted goal at 15:38 of the third to complete the hat trick.
Matthews hadn't had a hatty in 121 games, but he notched three goals and four points, and he now owns the most all-time NHL hat tricks by an American-born player with 14. He has four goals and eight points with a plus-2 rating in the past three games.
The Islanders were buried 7-2 by the Utah Mammoth in a matinee game on New Year's Day, and New York is just 3-4-1 in the past eight outings, while the Under is 7-1-1 in the past nine games.
We'll side with Islanders, even though the Leafs are playing much better lately. And, the Under is 3-1 in the past four meetings, while the Isles have crushed the Under lately, too.
- Islanders ML (-110 at BetMGM, Caesars, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)
- Under 5.5 Goals (+105 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbooks)
Minnesota Wild 
at Los Angeles Kings 
The Wild (25-10-7) and the Kings (16-14-9) meet at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN+.
Minnesota won the first meeting this season in the Twin Cities 4-3 in a shootout as slight -120 favorites, while the Over 5.5 cashed. It was a strange game, as the Wild built an early 3-0 lead with three power-play goals from Jared Spurgeon, Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, while it was a scoreless second. However, the Kings scored three goals in the third, including with an extra attacker at 19:14 of the third, forcing the extra session.
Minnesota has points in five in a row, going 3-0-2, with three of those games going to either overtime or a shootout. The Wild are 10-1-2 in the past 13 games since Dec. 9, while the Over is 4-0 in the past four games, and 6-1-1 in the previous eight outings.
Jesper Wallstedt (11-2-3, 2.20 GAA, .928 SV%, 4 SO) is expected to get the nod in between the pipes for the visitors.
For L.A., it was on the short end of a 5-3 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning, while dropping four of the past five games. The Kings are 2-6-2 across the past 10 games, too, while the Over has hit in three in a row. Darcy Kuemper (10-7-6, 2.26 GAA, .913 SV%, 2 SO) is expected to be in the crease for the home team.
The Over is a strong play in this battle, and we'll side with the road team to get the job done, too.
- Wild ML (+115 at Bet365, BetMGM, Fanatics, FanDuel Sportsbooks)
- Over 5.5 Goals (-130 at Bet365, Caesars, DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)
Don't make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps without first consulting the latest NHL odds.
Parlay Strategy and Super Parlay Picks for NHL Betting Slates
4-Leg NHL Super Parlay (+1145 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Islanders ML (-110) vs. Maple Leafs and Under 5.5 - SGP (+252)
- Wild ML (+115) at Kings and Over 5.5 - SGP (+253)
2-Leg NHL Sides Parlay (+310 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Islanders ML (-110) vs. Maple Leafs
- Wild ML (+115) at Kings
2-Leg NHL Totals Parlay (+253 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Under (+100) - Islanders vs. Maple Leafs
- Over 5.5 (-130) - Wild at Kings
