One under on a game total and one puck line contribute to today’s best NHL bets.
The pregame narrative: The Anaheim Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins struggle to score so I’m backing the under in that matchup. Elsewhere, I’m taking the Washington Capitals to win comfortably over the Montreal Canadiens.
Find my NHL best bets for Oct. 31 below.
NHL best bets
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Best Bet: Ducks/Penguins under 6.5 goals (-113)
Anaheim scores the third-fewest goals (2.33) and records the fourth-fewest shots (26.8) per game.
Goalie Lukas Dostal has emerged as the Ducks’ No. 1 option while John Gibson recovers from surgery and he’s been nothing short of spectacular.
In seven starts, Dostal has a .943 SV% and 2.00 GAA and he leads the NHL with 10.8 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck.
And it’s not like the Penguins are an elite offence. They rank 19th in goals per game (3.0) and have been shut out twice in 11 games.
Key stat: Dostal held his last four opponents to two goals or less while stopping 27-plus shots in each contest. All of those games stayed under this total.
Quick pick
Capitals -1.5 (+130): Washington has surprised the league as one of the best teams out of the gate and it’s no fluke.
The offence scores the seventh-most goals per game (3.88) while allowing the fewest shots against (25.1).
Montreal has been somewhat of the opposite. The Habs score just 2.9 goals per game (21st) while allowing 4.0 (28th)
All five of their regulation losses have come by at least two goals with a -18 goal differential in those games.
Cayden Primeau gets the start for Montreal and he has allowed 3-plus goals in all five of his appearances this season despite only making three starts.
The Habs’ defence and goaltending have been poor in the early portion of the season and I expect that to continue against the Capitals on the road.
NHL picks made at 10:45 a.m. ET 10/31/2024.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.