NHL Best Bets Today: Expert Picks for Thursday, December 12

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Published on December 12, 2024

NHL Best Bets Tonight: Expert NHL Picks for
Thursday, Dec. 12

The National Hockey League has a huge 14-game slate on Thursday night, so the ample opportunities are aplenty. We'll pick a handful of games and go relatively lighter in the analysis to squeeze more choices in for you. One of those games will be the Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild, as those teams meet at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+, hulu and Disney+. Let's get started.

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Best NHL Picks Tonight

Anaheim Ducks at Toronto Maple Leafs

The Ducks (10-13-4) and Maple Leafs (17-9-2) meet at Scotiabank Arena at 7 p.m. ET, and like all of the other matchups on this page, it can be viewed or streamed on ESPN+.

Anaheim was dusted 5-1 in Montreal on Wednesday, dropping to 0-3-1 in the past four games, while going 2-5-2 in the past nine outings.

The Ducks are playing on no rest, too. The last time they played on no rest they beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Nov. 19 in Chitown, coming after a game in Dallas. Anaheim is just 1-2-0 in three games on no rest, however, while the Under is 2-1 in those outings.

Toronto topped the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in OT on the road Tuesday. The Leafs are 8-2-0 in the past 10 games, and 11-4-0 in the previous 15 outings. The Under is on a 4-1 run.

We'll laying the goal and a half on the puck line, while going low on the total.

Maple Leafs PL (-1.5, -140 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Under 6 (-115 at Caesars Sportsbook)

Vegas Golden Knights at Winnipeg Jets

The Golden Knights (18-7-3) and Jets (21-9-0) meet at Canada Life Centre for the second meeting this season in the series. VGK won 4-3 as short 'dogs (-108) at T-Mobile Arena on Nov. 29 as the Over (6.5) cashed.

The Golden Knights have won eight in a row in this series, including four victories as an underdog. The Over is 3-1 in the past four meetings, and 8-2 in the past 10 in the series, too.

VGK has won three in a row, outscoring the competition 8-3, as Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov have done a good job lately. The Under is 4-0 in the past four games.

The Jets were on fire out of the box, but they've cooled substantially lately. After a sparkling 15-1-0 starts through Nov. 12, Winnipeg is 6-8-0 in the past 14 outings. The Jets are pciking up the pace again, including an 8-1 rout of the visiting Boston Bruins Tuesday.

Vegas has dominated this season, and it is the play. We'll shy away from declaring a total play.

Golden Knights ML (+115, BetMGM Sportsbook)

Edmonton Oilers at Minnesota Wild

The Oilers (16-10-2) and Wild (19-5-4) meet at XCel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., the state capital. This game is not only available on ESPN+ at 8:30 p.m. ET, but also on hulu and/or Disney+.

Edmonton streaks in with three straight wins, and victories in six of the past eight outings, while the Under is 4-1 in the past five outings for the Oilers. That includes a 4-0 run in the past four starts by Stuart Skinner, too.

These teams just met Nov. 21 in Edmonton, and Minnesota came away with a 5-3 win. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed three goals on 31 shots, while Skinner coughed up five goals on just 26 shots. In the first period of that Nov. 21 meeting, Leon Draisaitl and Matt Boldy exchanged goals. In the second period, Marcus Foligno, Marcus Johansson and Frederick Gaudreau notched goals to give the team a 4-2 lead. Gaudreau has Minnesota's second goal, too, while Jeff Skinner put a bow on the scoring.

The Wild have won four of the past five in the series, and eight of the past 10 in the series. The Over-Under went 1-1-1 in the three games in the regular season in 2023-24, while the Over (6.5) cashed in the first meeting. Minnesota is also 6-1-0 in the past seven games, too.

Let's roll with the Wild since they've surprisingly dominated this season while going with the Over.

Wild ML (+118 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
Over 5.5 Goals (-128 at FanDuel Sportsbook)

Boston Bruins at Seattle Kraken

The Bruins (15-12-3) and Kraken (14-14-2) meet at Climate Pledge Arena in this second and final regular-season meeting.

The Bruins beat the Kraken 2-0 as a moderate favorite (-163) on Nov. 3 at TD Garden behind Jeremy Swayman, who has 23 saves. Justin Brazeau scored a goal at 3:23 of the first period, and it stood up as the game-winning goal. Charlie Coyle also struck on the power play.

Boston was hammered 8-1 in Winnipeg to kick off a five-game road trip Tuesday. The Over (5.5) has cashed in three in a row for the B's.

Seattle was tripped up 2-1 in a shootout last time out Tuesday. It is just 3-4-1 in the past eight games, while the Over is 5-2-1 in the past eight outings.

We'll avoid declaring a side and put all of our eggs into the Over basket.

Over 5.5 Goals (-112 at DraftKings Sportsbook)

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