NHL Expert Picks: Best Bets for Saturday, November 2

Written by

Published on November 2, 2024

NHL Best Bets Tonight: Expert NHL Picks for
Saturday, Nov. 2

The National Hockey League has 11 games on the schedule for Saturday, including an NHL Global Series game in Tampere, Finland. We're going to focus on the two late-night games, however. The Utah Hockey Club and Vegas Golden Knights battle at 10 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Arena. The Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks meet at SAP Center. Let's get started.

Take advantage of sportsbook promos to boost your bankroll. The BetMGM bonus code offers $250 in bonus bets or a first-bet bonus worth up to $1,500 depending on location.

Best NHL Picks Tonight

Utah Hockey Club at Vegas Golden Knights

The Utah Hockey Club (5-4-2) hit the road for 'The Strip' to tangle with the Golden Knights (7-3-1) at T-Mobile Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET. The game can be viewed or streamed on ESPN+.

Last season, when the franchise was located in Arizona, the Hockey Club won two out of three games against the Golden Knights, acting as a tremendous thorn in their side.

Utah fired out of the chute this season with three straight wins while picking up points in five of the first six outings. However, it's been a regression to the mean lately, with Utah going just 1-4-1 in the past six games, collecting three out of a possible 12 points.

Utah picked up a 5-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night as a slight favorite (-117) as the under (6.5) hung on. Connor Ingram kicked aside 30 out of 31 shots for the victory. Alex Kerfoot and Barrett Hayton lit the lamp in the first period to stake Ingram to a 2-0 lead. Anthony Mantha scored for the visitors, but Utah never relinquished the lead and Hayton's goal stood up as the game-winning tally. Mikhail Sergachev added a power-play goal, as did Clayton Keller.

For Vegas, it was doubled up 6-3 by the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night, snapping a four-game win streak. Vegas was averaging 6.0 goals per game (GPG) during the four-game win streak while allowing just 2.0 GPG.

The best bet here, though, is backing the over, which is 7-1 in the past eight games for Vegas and 9-2 in 11 games overall on the season.

Over 6.5 Goals (+104 at FanDuel Sportsbook)

Vancouver Canucks at San Jose Sharks

The Canucks (4-2-3) meet the Sharks (3-7-2) in the Bay Area. Suddenly, San Jose cannot lose. After being the last NHL team to get their first victory of the season, the Sharks have rattled off three consecutive victories.

San Jose notched a 5-4 comeback win in overtime at Utah on Monday night, before posting a 4-2 win Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings in the second end of a back-to-back. The Sharks edged the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Thursday night. They are +633 in the three-game span, all as the underdog.

Last season, the Canucks treated the Sharks rather rudely. Vancouver won 10-1 on November 2, 2023, exactly one year ago today. Vancouver was 3-1-0 in their four regular-season meetings, outscoring the Sharks 23-10 as the over cashed in three of the games.

The Canucks were treated rudely at home on Wednesday, falling 6-0 against the New Jersey Devils as the under cashed. Vancouver is still 4-1-1 in the past six games.

Let's back the Sharks catching a goal and a half on home ice, as it's still difficult to trust San Jose. We'll take the insurance and go high on the total. The over is 3-1 in the past four games for Vancouver and 2-1-1 in the past four for San Jose.