Best NHL Bets Today: Expert Picks for Tuesday, March 18

Written by

Daniel Dobish

Published on March 18, 2025

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The National Hockey League has a total of nine games on the schedule for Tuesday night, including a nationally-televised game on ESPN between the Utah Hockey Club and Edmonton Oilers at 9 p.m. ET. All of the other eight games can be viewed or streamed on ESPN+. Let's try and piece together some solid parlays, so we can build that bankroll for more NHL betting, or use during March Madness. Let's get started.

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Best NHL Bets Today: Expert NHL Picks for
Tuesday, March 18

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.

Detroit Red Wings at Washington Capitals

The Red Wings (32-29-6) and the Capitals (44-15-8) meet at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. at 7 p.m. ET.

This is the third meeting of the season, with the home team winning each of the first two in the series. Detroit doubled up Washington 4-2 as short 'dogs at Little Caesars Arena on Dec. 29 as the Over (5.5) cashed, while the Caps won 5-2 as a huge favorite (-220) as the Over (6.5) also came in.

In that game 11 days ago, the Red Wings got off to a quick start, with Dylan Larkin scoring 43 seconds into the game, while Moritz Seider struck for a power-play goal at 7:00 of the first period. However, Taylor Raddysh sliced the lead to 2-1 with a goal at 18:39 before heading to the room.

In the third period, Aliaksei Protas managed a shorthanded goal 51 seconds into the third period to level the score, while Jakob Chychrun tallied a goal just 66 seconds later to take the lead for good. As such, the rearguard was credited with the game-winning goal. Protas made it 4-2, and Tom Wilson had a shorthanded goal at 9:19 of the third period, the second shorty for the Caps in the third period.

Cam Talbot allowed five goals on 28 shots, while Logan Thompson kicked aside 17 of 19 shots for the victory. Petr Mrazek (12-20-2, 3.33 GAA, .892 SV%, 1 SO) is expected to get the nod in the crease, while Charlie Lindgren (15-11-3, 2.65 GAA, .899 SV%, 1 SO) is likely to go for the home side.

That shutout for Mrazek came against the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-0 win as short 'dogs (+110) at home. However, Detroit has dropped four straight games on the road since Feb. 25 in Minnesota.

Washington belted San Jose 5-1 Saturday while going 6-1-0 in the past seven outings. Alex Ovechkin continues his pursuit of the NHL's all-time record. He scored his 887th goal against the Sharks, putting him eight off the mark. With the record chase, Washington's other players are not showing any signs of distraction, that's for sure.

Let's roll the dice on the Capitals to get the job done on the puck line, while going high on the total.

Capitals -1.5 (+135 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Over 6 Goals (-120 at Caesars Sportsbook)

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

Winnipeg Jets at Vancouver Canucks

The Jets (47-17-4) and the Canucks (31-25-11) tangle in an all-Canada battle at Rogers Arena at 10 p.m. ET.

The Jets won the first meeting 6-1 at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg on Jan. 14. The teams will meet again March 30 in Winnipeg for the third and final game this season.

The Jets have won three in a row, and five of the past six games, while allowing two or fewer goals in each of the victories. In the past 14 games, the Jets have allowed 25 goals, or 1.8 goals per game (GPG) since Feb. 4.

The Canucks are just 2-3-0 in the past five games while going just 1-3-0 in the previous four outings at Rogers Arena.

For Vancouver, the Over is 3-1 in the past four games, while Winnipeg has ended up going low in three in a row while cashing in nine of the previous 11 contests. However, the Over is 4-1 in the past five meetings in this series since Jan. 8, 2023.

The Jets have won six of the past seven meetings in this series, with the favorite cashing in two of the past three in the series, and four of the past six installments.

Let's side with the Jets to get the job done, while going Over on the total.