Best NHL Bets Today: Expert Picks for Wednesday, April 9

Written by

Daniel Dobish

Published on April 9, 2025

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The National Hockey League has a total of five games on the schedule for Wednesday night, including a doubleheader on TNT/truTV/Max. The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers meet in the front end of the twin bill at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game with few playoff implications. At 10 p.m. ET, the St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers meet at 10 p.m. ET in a huge game in the Western Conference playoff chase. We'll look at the two late games. Let's get started.

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Best NHL Bets Today: Expert NHL Picks for
Wednesday, April 9

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.

Calgary Flames at Anaheim Ducks

The Flames (37-27-13) meet the Ducks (34-35-8) at Honda Center at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Remember a few years ago when the Flames had lost 29 in a row at Honda Center? The Flames were 0-17-5 in 22 regular-season games, and 0-7 in the postseason, which was the longest such streak in NHL history. In fact, Calgary hasn't won in regulation in Anaheim from Jan. 19, 2004 to Oct. 10, 2017. So, that always sticks in my mind when seeing the Flames going to SoCal.

The Flames are still breathing in the Western Conference playoff chase, sitting with 87 points with five regular-season games remaining. However, the best they can do is finish with 97 points. Calgary is behind the Edmonton Oilers (93 points) for third place in the Pacific Division, while it is also six points back of the St. Louis Blues for the top wild-card spot, and four points behind the Minnesota Wild. For the Flames, it's still very possible to make the postseason, but it's an uphill climb.

The Ducks would love to spoil the run of the Flames, but after years of scuffling against Anaheim, Calgary has dominated this series. The Flames have skated away with seven wins in the past eight meetings, including 3-0 this season. The Under is also 3-0 in those meetings, with an average of 5.0 combined goals in those three contests.

On Jan. 7, Calgary won 3-2 in overtime in Anaheim. MacKenzie Weegar, Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau scored goals, with the latter coming on the power play in OT. That was all Dustin Wolf needed, as he kicked aside 26 of the 28 shots he faced for the victory.

Anaheim played spoiler to the Oilers last time out Monday, actually helping the Flames a little by topping Edmonton 3-2 behind Lukas Dostal. The Ducks are a respectable 4-3-0 in the past seven games despite being out of the playoff hunt. The Under and Over have alternated in the past six outings. That includes a 4-1 loss in Calgary on April 3, with the Under (6) coming through.

Kadri and Olen Zellweger exchanged first-period goals in that April 3 meeting, before Blake Coleman's shorthanded goal put the Flames up for good. That stood up as the game winner, while Kevin Rooney and Coleman (PPG) added goals to win it going away. John Gibson allowed three goals on 26 shots, and he was pulled after two periods in favor of Dostal. Wolf won that game, too, stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced.

Based on Calgary's dominance in the series, we'll back the Flames, and we'll follow the series trends, playing the Under.

Flames ML (-140 at ESPN Bet Sportsbook)
Under 6 Goals (-115 at BetMGM)

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

St. Louis Blues at Edmonton Oilers

The Blues (43-29-7) and Oilers (44-28-5) meet in Edmonton with plenty on the line in the Western Conference playoff picture.

The Blues are in the top wild-card spot with 93 points, while the Oilers have managed 93 points, and they occupy third place in the Pacific.

Edmonton has won the first two meetings, including a 3-2 OT win in the most recent meeting Feb. 4. Connor McDavid opened the scoring in that game with a power-play goal, but he is out for this battle due to a lower-body injury. Jordan Kyrou and Colton Parayko scored goals to take a 2-1 lead, but Leon Draisaitl scored a late goal to force OT, and Connor Brown posted the winner in the extra session.

With Stuart Skinner in the concussion protocol, Calvin Pickard has been holding down the fort. He has allowed two goals in each of the past four games, winning three of the starts. He is 3-1-0 with a 2.02 GAA and .924 save percentage in three April outings. Skinner carries a questionable tag, so he could potentially return, but if it ain't broke, will Edmonton fix it and move away from Pickard?

The Blues have won 12 of the past 13 games, but they lost 3-1 in Winnipeg last time out behind Joel Hofer. The Under is 4-2 in the past six games for the Blues, while the Under is 5-0 in the past five for the Oilers. We'll definitely go low on the total. And, let's back the Blues to get the job done on the road, as Edmonton is still just too banged up.