NHL Picks Today: Flyers vs. Canucks Best Bets

Expert NHL picks & prop bets for Dec 30: Flyers vs Canucks showdown—Flyers ML, Under 5.5 goals, plus player props on Konecny & Tippett. Click for full analysis!

December 30, 2025

NHL Picks Today: Flyers vs. Canucks Best Bets

By:

Daniel Dobish

December 30, 2025

NHL Picks

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Expert NHL Best Bets & Picks for Tuesday, December 30: Flyers vs Canucks

On Tuesday evening, the National Hockey League has five total games on the slate. We have four games on ESPN+, and the New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks are matching up at 8:30 p.m. EST on NHL Network.

We'll take a look at some same-game parlay (SGP) possibilities, and we'll also kick the tires on some game prop plays to make things a little more interesting. Let's get started.

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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.

NHL Best Bets for Philadelphia Flyers vs Vancouver Canucks Matchup

Philadelphia Flyers at Vancouver Canucks

The Flyers (19-11-7) and the Canucks (16-19-3) meet at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, with a puck drop set for 10 p.m. EST on ESPN+.

Philadelphia has split the first two games of the road trip, with the Flyers winning 3-1 in Chicago on Tuesday as light favorites (-120) as the Under (5.5) cashed, while Philly lost 4-1 in Seattle as moderate favorites (-145) as the total (5) pushed at most shops.

Philly has been challenged offensively for most of the season, going for just 2.9 goals per game (GPG), ranking 22nd. The Flyers are also just 25th in power-play percentage at 16.3 percent. Defensively, though, they're solid with just 2.8 GPG allowed, ranking 9th, while checking in 10th with an 82.5 percent penalty-kill rate.

In Tuesday's game, only Carl Grundstrom was able to light the lamp, with helpers to Nikita Grebenkin and Rodrigo Abols. Dan Vladar didn't do a terrible job, allowing just two goals on 18 shots, as two of the scores for Seattle were of the empty-net variety.

Vancouver also played Seattle last, posting a 3-2 win in a shootout on Monday as light favorites (-120) as the total pushed (5). Kevin Lankinen kicked aside 37 of 39 shots in the victory.

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

The Canucks are 5-2-0 in the past seven games, but now they must turn to Thatcher Demko with the back-to-back situation. They've dropped the past two games with Demko in between the pipes, as he has allowed nine goals on 74 shots in the past two games. Despite the ugly performance in the past two games, he is still 3-3-0 with a 2.36 GAA and .920 SV% with one shutout in six starts in December.

Vancouver has managed just 2.8 GPG to rank 25th in the NHL, although it is so-so on the power play at 20.0 percent, good for 12th in the league. Defensively, the Canucks have coughed up 3.4 GPG, ranking 30th, while checking in just 75.0 percent, also 30th.

Philadelphia has picked up four victories in the past five meetings with Vancouver, including a 5-2 win as moderate favorites (-135) as the Over (5.5) cashed on Dec. 22.

In that win by Philly, after a scoreless first period, Grebenkin got the scoring party started midway through the second period, while Grundstom opened the third-period scoring with helpers to the aforementioned Abols and Grebenkin. That line has been humming lately.

Christian Dvorak scored with apples to Trevor Zegras and the equally hot Travis Konecny. Max Sasson scored to cut the lead to 3-1, while Owen Tippett responded with a goal, and Matvei Michkov notched an empty-net goal with a helper to Noah Cates. A late goal made it 5-2, and with the two goals in the final 71 seconds, it turned what should've been an Under result into an Over.

Vladar (13-6-3, 2.37 GAA, .909 save percentage) stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced in that game, and Demko (8-7-0, 2.63 GAA, .907 save percentage, 1 SO) allowed four goals on 38 shots. We'll get a rematch in this one, as both goalies are confirmed.

We'll back the Flyers to make the road trip turn with a win in B.C., and go low on the total.

Let's roll the dice on Konecny getting back on track, too. He was blanked in Seattle with a minus-2 rating. He hasn't gone back-to-back games without a point since a three-game goose egg run from Nov. 24-28. In December, Konecny has six goals and 14 points in 13 games. Be conservative, and take him at a moderate price (-154) just to get on the board with a goal and/or an assist.

And, in Seattle, we rolled with Owen Tippett at a conservative price to get to two shots on goal (SOG), and he had four. Let's do it again. He had two or more SOG in four of the past five games, totaling 19 SOG in the five-game span.