This article is part of our NHL Picks series.
NHL Best Bets Tonight: Expert NHL Picks for
Tuesday, Nov. 5
The National Hockey League has 11 games on tap for Tuesday, which is Election Day in the United States. We'll go through all 11 games, and we'll take a look at the exit polls, and project a winner in each of the 11 races...err, games.
The polls open with four games with puck drops at 7 p.m. ET, and the NHL precincts close with a puck drop at 10:30 p.m. ET in California. Let's get started.
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Best NHL Picks Tonight
Ottawa Senators 
at Buffalo Sabres 
The Senators (6-5-0) and the Sabres (4-7-1) meeting at KeyBank Center, and the home team is 6-2 in the previous eight installments of this season.
Ottawa is coming off a 3-0 win against the Settle Kraken, and it has allowed just three goals in the past three games, as both Anton Forsberg and Linus Ullmark have been on point.
The Sabres, on the other hand, have allowed 3.5 goals per game, ranking 27th in the NHL, while the penalty kill is just 71.8% to rank 28th. Buffalo's power play is awful, too, hitting at 8.6%, 31st in the league.
Plus, even though it's a Canadian team, what's more patriotic than betting a team called 'Senators' on Election Day?
- Senators ML (-105 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Boston Bruins 
at Toronto Maple Leafs 
The Bruins (6-6-1) and Maple Leafs (6-5-2) battle at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for an Original Six battle. These teams met in Boston, with the Bruins winning 4-3 in overtime.
The B's have won seven of the past 10 meetings in this series, including the postseason, and the Under has cashed at a 7-2-1 clip. Let's roll with Boston, and the Under.
- Bruins ML (+135 ESPNBet Sportsbook)
- Under 6 (-120 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
Calgary Flames 
at Montreal Canadiens 
The Flames (6-5-1) and Canadiens (4-7-1) battle at Bell Centre in Montreal in the only all-Canada game on the slate.
Calgary swept last season's series, outscoring the Habs 7-3. The Flames have allowed 23 goals in the past six games this season, however, and the Canadiens have allowed 17 goals in the past three outings, and 4.2 goals per game, with 32.6 shots on goal per game. The Over is the play here.
- Over 6.5 (-110 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
Philadelphia Flyers 
at Carolina Hurricanes 
The Flyers (4-7-1) and Hurricanes (8-2-0) meet at the newly renamed Lenovo Center in Raleigh, which is still hard to get used to.
The Canes have won the past 10 games in a landslide, posting nine victories in that span since Feb. 21, 2022. Throw your support behind Carolina on the puck line.
- Hurricanes PL (-1.5, -106 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
Pittsburgh Penguins 
at New York Islanders 
The Penguins (5-7-1) and Islanders (4-6-2) tangle at UBS Arena with a puck drop of 7:30 p.m. ET.
The Isles won a couple of wild 5-4 OT wins in the final two meetings, and the Over has cashed at a 7-1-2 clip in the past 10 meetings in this series. When these teams get together, a lot of goals are sure to follow.
- Over 6 (-112 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
Tampa Bay Lightning 
at St. Louis Blues 
The Lightning (7-5-0) wrap up a four-game road trip against the Blues (6-6-0) at Enterprise Center.
Tampa Bay has dropped the past two games by a 12-7 margin in Minnesota and Winnipeg. St. Louis doubled up Toronto last time out, 4-2, on Saturday, and it should be well rested.
In politics, there are red states and blue states. We can't pick a team called the Reds, as that's only in baseball. So, we'll have to settle for a Blue Wave...in St. Louis.
- Blues ML (+140 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Los Angeles Kings 
at Minnesota Wild 
The Kings (7-3-3) and the Wild (8-1-2) meet in the Twin Cities, and the stakes are high, and the race is too close to call, with both teams putting up a tremendous effort to date.
The Kings played in Nashville on Tuesday, winning 3-0, as Darcy Kuemper shut out the Predators. Now, they'll turn to David Rittich in the Twin Cities.
L.A. has enjoyed playing on no rest, going 2-0-0 with a plus-6 goal differential, so far this season. In the Twin Cities, the Kings have won two of the past three skates, and the underdog is 4-2 in the past six meetings.
- Kings ML (+140 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Utah Hockey Club 
at Winnipeg Jets 
The Utah Hockey Club (5-4-3) and Jets (11-1-0) tangle at Canada Life Centre, and Winnipeg is showing no signs of slowing down. Connor Hellebuyck (8-1-0, 2.33 GAA, .917 SV%, 1 SO) is on fire for the home side, too.
Technically, this is old Jets versus new Jets, as the Utah Hockey Club used to be the Arizona Coyotes, which used to be the old Winnipeg Jets. Anyway, the current Jets are red-hot, and now only have they won 11 of 12 games, but each of the past four wins have been by two or more goals.
- Jets PL (-1.5, +130 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Seattle Kraken 
at Colorado Avalanche 
The Kraken (5-7-1) and the Avalanche (5-7-0) meet for the second time thisseason. These teams met at Climate Pledge Arena on Oct. 22, with the Avalanche skating off with a 3-2 victory as the Under (6.5) cashed.
Seattle has been shut out in each of the past two games, and it has just a single goal in the past three games, all losses. They're 1-5-1 in the past seven outings, too.
For the Avalanche, they've lost three straight games by a 5-2 score. Since both teams are having trouble scoring goals, we'll go with the Under. The concern with the Under is Alexandar Georgiev, who is projected to start. He has a dismal 4.62 GAA and .822 SV%, so tread lightly.
- Under 6.5 (-120 at BetMGM Sportsbook)
Vancouver Canucks 
at Anaheim Ducks 
The Canucks (5-2-3) and the Ducks (4-5-2) meet on The Pond in SoCal.
Vancouver has rolled to seven consecutive victories in this series, outscoring 24-14, with the Ducks scoring two or fewer goals in each of the previous six outings. Kevin Lankinen (5-0-2, 2.25 GAA, .919 SV%, 1 SO) is expected to start, and he has been surprisingly effective.
The Canucks have repeatedly drummed the Ducks in this series, and there is no way Anaheim flips this in their favor.
- Canucks PL (-1.5, +120 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
Columbus Blue Jackets 
at San Jose Sharks 
The Blue Jackets (5-5-1) and Sharks (3-8-2) tangle at SAP Center in San Jose.
Columbus has won four in a row in this series, sweeping last season, including a 4-3 win as moderate favorites on Feb. 17, 2024. The Over has cashed in three of the past four battles.
The Sharks have actually won three of the past four games, losing 3-2 against the Canucks last time out in a game they could have won if not for a late goal.
The Jackets have allowed 13 goals in the past two games, so we'll back San Jose since they've been playing much more consistent hockey lately.
- Sharks ML (+115 at BetMGM Sportsbook)
