NHL Best Bets Today: Expert Picks for Wednesday, January 29

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Published on January 29, 2025

NHL Best Bets Tonight: Expert NHL Picks for
Wednesday, Jan. 29

The National Hockey League (NHL) has a total of five games on the schedule, including a TNT/Max doubleheader. The Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils meet at 7 p.m. ET in Newark in the back end of a home-and-home in the first of the nationally-televised double dip, while the Utah Hockey Club welcomes the Pittsburgh Penguins to Salt Lake City at 9:30 p.m. ET in the second end.

We ended up hitting all of our plays on Tuesday night, cashing the 4-leg super parlay (+1044), best bet and the total and side parlays. Hopefully you were able to tail some or all of the picks for a solid pay day. We'll try and do it again. Let's get started.

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Philadelphia Flyers at New Jersey Devils

The Flyers (23-22-6) and the Devils (28-18-6) play the back-end of a home-and-home series at Prudential Center, with a puck drop at 7 p.m. ET. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.

Philadelphia picked up the 4-2 win at Wells Fargo Center on Monday night, cashing as a slight underdog (+128) as the Over (5.5) came in. The Flyers are 2-for-2 against the Devils this season, while winning three straight meetings, and four of the past five since Dec. 19, 2023.

In addition to that victory, the Fly Guys also won 3-1 as a big 'dog (+160) at the Pru on Jan. 18 as the Under (6) came in.

In Monday's game, Bobby Brink go the scoring started with a power-play goal midway through the first period, while Joel Farabee added to the offense just 28 seconds later. Early in the second, Garnet Hathaway scored with helpers to Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen, accounting for the three goals Jake Allen would allow on 25 shots.

Allen is in the crease and serving as the top netminder for New Jersey for a while, as Jacob Markstrom is out indefinitely due to a lower-body injury. He likely won't be back until late February or early March at the earliest.

Samuel Ersson was on his game Monday, kicking aside 31 of the 33 shots he faced. He was tested much more than the visit to New Jersey two weeks ago, when he allowed a single goal on just 13 shots. Allen allowed only two goals on 17 shots, as the teams combined for only 30 SOG in a defensive battle.

Dougie Hamilton accounted for the only offense for the Devs that day, while Brink also had a PPG in that one. In fact, it stood up as the game-winning tally. Matvei Michkov and Tomas Konecny (ENG) also had markers for Philly.

Based on the fact Allen is a bit of a downgrade, Ersson is playing with confidence, and Philly has owned this series to date, let's keep it rolling with the Flyers, and go low on the total, too.

Flyers ML (+158 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Under 5.5 Goals (+100 at FanDuel Sportsbook)

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

Vancouver Canucks at Nashville Predators

The Canucks (22-17-10) meet the Predators (18-23-7) at Bridgestone Arena at 9 p.m. ET, and it's a rematch of last season's epic 6-game first-round playoff series where Vancouver used three different goaltenders to get the job done.

Vancouver kicked off the three-game road trip with a 5-2 win in St. Louis as a minor 'dog (+117) as the Over (5.5) came through. Kevin Lankinen was solid in between the pipes, winning his second consecutive outing. The Canucks are a respectable 3-3-2 in the past eight games on the road.

The Predators spent a lot of bread to bring in Steven Stamkos and Brady Skjei, among others, and hopes were sky high in the Music City. It's been a struggle this season, perhaps worse so than previous years, too. Nashville has started to piece things together a little bit, though, winning fie of the past six games, although it was hammered in Anaheim 5-2 last time out on Saturday.

The offense has come alive for the Preds lately, going for 29 goals in the past six games, or 4.8 goals per game (GPG), while allowing five goals in each of the past three outings.

The Preds have won both of the two meetings so far this season, topping the Canucks 5-3 in Vancouver on Nov. 17 in the first meeting, while blanking the Canucks 3-0 on Jan. 3 in the most recent meeting thanks to a 27-save shutout from Juuse Saros.

The aforementioned Stamkos opened the scoring in that one, and therefore was credited with the GWG, while Gustav Nyquist and Colton Sissons contributed empty-net goals to make the score look worse than it was. Lankinen was the hard-luck loser in that one, allowing just a single goal on 17 shots, while receiving zero offensive support.

While we had a shutout in the most recent meeting, Nashville has re-discovered the offense, and we'll side with the Predators straight up, while going high on the total.

Predators ML (-142 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
Over 5.5 Goals (-118 at FanDuel Sportsbook)

Today's NHL Best Bet(s)

In Tuesday's play, we backed the Washington Capitals on the road against the Calgary Flames, and they road the red-hot Logan Thompson to another victory, 3-1. Keep that in mind for Thursday's game in Ottawa.

For Wednesday, we'll roll the dice on the Over in Vancouver-Nashville as the best play on the board in our two-game offering.