NHL Expert Picks: Best Bets for Wednesday, October 30

Written by

Published on October 30, 2024

NHL Best Bets Tonight: Expert Hockey Parlay Picks for
Wednesday, Oct. 30

The National Hockey League has a total of six games on the slate for Wednesday night. However, we're going to focus on the two games with a 10 p.m. ET puck drop or later, including the nationally-televised game between the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings on TNT/truTV/Max. Let's get started.

Sign up for the best sportsbook promos to boost your bankroll like this BetMGM bonus code that offers $250 in bonus bets or a first-bet bonus of up to $1,500 depending on location.

Best NHL Picks Tonight

Vegas Golden Knights at Los Angeles Kings

The Golden Knights (7-2-1) travel down Interstate 15 (OK, they probably flew) to meet the Kings (5-3-2) on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Vegas streaks in with points in five straight games, including outright victories in each of the past four outings. That streak incudes a 6-1 crowning of the Kings at T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 22 behind Ilya Samsonov, as Vegas cashed as the favorite (-121) with the Over (5.5) coming through.

In that win, Tomas Hertl and Mark Stone opened the scoring with power-play goals in the first period, while Pavel Dorofeyev added an even-strength marker to make it 3-0 after 20 minutes. Warren Foegele accounted for the only scoring in the second period, slicing the VGK lead to 3-1 after 40.

However, in the third period, Alexander Holtz, Hertl and Ivan Barbashev each lit the lamp and the rout was on.

The Kings won two in a row since that loss on The Strip, but they were on the short end of a 4-2 score against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. Now, they face the quick turnaround against a very good team on home ice.

Last season, Los Angeles was just 4-6-2 when playing on no rest, cashing the Under in eight of those 12 games with a minus-4 goal differential. This season, L.A. won its only previous game on no rest, toppling the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Oct. 17.

Based on the egg-laying in the Bay Area, as well as the loss last week in Vegas, we'll back the Golden Knights, and feel pretty good about it, too.

Golden Knights ML (-115 at BetMGM Sportsbook)

New Jersey Devils at Vancouver Canucks

The Devils (6-4-2) meet the Canucks (4-1-3) to kick off a three-game Western Canada road swing, which also includes stops in Calgary (Nov. 1) and Edmonton (Nov. 4).

The Devils and Canucks split a pair of high-scoring games last season, with Jersey winning 6-5 in the Pacific Northwest on Dec. 5, 2023 as a slight favorite (-113), while the Canucks returned the favor 6-4 as a favorite (-123) on Jan. 6, 2024.

High scores aren't a shock in this series, as these teams have cashed high in six consecutive meetings dating back to Feb. 28, 2022. The winning side has needed at least five goals in each of those previous six meetings.

New Jersey is coming off a 6-2 pounding of the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, and the Devils are 2-0-0 against Western Conference teams this season, outscoring those opponents 9-2.

Vancouver was on the short end of a 4-3 OTL against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night, halting a 4-0-0 run. Against the Eastern Conference, the Canucks are 3-1-2 in six tries this season.

Jacob Markstrom (4-3-1, 3.01 ERA, .895 SV%) is projected to start for the Devils, while Kevin Lankinen (4-0-2, 2.29 GAA, .920 SV%, 1 SO) is expected in net for the Canucks.

Based on the series trends, we'll go high on the total.