The Chicago Blackhawks are one of the NHL’s worst teams and are likely to eventually trade former Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane – once he’s healthy. Kane missed his second straight games Sunday vs. Calgary with a lower-body injury but likely will return Thursday vs. Colorado. Kane leads the Blackhawks with 27 points (seven goals, 20 assists). Here’s a look at two intriguing early-week matchups around the league. Check back for NHL odds.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week (January 9th, 2023)

.@EJHradek_NHL and @KevinWeekes have their first power rankings of 2023! ????????

Who got it right? pic.twitter.com/zZGuwmIhlN

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) January 6, 2023

Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings

• When: Monday, January 9, 2023, 10:30 PM ET
• Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
• TV: BSW, SNW
• Radio: WXYT-FM 97.1 (Oilers) // Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM (Kings)
• Live Stream: NHL Live
• NHL Betting Odds: Golden Knights (+1.5) // Avalanche (-1.5)

These Pacific Division rivals played a terrific first-round playoff series back in May with the Oilers winning in seven games. They have played once this season, a 3-1 Oilers home loss on Nov. 16. Trevor Moore had his first NHL hat trick for LA. Viktor Arvidsson assisted on all three goals for the Kings. Cal Petersen stopped 22 shots. Zach Hyman scored for the Oilers but superstars Leon Draisaitl and McDavid were held off the scoresheet. Stuart Skinner made 29 saves.

Edmonton comes off a 3-2 OT home loss to Colorado on Saturday. Skinner allowed three goals on 46 shots. He had a 2-0 lead to protect heading into the third period, but the Avalanche’s attack was relentless. They scored twice in a span of 5:13 during the third, and Cale Makar completed the comeback with a game-winning goal in overtime. Skinner is 12-10-2 with a 2.88 GAA and a .915 save percentage through 25 contests this season.

Zach Hyman scored twice for Edmonton to reach 20 goals on the season with 11 of them coming over his last 13 contests. The 30-year-old winger has added 24 assists and a plus-4 rating through 40 contests. He’s earned 17 of his 44 points on the power play. Draisaitl had two assists and McDavid one. Draisaitl is up to 62 points (31 on the power play), while McDavid leads the NHL with 76 points (39 on the power play).

The Kings are off a 5-1 upset win in Las Vegas on Saturday behind a Kevin Fiala hat trick. Fiala had his first multigoal game this season and second career hat trick. His other was April 7, 2021, against Colorado. Until Saturday, Fiala had gone seven games without a goal and had just one goal in 14 games.

Matt Roy and Viktor Arvidsson also scored for Los Angeles, and Gabriel Vilardi had three assists. Arvidsson has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past six games. Pheonix Copley made 19 saves for his eighth victory in nine games.

NHL Betting Pick: LA Kings

New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes

• When: Tuesday, January 10, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC
• TV: ESPN+, HULU
• Radio: WFAN 101.9 FM (Devils) // 99.9 The Fan (Hurricanes)
• Live Stream: NHL Live
• NHL Betting Odds: TBA

This game and possible Eastern Conference playoff preview is available on Hulu and ESPN+. Carolina leads the season series 2-0. The teams last played on New Year’s Day in New Jersey and the Canes prevailed 5-4 in a shootout. Andrei Svechnikov scored the shootout winner and Antti Raanta made 24 saves.

Both goaltenders made great saves in overtime including New Jersey’s Mackenzie Blackwood denying Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin on a breakaway after the teams combined for five goals in a wild third period after Carolina led 2-1 after the second. Blackwood made 43 saves.

New Jersey comes off a 4-3 OT win over the Rangers on Saturday. Damon Severson scored at 2:47 of overtime and the Devils rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period. Jack Hughes scored twice to extend his goal-scoring streak to five games and got an assist on Jesper Bratt’s power-play goal as the Devils snapped an 0-7-1 losing streak at home.

The first star of Saturday’s contest, Hughes scored the opening goal for New Jersey and the eventual tying goal in the third period. He added an assist on Jesper Bratt’s power-play goal. Hughes has been red-hot as of late with 10 points in the midst of a five-game point streak. On the season, Hughes has 26 goals and 49 points in 40 games. Vitek Vanecek stopped 31 of 34 shots. He started shaky, giving up three goals in the first two periods. He was able to shut the door on the Rangers and pick up the win in overtime, finishing with a .912 save percentage.

Carolina lost its third in a row Saturday, a 4-3 shootout upset at Columbus. Kirill Marchenko recorded his first career hat trick and scored in the shootout for the Jackets. Max Pacioretty had two goals and Brady Skjei scored on the power play for Carolina. Skjei scored his eighth goal and leads all Hurricanes defensemen in that category this season. Antti Raanta stopped 15 shots in his first loss since Nov. 17. Stefan Noesen was missing from the lineup after suffering a lower-body injury Tuesday in New York.

NHL Betting Pick: Carolina Hurricanes

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READ MORE: Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – January 16th, 2023