Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – November 20th, 2023

It’s a unique schedule around the American Thanksgiving holiday, as there is no hockey on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Not sure why Tuesday is dark, but here are two intriguing matchups on Wednesday, both televised nationally on TNT, before Turkey Day.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week (November 20th, 2023)

NHL Power Rankings: 1 thing each team should be thankful for https://t.co/tJp1dTD1Ps

— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) November 20, 2023

Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

• When: Wednesday, November 22nd, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, FL
• TV: TNT
• Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub (Bruins) // AM 560 Sports WQAM (Panthers)
• Live Stream: ESPN+
• NHL Betting Odds: TBA

Of course, these two teams played in the first round of last season’s playoffs when Boston was the No. 1 overall seed in the NHL and Florida a wild card team, and the Panthers pulled off the massive upset in seven games. The Bruins got some payback on Oct. 30 this season in Boston with a 3-2 overtime win. At 3:36 of overtime, Pavel Zacha sniped a shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1 rush to win it for the Bruins. Zacha, who also had an assist, scored with a wrist shot from down the right wing that beat Sergei Bobrovsky blocker side.

“I was looking if we were going 2-on-1, and kind of on the way there I was looking if there was going to be a chance to pass,” Zacha said. “But then the [defense] kind of went away, so I was just looking at where it was open in the far side, and I’m happy that I did it low blocker there.”

Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy scored, and Linus Ullmark made 35 saves for the Bruins. Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart each had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves for Florida.

The Panthers will be without star forward Aleksander Barkov for a while. Barkov was hurt when he was hit by Anaheim’s Jackson LaCombe on Friday night in the Panthers’ 2-1 win. LaCombe initially was assessed a five-minute major after the play; the penalty was downgraded to a two-minute minor for tripping after review. Barkov needed help getting off the ice and immediately went to the locker room area for evaluation.

He is expected to at least miss a handful of games. Barkov appeared in 16 of Florida’s first 17 games this season, with six goals and 11 assists. Barkov has had only two instances of missing at least 10 consecutive games in his Panthers career. He missed 10 games with a hand injury in 2015-16 then missed 15 games with a back injury in 2016-17. He is in his 11th season with the Panthers, tied with Stephen Weiss and Roberto Luongo for the most in team history.

Boston forward Milan Lucic has taken some time away from the team as the 35-year-old is facing assault and battery charges, after police were called to his Boston apartment early Saturday morning. According to the police report, a woman called 911 saying her husband attempted to choke her. Lucic will be arraigned this week. The Bruins placed Lucic on long-term injured reserve last month after he took a puck to the ankle against the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 21.

The Bruins will play their 100th regular-season game of the calendar year dating back to last season. They’re 78-13-7 for an NHL-best 163 points and .832 points percentage, with forward David Pastrnak’s 72 goals leading all skaters in that span. Boston has won 50 games in consecutive calendar years for the third time in team history (2018-19; 1971-73).

NHL Betting Pick: Bruins

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Dallas Stars

• When: Wednesday, November 22nd, 2023, 9:30 PM ET
• Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• TV: TNT
• Radio: 1460 AM (Knights) // The Ticket 96.7 FM (Stars)
• Live Stream: ESPN+
• NHL Betting Odds: TBA

The last game these teams played in Dallas was on May 29 and Game 6 of the 2023 Western Conference Finals and the Knights won 6-0 to advance. Williams Karlsson scored two goals and had an assist. Keegan Kolesar and Michael Amadio each had a goal and an assist for Vegas. Adin Hill stopped 23 shots for his second career playoff shutout. It was the most lopsided playoff loss for the Stars since the franchise moved south from Minnesota before the 1993-94 season. Jake Oettinger had a rare bad game in net for Dallas.

The lone meeting this season was Oct. 17 in Las Vegas and the Knights won 3-2 in a shootout. Jonathan Marchessault gave Vegas a 2-1 edge in the shootout after teammate Shea Theodore and Dallas’ Matt Duchene traded goals. Dallas had a chance to extend the shootout, but Roope Hintz’s shot hit the crossbar.

Kaedan Korczak and William Karlsson each had a goal and an assist for the Knights, and Hill stopped 24 shots. Craig Smith and Joe Pavelski scored for Dallas, and Jake Oettinger made 32 saves. They traded goals and plenty of punches in the second period in which each team received two fighting majors. It was the first time since March 2018 against the Montreal Canadiens that Dallas had two fighting majors in a game.

“There’s some animosity that’s left over from last year, and it looks like we’re going to build some more,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said afterward referring to the playoff series as well.

Vegas started the season 11-0-1 but lost for the fifth time in seven games Sunday, 3-0 in Pittsburgh. After Ryan Graves scored 2:13 into the first period, Hill held the Penguins to just one additional goal in the second, but Vegas couldn’t crack Alex Nedeljkovic. The 27-year-old Hill fell to 8-2-1 with a strong .929 save percentage and 2.07 GAA so far this season. Forward Jack Eichel has 48 goals and 110 points in 120 games since debuting with the Golden Knights on Feb. 16, 2022, each the most among Vegas skaters during that span.

The Stars lead the Central Division on the back of Oettinger. In the past three games, the Stars dominated the start of games and scored seven power play goals in that span. What’s more, the line of Tyler Seguin with Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment has scored 18 points (8 goals, 10 assists) at even strength in the past five games and is one of the hottest lines in the league.

The Stars sit fourth in points percentage (.719), second in penalty kill success (89.1 percent), eighth in faceoff winning percentage (52.5 percent) and eighth in goals against (2.75). The Stars own a 6-0-1 record when scoring first this season.

NHL Betting Pick: Stars

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