Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – October 30th, 2023

Great news for hockey fans on Sunday night as Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid returned from injury. The NHL is simply a vastly better product when the Hart Trophy winner is working his magic. Here’s a look a two intriguing early-week NHL matchups and our picks.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week (October 30th, 2023)

The Kraken are 2-4-2 through eight games this season. Here's where they stand in @GeoffBakerTIMES' latest NHL power rankings. https://t.co/FjC1xab1BG

— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) October 28, 2023

Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins

• When: Monday, October 30th, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA
• TV: NHLPP, ESPN+
• Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM (Panthers) // 98.5 The Sports Hub (Bruins)
• Live Stream: ESPN+
• NHL Betting Odds: Panthers (+1.5) // Bruins (-1.5)

The Bruins have yet to lose a regulation game at 7-0-1. They also will be eyeing payback as of course Boston set the NHL record for most points and wins last regular season and then ran into these Wild Card Panthers in the playoffs. Florida won Game 7 in Boston on April 30 in a stunner to eliminate the B’s.

Brandon Montour tied it with 1 minute left in regulation, and Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winner at 8:35 of overtime. Boston had rallied from a two-goal deficit to take a 3-2 lead, but Florida Coach Paul Maurice pulled Sergei Bobrovsky in the final minutes and called timeout with 88 seconds left to give his players a breather. Montour tied it with his second of the game.

The Panthers won three straight after falling behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. Boston, the Presidents’ Trophy winners with NHL records of 65 wins and 135 points, had not lost three in a row all season. . No team with the best regular-season record has won the Stanley Cup since 2013, when the Chicago Blackhawks beat Boston in the Final.

Florida is 4-3-0 this season and comes off a 3-2 home win over Seattle on Saturday. Gustav Forsling, Matthew Tkachuk, and Nick Cousins each sounded the goal horn. It was Florida’s first multi-goal comeback win this season.

“I thought our line did a lot of good things,” said Cousins. “We had lots of chances to put the puck in the net, then obviously to get a fortunate enough bounce there in the third capitalized it and makes all those chances that you miss early on in the game not sting as much tonight.”

Taking a big step in their long journey back from offseason surgery, defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour both participated in their first practice of the season on Sunday. It’s possible they debut Monday but likely will be at least one more game. Montour saw new career-highs in goals (16) and assists (57) en route to setting a new franchise record for most points in a season by a defenseman (73) last year. Ekblad registered 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists) and 80 blocked shots.

Boston was a 4-1 home winner over Detroit on Saturday. David Pastrnak had two goals, one on a penalty shot, and an assist for the Bruins, who extended their season-opening point streak to eight games. Pastrnak played in his 600th NHL game. Since the penalty shot was officially introduced in 1934-35, Pastrnak required the fewest games (eight) in NHL history to score two penalty-shot goals in a season. The previous mark was set by Brian Rolston (20 games in 2006-07).

NHL Betting Pick: Bruins

Los Angeles Kings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

• When: Tuesday, October 24th, 2023, 9:00 PM ET
• Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Canada
• TV: ESPN
• Radio: 104.5 The Team ESPN Radio (Kings) // Country 600 AM (Maple Leafs)
• Live Stream: ESPN+
• NHL Betting Odds: TBA

This starts a four-game trip for the Kings, who are 4-2-0 following a 4-3 shootout home loss to Vegas on Saturday. Into the 3-on-3 overtime, the Kings killed off a two-minute Golden Knights power play and sent the game to a shootout. There, a Jack Eichel goal was the difference in the shootout as no King could find the back of the net in three attempts giving the Golden Knights the extra point.

Trevor Lewis scored a goal on three shots and has tallied twice over the last three contests. Saturday was the forward’s 900th career regular-season game. The 36-year-old is up to four points, 13 shots on net, four hits and a plus-2 rating through eight appearances this season. He has been providing surprising production from a fourth-line role.

Kevin Fiala set up Drew Doughty for the game-tying goal with 1:03 left in regulation Saturday. The helper was Fiala’s 10th assist this season. The winger was held off the scoresheet Opening Night and hasn’t been silenced since, racking up a goal and 11 points through eight contests. He’s added 18 shots on net and a minus-2 rating.

Cam Talbot stopped 27 of 30 shots in Saturday’s loss. Talbot has gone 3-2-1 with a 2.72 GAA and a .905 save percentage over six appearances (five starts) this season. He’s been better than Pheonix Copley, but the Kings have so far deployed their goalies on a win-and-stay-in basis, so Talbot may begin Tuesday’s game in Toronto on the bench.

The Leafs had a three-game winning streak snapped Saturday in a 3-2 OT loss in Nashville. William Nylander had a goal and has 12 points, including six goals, on his eight-game point streak. He’s the fourth player in Maple Leafs history to begin the season with an eight-game point streak, joining Frank Mahovlich, Lanny McDonald and John Anderson. Auston Matthews had an assist and is up to 10 points.

Ilya Samsonov started Saturday, so it should be Joseph Woll on Tuesday. For the season, Woll is currently 3-1 with a stellar 1.33 GAA and .961 save percentage and riding a three-game winning streak. The 25-year-old is the top ranked netminder in the NHL this season in goals saved above expected at 2.74. While the success is a good problem for the Maple Leafs, it does open the door to the discussion of what the team should do with Samsonov in terms of a possible trade.

Samsonov’s sluggish start isn’t what the Maple Leafs had hoped for when they went to arbitration with him in the offseason, but it has given them a chance to get an extended look at Woll who could push Samsonov as the season progresses.

The Kings and Leafs split last year with Toronto winning 5-0 at home. Mitch Marner, Matthews, Pierre Engvall, David Kampf and Nylander scored for Toronto. Samsonov made 29 saves for his first shutout with the Maple Leafs and the seventh of his career. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick made 36 saves. He’s now with the Rangers.

NHL Betting Pick: Maple Leafs

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