NHL Best Bets (1/18/23): Expert Predictions For Tonight’s Games

There’s a packed NHL slate tonight, with 11 games scheduled for 1/18/24. Anthony Elio has a best bet for one of the matchups this evening.

Seattle Kraken vs. Edmonton Oilers

When will the Edmonton Oilers end their 11-game winning streak? Probably not tonight. The Oilers are overall 21-6 since new head coach Kris Knoblauch took over in November. The coach is getting the most out of star players like Connor McDavid, who leads the team with 58 points, and Zach Hyman, who leads the team with 26 goals. McDavid isn’t lighting the lamp nearly as much as high 64-goal campaign last season, but he’s still paying at a high level, recording a point in every matchup of the 11-game streak.

Goalie Stuart Skinner, who is projected to be in goal tonight, has been playing well, especially since Knoblauch took over as head coach. With Knoblauch calling the shots, he’s accrued a 17-4 record. Skinner also hasn’t allowed more than 2 goals in a single game in his past 7 matchups. Overall, the goaltender has a .903 save percentage and 2.61 GAA this year.

The Edmonton offense is 5th in the league right now with 3.5 goals per game. The team is also 8th in power play percentage (25%) and leads the NHL in shots per game (34.33).

The Seattle Kraken, on the other hand, seem to have run out of gas as they finish their 6-game road trip. The first 3 games yielded 3 wins for the Kraken, where they outscored opponents 16-7. But Seattle has definitely crashed back to earth since then, being outscored 8-2 in the following losses. Needless to say, it’s not going to be easy to turn things around against a red-hot Oilers team.

Seattle has been a tough team to figure out this season, recently following up an 8-game losing streak with a 9-game winning streak. The offense might find it tough to keep up with Edmonton, as Seattle is 27th in the league with 2.8 goals per game.

The player that will help the Kraken stay in this game is goalie Joey Daccord. The netminder is 13-6 this season between the pipes, ranking 4th in the NHL with a .923 save percentage and 2.28 GAA. Daccord started off the year with an impressive 35-save shutout win over the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in the Winter Classic.

Daccord might keep things close, but Edmonton should extend their winning streak tonight. While the puck line has some value, the 60-minute moneyline for the Oilers seems like a safer play tonight.

Best Bet: Edmonton Oilers 60-Minute Moneyline

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