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Hunter Hodies is here with your NHL Best Bets for October 26, 2021 action. See our best NHL bet picks today.
All NHL odds and lines are current as of 10AM EST on October 26, 2021 and are courtesy of BetMGM.
NHL Bets of the Day 10/26/21
Best Bet: Penguins +1.5 (-200) at BetMGM
Wager: 2 units
Pittsburgh has been a surprise to start the season, especially with the injuries the team has gone through. Their three core players are currently all missing, plus Bryan Rust and Jeff Carter are out as well. It’s been no problem, though, as the team is 3-0-2 to start the year and has gained eight of 10 points.
The Penguins will be welcoming Tampa Bay to PPG Paints Arena and even though the Lightning are surely going to be upset, this is going to be a tough matchup for them, especially since Pittsburgh is 2-0-1 on home ice.
For starters, the Penguins have played some stingy defensive hockey this season as they’ve done a tremendous job limiting the opposition’s scoring chances. Per MoneyPuck, the Penguins’ expected goals against per 60 is 1.89, one of the better numbers in the league.
I’m backing the Penguins as Mike Sullivan clearly has an identity for his squad to win on a nightly basis, despite being shorthanded. Combine that with Tampa playing on Monday night and being banged up and I like the value on the Penguins against the spread.
Sportsbook Play of the Day
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Best Bet: Avalanche Moneyline (-175) at BetMGM
Wager: 1 unit
Normally, this would be a game I would stay away from, but due to the fact that Vegas is banged up, I have to back Colorado here. The Avalanche have too much firepower for Vegas to deal with, especially since both Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty will be out of the lineup.
Yes, both teams have started out poorly, but the Avs are in a much better spot to get out of their little hole than Vegas is. They can ice arguably the best quintet in the league at any point (Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen, Girard-Makar) and there’s no way to get the puck off any of them. Colorado is also coming off a big shootout victory over Tampa on Saturday, while Vegas dropped its fourth straight game to the New York Islanders on Sunday.
Anything can happen on any given night, but I would back the team that has more talent on both ends of the ice, plus arguably in goal. Vegas has just four goals in its last three games coming into this one and it’s going to be more of the same if the Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith line is the only one driving play.
Best Bet: Jets/Ducks Under 5.5 (-110) at BetMGM
Wager: 1 unit
I know there were six goals combined the last time these two teams played on Oct. 21, but this time the matchup is in Anaheim. The two teams last played in Anaheim on Oct. 13 and there were only five combined goals scored. It’s what I see happening again here, especially because the Ducks aren’t known for being a high-scoring team.
Anaheim has been better than expected this season and can compete with Winnipeg, but I’m still expecting more of a low-scoring affair, even though Winnipeg has 16 goals in its last three games. That can’t and won’t be sustainable. There’s also the John Gibson factor in play here, as he’s off to a good start this season with a .921 save percentage.
It’s a little risky but with how the Jets are due for a cool-off, I would take the value on the Under, which is too high at 5.5 total goals.
