Although a short 4-day break is on the horizon for the NHL, this week is one filled with crucial games as the leading teams in all four divisions look to hold the top spot for Christmas day. We take a look at three highly anticipated games for the upcoming week and share our NHL betting predictions for each!
Game 1: Florida Panthers @ Minnesota Wild
- Date: Wednesday 18th December 2024
- Time: 9:30 pm EDT
- Our Pick: Over 5.5 Goals
The Minnesota Wild are heading into a week of relatively tough fixtures, as they play the Florida Panthers, the Utah Hockey Club, and the New York Jets. Both teams will be heading into this game on a loss, as the Wild and Panthers fell to the Vegas Golden Knights and the Calgary Flames, respectively.
Arguably, this encounter is more important to the Minnesota Wild, as they sit just one point behind the Jets in the Western Conference. They will also want to start their week of tough fixtures with a point at home, as they look to build momentum and keep adding points to the board before Christmas.
The games between these two teams are typically filled with goals, too, which is evident when looking at their head-to-head record. Eight of their last ten encounters have resulted in over 5.5 goals, which is perhaps no surprise when you take the prolific offense of both teams into account. Combining these statistics with the mutual need for a bounce-back and the significance of the result on the NHL standings leads us to back over 5.5 goals in this one.
Game 2: Boston Bruins @ Edmonton Oilers
- Date: Thursday 19th December 2024
- Time: 9:00 pm EDT
- Our Pick: Edmonton Oilers Money Line
In a matchup that is often amongst the most-viewed encounters throughout the NHL season, the Oilers will head to the Bruins on Thursday evening, with the home team looking to preserve their impressive run of form. The Edmonton Oilers have been triumphant in their last 5 games as they head into this week of fixtures, which includes victories against the Golden Knights, the Minnesota Wild, and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
As for the Bruins, they’ve had a rather standard season, although they are perhaps slightly underperforming by their standards. This match-up is often highly contested and in all 5 of the previous meetings between these two teams, the game was decided by a single goal. The Oilers are in much better form and, in our opinion, are a much stronger side currently than the Bruins. However, when these two collide, anything can happen. At first, we considered -1.5 in favor of the Oilers. However, the head-to-head suggests this will be a game with only 1 goal separating the two.
Game 3: Pittsburgh Penguins @ New Jersey Devils
- Date: Saturday 21st December 2024
- Time: 7:00 pm EDT
- Our Pick: New Jersey Devils -1.5
Coming into the week just 1 point off the Washington Capitals, who currently occupy the top spot in the Metropolitan Division, the Devils will be looking to pile on the pressure as they host a struggling Pittsburgh Penguins. The Devils are coming into the game in slightly better form, winning 3 of their last 5. However, one of these losses did come in an incredibly tight encounter with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Penguins have won 2 out of their last 5 matches and it looks as if their season has already started to fizzle out, although a win in this game could certainly add some much-needed confidence to the team. It’s been the defense that has really let the Penguins down this season, conceding the most goals by a considerable margin. Combine this with the attacking prowess of the Devils and we think a landslide could be on the way, which is why we’re picking the Devils -1.5 in our final prediction for this week of games!
How Many Games Does Each NHL Team Play This Week?
There is a total of 51 games in the NHL between the 16th and 22nd of December 2024, with Saturday being the busiest day of the week, featuring a total of 11 games. The rest of the games are relatively spread out throughout the week, giving fans plenty to look forward to as we approach the short festive break.
As for the teams with the most games this week, the Colorado Avalanche, the Edmonton Oilers, the Florida Panthers, the Los Angeles Kings, the Ottawa Senators, the Seattle Kraken, the Vancouver Canucks, and the Washington Capitals all make 4 separate appearances between the 16h and 22nd December.
In the table below, you can see exactly how many games your favorite team has scheduled for this week:
| Team | Number of Games This Week |
| Anaheim Ducks | 3 |
| Boston Bruins | 3 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 3 |
| Calgary Flames | 3 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 3 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 3 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 4 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 3 |
| Dallas Stars | 3 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 3 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 4 |
| Florida Panthers | 4 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 4 |
| Minnesota Wild | 3 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 3 |
| Nashville Predators | 3 |
| New Jersey Devils | 3 |
| New York Islanders | 2 |
| New York Rangers | 3 |
| Ottawa Senators | 4 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 3 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 3 |
| San Jose Sharks | 3 |
| Seattle Kraken | 4 |
| St. Louis Blues | 3 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 3 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 |
| Utah Hockey Club | 3 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 4 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 2 |
| Washington Capitals | 4 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 3 |
How to bet on the NHL Online with BetVictor
For anyone who is looking to bet on the NHL online with BetVictor, here’s a straightforward guide for getting started:
1. Sign in to your BetVictor account. For anyone who isn’t already registered with us, click or tap on the green ‘Sign Up’ button and fill in the various fields that appear. From here, you can verify your details and fund your account by making a deposit.
2. Head to the ice hockey betting page.
3. Click on the ‘Competitions’ tab and select ‘NHL’.
4. You can then scroll down the page to find the game(s) you’d like to bet on.
5. Click on the game and add your desired selection to the bet slip.
6. All that’s left to do then is type in your desired stake size and confirm the wager!
If you want to bet on NHL games while they’re in progress, head to our in-play betting section. From here, you can wager on the action as it unfolds on the ice, while also being kept up to date with the latest statistics and score.
Finally, before placing a bet, why not head over to our offers page and take a look at the variety of different bonuses that we have available? Many of these can be used across all of our sports betting markets, while also being available to claim by both new and existing users!
Frequently Asked Questions About our NHL Picks
Our NHL betting picks for games between the 16th and 22nd of December are over 5.5 goals in the Minnesota Wild vs Florida Panthers game, the Edmonton Oilers to win (Money Line) against the Boston Bruins, and the New Jersey Devils -1.5 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Colorado Avalanche, the Edmonton Oilers, the Florida Panthers, the Los Angeles Kings, the Ottawa Senators, the Seattle Kraken, the Vancouver Canucks, and the Washington Capitals all play the most games this week with 4 each.
The best place to bet on the NHL online is right here at BetVictor. We have a huge range of markets to choose from, including in-play betting options, alongside a variety of bonus offers!
