NHL Betting Guide for January 1: Bust out the Toques and Parkas

It’s New Years Day, and that means one thing in the NHL, it’s Winter Classic time. The Blues and Wild will head outside at 7:00 p.m. ET for their game tonight. In addition to the Winter Classic, we’ll cover the Flyers vs. Kings at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Of course, we’ll be using FanDuel Sportsbook to give you all the latest odds for tonight’s games.

Philadelphia comes into this game flying high. The Flyers are on a seven-game point streak and sit ninth in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia’s previous game was a 3-2 overtime loss to San Jose. Oskar Lindblom put up a two-point night, assisting on both goals.

The Kings are tenth in the Western Conference but have gone 4-2 over their past six games. Los Angeles’ previous game was a 2-1 shootout win over the Canucks, who were on a seven-game win streak.

Philadelphia has several players in COVID-19 protocols, but with the new quarantine rules, it’s unclear if any of them will be able to return sooner than expected. However, they will be without Sean Couturier, who is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The Kings’ Olli Maatta and Dustin Brown were added to COVID-19 protocols on December 26, but it’s unclear if they could return with the new rules. Andreas Athanasiou will be out until early 2022 with a lower-body injury.

In scoring, Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with 11 goals and 16 assists through 31 games, while Anze Kopitar leads the Kings with nine goals and 19 assists through 32 games. The Flyers and Kings are not high-scoring teams. Philadelphia sits 25th, averaging 2.65 goals per game, and Los Angeles is 27th with 2.59. The Flyers are much better defensively, allowing 3.13 goals per game to the Kings’ 2.66. However, Philadelphia’s ability to keep the puck out of the net is largely due to the stellar play of Carter Hart, who is currently under the COVID-19 protocols.

We’re expecting a low-scoring and tight game. There looks to be value with the Flyers and the under in this contest.

The Picks: Flyers Moneyline (+142), Under 5.5 (-115), Claude Giroux – Points: Over 0.5 (-152)

All NHL predictions and picks are courtesy of SportsGrid

Odds courtesy of Fanduel Sportsbook. Sign up for FanDuel Sportsbook today and get your first bet risk-free for up to $1,000.