NHL Betting Guide: Daily odds, injury news, predictions and best bets for Thursday, February 23rd

Welcome to VSiN’s NHL Betting Guide. There are 10 games on today’s NHL schedule. Read on for today’s NHL odds, predictions, best bets and more for Thursday, February 23rd.

Today’s NHL Odds

Today’s Best NHL Bets

Edmonton Oilers (Moneyline) -105

Connor McDavid lost his first six games against the Penguins after coming into the league, but the Oilers have owned this matchup since 2019-20. Edmonton has won five out of their last six against Pittsburgh and they’ve outscored them 16-5 in the last three games. Edmonton’s 3-1-4 record since the All-Star break might be concerning to some, but the Oilers have been dominating play in all situations and an even strength scoring slump isn’t going to deter me from backing them here at -110 or better.

The Penguins have been a bottom-10 team on offense (24th) and defense (25) for 25-plus games and while the latter will likely improve with Tristan Jarry back between the pipes, goaltending isn’t going to solve the Penguins’ problems overnight. Edmonton ranks among the top-five team in expected goals percentage (59.5 percent) since Feb. 6th and even though their offense has dropped off a bit from where it was last month, but the team has scored four goals or more in 13 of their last 16 games which is bad news for the Penguins’ defense.

Record: 59-71, -19.17 units, -13.1 percent ROI

Today’s NHL Predictions

Home team’s projected win probability. Subject to change based on starting goaltenders and injury news.

• Washington – 71.8 percent (-255)
• Tampa Bay – 67.9 percent (-212)
• Pittsburgh – 45.4 percent (+120)
• New Jersey – 59.5 percent (-147)
• Columbus – 33.8 percent (+196)
• Detroit – 38.6 percent (+159)
• St. Louis – 49.5 percent (+102)
• Seattle – 39.1 percent (+156)
• Vegas – 55.6 percent (-125)
• San Jose – 45.8 percent (+118)

Today’s NHL Schedule

*Indicates that a team is playing the first half of a back-to-back.

Today’s Starting Goaltenders

Here are today’s projected starters based on factors like rest, venue, opponent, and upcoming games. Confirmed starters are highlighted in bold.

• Washington –Alex Ovechkin has returned to the team following the death of his father. He was on the ice for Wednesday’s practice and is expected to be back in the lineup on Thursday. Anthony Mantha is listed day-to-day.
• Anaheim – John Klingberg, Adam Henrique and Troy Terry are listed as day-to-day. Backup goaltender Anthony Stolarz is not expected to dress.
• Columbus – Johnny Gaudreau is listed as day-to-day. Vladislav Gavrikov remains out due to trade related reasons.
• Edmonton – Evander Kane is rumoured to be out for the next couple of weeks but could be back sooner.
• Nashville– Filip Forsberg is not expected to play in either of the upcoming games. Ryan Johansen is out indefinitely.
• San Jose – Timo Meier is listed as day-to-day.
• St. Louis – Pavel Buchnevich and Torey Krug are regarded as day-to-day.
• Vegas – Goaltender Adin Hill is listed day-to-day.