Wednesday NHL Betting: Everything You Need to Know

Even though there are only three games on Wednesday night, we’ll get to see a little bit of everything, starting with a Newtonian matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Nashville Predators.

Toronto owns one of the league’s most dynamic offenses, and the Leafs' high-volume style of play will be put to the test against the Predators, who suppress scoring chances better than just about every team in the league.

Elsewhere, the NHL’s hottest team takes on its coldest as the Boston Bruins are in action for the second straight night and will look to make it nine wins in their past 10 games, facing off against the skidding New York Rangers, who have lost three games on the bounce.

The card concludes out West, where Connor McDavid will look to follow up his four-goal outburst on Monday night against Drew Doughty and the Los Angeles Kings. — Michael Leboff

All info as of Wednesday afternoon. Check back during the day and keep an eye on our Twitter handle for any updates.

If there’s a specific matchup you want to jump to, click the quick links below. For live spreads and bet percentages, check out this page. To get access to our premium betting tools, subscribe here.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS (+105) AT TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (-125) | O/U 5.5

7:30 p.m. ET

Betting market: The betting has been pretty even in tonight's bout, but recently creeped up to 57% in the Predators favor. The majority of the money has also been flowing in on Nashville. According to our money percentages, 77% of the cash is on the visiting Preds.— Mike Marsh

Key metric: Toronto’s 53.08 Corsi For over the past month is the highest of any team on tonight's slate, but the Nashville defense has surrendered only 1.8 goals per game over that time period. (The Predators have allowed the third-fewest goals over the entire the season as well.) That said, the Predators are the second-most penalized team in the league this year, which could benefit a Maple Leafs team that's drawn the fifth-fewest power-play opportunities. — Joe Holka

Injury/suspension watch: Nashville’s top forward, Filip Forsberg, will not play as he serves the second game of his three-game suspension. Despite playing only 39 games so far this year, the 23-year-old is the team’s second-leading scorer with 38 points and is creating 0.38 goals per game. With Forsberg out, the Preds rolled with a top six of Colton Sissons-Ryan Johansen-Viktor Arvidsson and Kevin Fiala-Kyle Turris-Craig Smith in a 5-4 overtime win against the Islanders on Monday.

The Maple Leafs could be without starting goaltender Frederik Andersen after the 28-year-old puckstopper was removed from the Leafs' win over the Ducks on Monday night. Andersen was lifted from the game after being clipped in the head by Corey Perry’s skate. Toronto head coach Mike Babcock seemed optimistic and the removal could have just been precautionary, but there is a big difference between Andersen and his deputy, Curtis McElhinney, even if the latter is having a great year in the supporting role. Update: Andersen will get the nod for the Leafs.— Michael Leboff

Trend to know: In three seasons in Toronto, Mike Babcock is 24-40 (37.5%) on the moneyline when facing opponents that allow 2.5 or fewer goals per game. Nashville is currently fourth in the NHL in goals allowed per game (2.49). — Evan Abrams

DFS nugget No. 1: Andersen will start, and he trails only Henrik Lundqvist for the highest save prediction on the slate. He could offer an intriguing leverage opportunity in DFS if Toronto happens to get the win.  — Joe Holka

DFS nugget No. 2: Roman Josi has been an elite peripheral stat option over his past eight games, exceeding his salary-based expectations by 3.98 points on FanDuel. His 20.9 Corsi For over the past month leads the slate, and only the Rangers offer a better matchup from a Corsi Against perspective than the Maple Leafs. He also has historically been much more consistent at home, averaging nearly two additional fantasy points per game, but he could be chalky as the only elite defenseman on the slate. His ownership in large-field guaranteed prize pools has nearly doubled at home (19.0% versus 11.7% on the road). — Joe Holka

Did you know? When playing 5-on-5, both the Maple Leafs and Predators have the exact same GF and GA per game ratio this season: 1.23 (tied for third in the NHL). — Evan Abrams

BOSTON BRUINS (-140) AT NEW YORK RANGERS (+120) | O/U: 5.5

8 p.m. ET | NBC Sports Network

Form notes: The Wednesday night rivalry game features two teams heading in completely opposite directions. The Bruins are 8-1 over their past nine games and have collected at least a point in 21 of their past 22 games.

The Rangers' season has completely hit the skids over the past month. New York has just one win in its past seven contests and is 4-10 since beating Buffalo in the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.  — Michael Leboff

Injury watch: Brad Marchand is due back from his latest suspension, and his return means a reunion with Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak on the best line in hockey. Boston is set to be without bottom-sixers Anders Bjork and Noel Acciari.

The Rangers are pretty banged up and will be without top-pair defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and forwards Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich. Bottom-pair defenseman Marc Staal and forward Jimmy Vesey are also doubtful for the Blueshirts. — Michael Leboff

Betting market: It's not surprising to see bettors backing the Bruins tonight (71% of betting tickets). The overwhelming public support has caused the largest line movement of the slate: Boston's moneyline has gone from -125 to -140. — Mike Marsh 

DFS nugget No. 1: Boston has been playing shutdown defense over the past month, and even at home, New York has the lowest Corsi Expectation on the evening's slate and thus, the lowest save prediction of belongs to  Anton Khudobin (25.75), who will start for the B's in the Big Apple. Goalies with comparably low save predictions on the second leg of a back-to-back have historically performed well below their salary-based expectations. — Joe Holka

Schedule alert: The Bruins are playing their second game in as many nights after winning in Detroit on Tuesday. The Rangers were off on Tuesday after wrapping up a two-game road swing in Dallas on Monday night. — Michael Leboff

DFS nugget No. 2: On a slate that features three elite centermen, Bergeron could end up owned by far fewer DFS players than Auston Matthews (skating at home) and Connor McDavid (recency bias after his four-goal performance earlier in the week). Bergeron posted a massive 13.0 DraftKings points and +9.26 Plus/Minus in the last road game he played on the second leg of a back-to-back, but overall over the past two seasons, he’s performed below his salary-based expectation averaging 3.5 DraftKings points in 21 games. — Joe Holka

Firesale: Over the All-Star break, New York Post writer Larry Brooks reported the Rangers were ready to "blow it up" and begin selling off assets in order to rebuild. Since then, the Blueshirts have lost three games in a row by a combined score of 11-3. — Michael Leboff

EDMONTON OILERS (+110) AT LOS ANGELES KINGS (-130) | O/U: 5.5

10:30 p.m. ET

Key metric: Offensively, Edmonton carries the largest negative Corsi Differential of any team in action today with 4.9 fewer shot attempts over the past month than on the season. — Joe Holka

Injury watch: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remains out for the Oilers, and defenseman Adam Larsson is questionable after the passing of his father last week.

Alec Martinez was dealing with a lower-body injury and missed Saturday’s game, but he seems like a good bet to get the green light for Wednesday night. Jeff Carter remains out indefinitely for LA. — Michael Leboff

DFS nugget: Connor McDavid’s 6.0 shot attempts per game over the past month leads the slate, which is probably more relevant than his five-point (four goals, one assist) performance against Tampa Bay on Monday that people will likely be chasing. He’s fully capable of posting another strong game, but tempering our expectations in DFS may be wise, as the Oilers own today’s second-lowest Matchup Rating. — Joe Holka

Matchup to watch: Fresh off a four-goal performance on Monday night, McDavid will have his hands full against Los Angeles. The Kings boast one of the league’s best two-way centers in Anze Kopitar and one of the premier shutdown rearguards in Drew Doughty. With the Kings having the benefit of the last change, McDavid can expect to be blanketed by Kopitar and Doughty all night. — Michael Leboff

Trend to know: The Kings have beaten the Oilers 11 consecutive times at home entering their contest against Edmonton on Wednesday. Los Angeles has outscored the Oilers by 27 goals in the 11 games, including scoring 16 goals themselves over their last three meetings in LA. — Evan Abrams

Top photo via Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports