NHL Best Bets Tonight: Picks, Predictions for Friday, April 12

The NHL odds board tonight has betting options for five games, and hockey expert Nick Martin has made predictions for two matchups on the slate: Hurricanes vs. Blues and Wild vs. Knights.

Let's dive into his top two NHL best bets tonight.

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Hurricanes vs. Blues

Since the trade deadline, the Hurricanes own the best record in the NHL at 14-3-1.

Offensive play is not the main reason they're priced as cup favorites by any means, but a lack of game-breaking scoring talent is not the flaw it once was for Carolina.

Jake Guentzel has found excellent chemistry on the top line playing alongside Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis. He has helped power the Hurricanes' power play to a 30.8% success rate over the last 10 games.

In 156.3 minutes together at even strength, Aho, Guentzel and Jarvis have played to a 68% expected goal share. They own greater than 80% of the actual goals for and against.

In 15 games with Carolina, Guentzel has racked up 22 points. Of the 22 goals Guentzel has received a point on as a Hurricane, Aho also got a point on the same goal 16 times.

The Blues have been on a better defensive run of late but are still a below-average side. They've allowed 3.3 xGA/60 over the last 10 games, which ranks 20th in the league.

Very few opponents have prevented Aho and Guentzel from finding the scoresheet recently, and I don't believe a Blues unit that lacks a shutdown defensive pairing will be the team to do it.

You can bet Aho and Guentzel each to record one point on bet365 at -110, and I believe there's value at anything better than -115. For those without access to bet365, I would pivot to a half-unit play on Guentzel to score at +165 at FanDuel.

Best Bet: Aho & Guentzel Each to Record a Point (-110 · Play to -115)

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Wild vs. Golden Knights

These teams played a 2-1 nail-biter in Minnesota on March 30, which effectively ended the Wild's playoff hopes. That game might help justify the low betting total of 5.5 and the Knights being priced as a surprisingly short favorite at -178.

Some of the market's numbers are based on the Wild's recent low-event play, but they still look to be underrating the circumstances surrounding today's game in Vegas.

The Wild have allowed only 2.54 xGA/60 over their last 10 games, which is an elite mark. Six of those games came in Minnesota, and three were against the worst three teams in the league in the Blackhawks, Ducks and Sharks.

Even still, they allowed 3.0 goals against per game over the last 10, and they were still desperately fighting for a playoff berth in most of those matchups.

Marc-Andre Fleury has been confirmed as the Wild's starter, and he's a below-average option at this point in his career. He has played to a -6.8 GSAx and .899 save percentage across 38 appearances.

The Knights have also played a lot of low-event teams over the last 10, and I think it's skewing some of the data. And despite playing in those games, they've scored 3.40 goals per game in that span.

With Tomas Hertl in the mix, they look like a full-blown offensive powerhouse.

We've seen season after season how the Knights love to push the pace on home ice, and they may need to push for offense tonight given the way Logan Thompson and Adin Hill have struggled of late.

The Knights are 24-11-2 on home ice this season, and I believe they'll shake off an ugly loss in Edmonton on Wednesday with a win here.

You can bet the game total to go over 5.5 and the Knights to win at +170 at bet365 and FanDuel, and I would play it at anything better than +160.

Best Bet: Knights ML + Over 5.5 Parlay (+170 · Play to +160)