Home advantage has proved crucial in two previous meetings between Toronto and Ottawa this term and we’re tipping that trend to continue. The Sens prevailed 3-2 at Canadian Tire Centre in mid-October but the Maple Leafs gained revenge with a 3-1 Scotiabank Arena success two days later.
New York Islanders remain bottom of the Metropolitan Division but have shown much-improved form of late, especially when on home ice. Barry Trotz’s side have posted three wins and an overtime loss to red-hot Vegas Golden Knights from their last four outings at UBS Arena.
Montreal face a daunting task when they travel to play Florida in Sunrise. The Panthers are one of the strongest teams in the NHL on home ice, having lost just three of their 19 games at FLA Live Arena so far this term, and are coming off a 9-3 win over state rivals Tampa Bay.
The top two teams in the Central Division will come face to face in the cold of St Paul at Target Field when Minnesota entertain St Louis. The NHL Winter Classic is always a New Year’s Day showpiece at a baseball stadium and the Minnesota Twins play host this year.
Edmonton will look to get back on a hot streak in New Jersey, as they seek to keep pace with the Pacific Division leaders. The Oilers went down 4-2 at St Louis on Wednesday and will be desperate to get back into the winning column in their final game of 2021.
Many punters will not look past the bare facts that Vancouver are on a seven-match winning run which began with a 4-0 defeat of Los Angeles. However, the Canucks are coming off a tiring overtime win at Anaheim and have a poor past record when playing on back-to-back nights.
Calgary had a tough little spell before the Christmas break but will be hoping to get back on track when returning to action at Seattle. The Flames are still well placed to challenge for top honours in the Pacific Division and have cleared up their Covid problems during the lay-off.
Carolina were in red-hot form prior to the Christmas break and look ready to pick up where they left off when hosting Montreal. The Canadiens have already returned to action with a gutsy overtime loss at Tampa Bay but could find this a tougher second leg of their road trip.
Vancouver return to the ice looking to extend their winning streak under new coach Bruce Boudreau to seven games when visiting Anaheim. However, the Ducks have surprised many this season to sit ninth overall in the NHL and second in the Pacific Division, already beating the Canucks twice.
St Louis and Edmonton both went into the Christmas break in fine spirits following some decent results and a close contest is on the cards. The Oilers shaded a 5-4 thriller when visiting Enterprise Center last month, netting the deciding goal with less than 30 seconds left.
Tampa Bay hosts Montreal in a rematch of last season’s Stanley Cup final as NHL action returns following a Covid-lengthened Christmas break. The Lightning came out on top in that decider and when visiting the Canadiens earlier this month, although only by a narrow margin.
St Louis won in a shootout when visiting Winnipeg last month and are rated a value bet to come out on top again at Canada Life Centre. The Blues will travel in great spirits after claiming five wins in six matches and picking up at least a point in seven straight outings.
Seattle and Edmonton have shared the spoils in two previous meetings this season but we’re backing the Oilers to shade the series decider. They returned to form with a cracking triumph over Columbus on Thursday and have shown before this term how they tend to feed off success.
Ottawa have enjoyed an upturn in fortunes over the past fortnight but may just find an in-form Philadelphia outfit hard to live with. The Flyers followed up scoring 15 goals in a hat-trick of wins with a shootout loss at Montreal which could easily have gone either way.