Happy New Year, everyone! We have five games to kick off my first 2026 article. Let’s dive in.
Monday’s NHL Best Bets & Picks
Utah Mammoth @ New York Rangers
The Rangers (20-18-5) play host to the Mammoth (19-20-3) to begin the evening, and it is an intriguing matchup given New York’s struggles at home this season. The Rangers are 5-10-3 at home with a -23 goal differential, averaging a tiny 1.67 goals per game. Meanwhile, the Mammoth have not found away games to be much of a picnic, though they are averaging 2.88 goals per contest on the road. Both teams scream average across the board and have their starting goalies in net this evening. I don’t anticipate much scoring (or shooting, for that matter), so the under is the play here.
Pick: Under 5.5 (-111)
Minnesota Wild @ Los Angeles Kings
The Wild (25-10-8) has continued its push and is now tied with the Stars for second in the Western Conference with 58 points. The Kings (17-14-9) are a tricky team to figure out, and they are typically better on the road than at home. These two played two days ago in the same venue, with Los Angeles winning 5-4. In their last 10 games, Minnesota has hit the OVER in eight of them. Los Angeles was an UNDER machine for much of the season, but their last four have gone over, and the last three matchups between these two have crossed that mark. I don’t see this one staying below six goals, so let’s hit the over at good odds.
Pick: Over 5.5 (-101)
Kevin Fiala + Joel Eriksson Ek Point Parlay (+172)
According to our NHL Prop Bet Cheat Sheet, these two plays have around a 54% probability of hitting. Putting them together gives you great odds in what should be a high-scoring game.
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