This article is part of our NHL Picks series.
I've got your four best bets in the NHL tonight. Let's go have ourselves a Monday!
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook. For those in Massachusetts, sports betting will be officially live by the end of the work week. Get ahead of the game with the DraftKings Massachusetts Promo Code and be sure to check out all the latest Massachusetts Sports Betting Promos to find the best offers.
Monday's NHL Best Bets
Senators 
vs Blackhawks 
The Senators are absolutely buzzing as they charge for their first playoff appearance since 2017. They've won 5 straight games by a combined score of 27-10. They made a huge acquisition at last week's trade deadline acquiring stud defenseman Jakob Chychrun to bolster their core of young up-and-comers. I've loved this team all year. They play fast, hard-nosed, and exciting hockey, and they're getting hot at the right time. The Blackhawks on the other hand are going through the doldrums. They traded away long-time superstar Patrick Kane and the team's points leader for this season Max Domi last week. They're without captain Jonathan Toews due to illness too. The Hawks did recently best the Senators on February 17 though, winning 4-3 in Ottawa. Of the 4 goals they scored in that game, however, 2 came from Kane and 1 came from Sam Lafferty who got shipped to the Maple Leafs before the trade deadline. That game might as well have been played in a different dimension.
Senators PL-115
Oilers 
vs Sabres
I love this matchup because it features two of the most fun teams to play with in NHL 23. They're both fast AF, have game-breaking superstars, and light the lamp with the best of 'em. In real life, the Oilers lead the league in goals scored per game and the Sabres sit in 3rd right behind them. The Oilers have the top power play in the NHL and the Sabres have the 5th-best. They're both soft on the penalty kill as the Oilers rank 25th and the Sabres 31st They both give up about the same amount of goals-against per game, as the Oilers rank 21st and the Sabres 25th in that category. Whichever way you slice it, this one is shaping up to be a banger with not much separating the squads to give extra confidence in betting one side or the other. So, it's basically a coin flip. And I'm flipping to the side that has Connor McDavid.
Oilers ML -155
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Flames 
vs Stars 
I might regret this later, but I like the Flames as the underdog tonight. They've lost five in a row, and the Stars have won three in a row, but I think this is a tough matchup for Dallas and the Flames are due. The Flames won 6-5 in Dallas back on January 14, and despite the Stars' coming off an impressive 7-3 win at home over the Avalanche, they were just 1-3-2 in their previous six home games before that. I'm betting on the pucks to start bouncing the Flames' way tonight.
Flames ML +120
Capitals 
vs Kings 
The Kings have posted an 8-2-1 record since the All-Star break, good for the 3rd-best mark in the league during that span. They come into tonight's home tilt against the Capitals riding a 3-game win streak and have won 8 of their 11 home games in 2023 so far. The Caps are going through a transitional phase as they stumbled out of the All-Star break and became sellers at the trade deadline. Despite their 3-7 mark over their last 10 games, they've won 2-straight on their Pacific Division road trip besting the Ducks and Sharks in their previous two outings. This is a moral dilemma for me as the Caps are my hometown team and I literally played for the Washington Little Capitals growing up. But I've been living just a few blocks from the Kings' Crypto.com Arena for the last several years and have grown fond of my new local franchise. Biases aside, the Kings are trending up while the Caps are sputtering, so I'm taking the home team tonight as I just don't think the Caps will sweep their West Coast swing.
Kings ML -145
