Table of Contents
Saturday delivered a slate where the “how” mattered as much as the “who.” Hat tricks showed up, overtime cashed a few coin-flip games, and at least one matchup got completely decided by a single period that turned into an avalanche. If you were tracking live, it probably felt like a night where momentum was real and leads were not safe.
Latest NHL Odds & Lines
Before you bet the next card, treat the board like part of the handicap, not an afterthought. I’d keep an eye on moneylines, puck lines, and totals, especially when you’re trying to price volatility and late-game variance. If you want a clean refresher on reading markets, this guide on how to master hockey odds is a good baseline.
Win More, Guess Less
Your Shortcut to Smarter Betting Decisions
NHL Picks of the Day
A slate like this is why bettors gravitate to quick-hit opinions with clear reasoning, not vibes. If you’re building a short list, start with a consistent source of the best hockey picks all season and then sanity-check it against what the matchup is actually giving you.
Top Takeaways
- New York’s power play finally showed teeth and it mattered immediately, with Zibanejad setting a franchise mark for career power-play goals in a skid-snapping win.
- Edmonton’s win was a reminder that one nuclear period can erase everything else, with six goals in the second turning Vancouver into pure damage control.
- Utah kept riding its heater, but this time it wasn’t “survive and steal,” it was offense and sustained pressure, plus another solid Vejmelka night.
- Toronto-Winnipeg and Montreal-Ottawa both reinforced the same betting lesson: late-game swings can flip a good read into a bad beat, or the other way around.
- Vegas isn’t just winning, it’s finishing, with five third-period goals to blow open what could have been a tighter game script.
NHL Game Recaps
New York Rangers vs Philadelphia Flyers Recap: Rangers wins 6-3
Mika Zibanejad notched a hat trick to lift New York to a much-needed 6-3 win at Philadelphia. Artemi Panarin added two goals and an assist, Brennan Othmann scored his first NHL goal, and Spencer Martin made 25 saves.
The story was urgency and special teams delivery. Zibanejad logged his second hat trick of the month, tied the franchise lead with his ninth, and broke the Rangers record with his 117th career power-play goal as New York snapped a five-game losing streak (0-4-1). Philadelphia’s skid hit six games (0-5-1) after Aleksei Kolosov was yanked following goals on the first three shots.
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Pittsburgh Penguins Recap: Blue Jackets wins 4-3 (SO)
Columbus edged Pittsburgh 4-3 in a shootout as Charlie Coyle scored the winner. Zach Aston-Reese, Danton Heinen and Kirill Marchenko scored in regulation, while Elvis Merzlikins helped the Jackets win their fourth straight and keep Rick Bowness perfect at 3-0-0 since taking the job Monday.
Pittsburgh had pushback, but it wasn’t enough to finish. Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, and Connor Clifton and Rickard Rakell also scored. The Penguins’ rally extended their home point streak against one opponent to 19 games (16-0-3), but Columbus still got the extra point.
Edmonton Oilers vs Vancouver Canucks Recap: Oilers wins 6-0
Edmonton steamrolled Vancouver 6-0, powered by a six-goal second period. Kasperi Kapanen and Jack Roslovic scored twice each, Zach Hyman and Vasily Podkolzin also found the net, and Tristan Jarry stopped 31 shots for his second shutout of the season.
This one was decided in the middle frame and never came back. Vancouver is still looking for its first win of 2026 and suffered its franchise-record tying 10th straight loss. Nikita Tolopilo made 29 saves and started after Kevin Lankinen was scratched due to illness, but the Oilers’ second-period barrage made goaltending irrelevant.
Utah Mammoth vs Seattle Kraken Recap: Mammoth wins 6-3
Utah beat Seattle 6-3 in Salt Lake City behind Nate Schmidt’s two goals and two assists, including the go-ahead goal. Lawson Crouse posted a goal and two assists, and Kevin Stenlund, Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton also scored, while Karel Vejmelka made 18 saves.
For Seattle, Matty Beniers had a goal and an assist and Jordan Eberle and Chandler Stephenson also scored, but the Kraken finished 1-3-1 on their five-game trip. Utah extended its point streak to seven games (6-0-1), and the way they generated offense across multiple lines is what popped.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Winnipeg Jets Recap: Maple Leafs wins 4-3 (OT)
Toronto completed a comeback from two goals down in the third to beat Winnipeg 4-3 in overtime. Max Domi scored the OT winner on a 2-on-1 off Auston Matthews’ pass through the slot, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson produced a goal and two assists.
This game turned late, and that’s the betting takeaway. Toronto has registered a point for the 12th time in 13 games, and they did it here by flipping the third period after being down two. For Winnipeg, Alex Iafallo, Kyle Connor and Nino Niederreiter scored, while Vladislav Namestnikov had two assists.
Carolina Hurricanes vs New Jersey Devils Recap: Hurricanes wins 4-1
Andrei Svechnikov scored a hat trick as Carolina beat New Jersey 4-1 in Newark. Sebastian Aho assisted on all three of Svechnikov’s goals and Frederik Andersen made 29 saves.
Carolina handled the schedule spot, too, playing on the tail end of a back-to-back after a 9-1 home win against Florida on Friday. New Jersey hadn’t played since Wednesday and still couldn’t solve the matchup, with the Devils now losing seven of their last eight games against Carolina. Timo Meier scored the lone Devils goal and Jacob Markstrom made 31 saves.
Minnesota Wild vs Buffalo Sabres Recap: Wild wins 5-4 (OT)
Mats Zuccarello scored a power-play goal in overtime as Minnesota won 5-4 in Buffalo and snapped a three-game losing streak. Zuccarello, Vladimir Tarasenko and Quinn Hughes each had a goal and an assist, and Kirill Kaprizov had three assists, including one on the winner.
Buffalo still banked another point in what’s been a steady run, earning a point for the 16th time in its last 18 games (15-2-1) despite losing in overtime for the first time since Nov. 4. Jack Quinn and Ryan McLeod each posted a goal and an assist, with Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch also scoring.
Calgary Flames vs New York Islanders Recap: Flames wins 4-2
Calgary opened a five-game homestand with a 4-2 win over the Islanders, paced by Adam Klapka’s goal and assist. Yegor Sharangovich, Justin Kirkland and Yan Kuznetsov also scored as the Flames built a four-goal lead and held on.
Dustin Wolf made 28 saves, including a clutch stop on Jonathan Drouin early in the second while Calgary led 1-0. New York got goals from Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anders Lee, while Matthew Schaefer had two assists, but the Islanders dropped two of three and still have two games left on their seven-game road trip.
Montreal Canadiens vs Ottawa Senators Recap: Canadiens wins 6-5 (OT)
Cole Caufield scored 33 seconds into overtime for a 6-5 Montreal win in Ottawa, finishing with two goals. Juraj Slafkovsky also scored twice, and a late rally tied the game when Slafkovsky and Alexandre Carrier scored 1:05 apart in the final minutes.
This one was all about late execution under pressure. Montreal trailed by two goals with less than five minutes left and still forced extra time, ending a brief two-game losing streak and improving to 2-1-1 in its last four. Jake Sanderson had a goal and three assists for Ottawa, which fell to 2-4-1 in its last seven.
Florida Panthers vs Washington Capitals Recap: Panthers wins 5-2
Florida bounced back with a 5-2 win at Washington one night after a 9-1 loss to Carolina. Sam Bennett led the way with a goal and two assists, A.J. Greer had a goal and an assist, and Anton Lundell, Carter Verhaeghe and Uvis Balinskis also scored, while Daniil Tarasov made 22 saves.
Washington got both goals from Jakob Chychrun, and John Carlson had two assists. The Capitals lost their third in four games, and the Panthers’ response game was clean: finish chances, keep the crease stable, and avoid letting the game spiral.
Vegas Golden Knights vs Nashville Predators Recap: Golden Knights wins 7-2
Vegas routed Nashville 7-2 with five third-period goals, extending its winning streak to a season-high seven games. Mark Stone pushed his point streak to a career-best 11 games, and Shea Theodore, Mitch Marner, Alexander Holtz, Cole Reinhardt and Keegan Kolesar each had a goal and an assist, with Pavel Dorofeyev also scoring.
This was close to the kind of finish bettors love when backing a hot team. Vegas broke it open late instead of letting Nashville hang around. Akira Schmid made 27 saves for his 15th win, while the Predators had a three-game win streak snapped despite goals from Luke Evangelista and Filip Forsberg and two assists from Roman Josi.
Boston Bruins vs Chicago Blackhawks Recap: Bruins wins 5-2
Boston came from behind with five unanswered goals to beat Chicago 5-2. Mason Lohrei had his first career multi-goal game, and Charlie McAvoy, Viktor Arvidsson and Marat Khusnutdinov also scored as the Bruins won their sixth straight and eight of their last nine.
Chicago got goals from Ryan Greene and Wyatt Kaiser, but the Blackhawks are on a three-game skid and have lost four of five. This game was a clean example of a team stacking pressure until the dam breaks, then finishing in bunches.
Los Angeles Kings vs Anaheim Ducks Recap: Ducks wins 2-1 (OT)
Anaheim beat Los Angeles 2-1 in overtime as Mikael Granlund scored with 58 seconds left in OT on a breakaway after rookie Beckett Sennecke forced a turnover. Mason McTavish also scored, and Ville Husso made 17 saves in his second start this month while earning a win for the first time since Dec. 9.
For the Kings, Adrian Kempe scored and Anton Forsberg made 31 saves, but Los Angeles’ losing streak hit four games (0-1-3) and they have just one win in their last seven (1-2-4). Anaheim also swept the back-to-back set, winning 3-2 in a shootout at Los Angeles on Friday.
NHL Picks and Handicappers
If you’re trying to bet this league like a grown-up, you need a process first and opinions second. A clean starting point is how to bet on hockey and a reset on the basics through NHL betting 101. That’s how you avoid chasing noise when results swing hard from period to period.
From there, sharpen the “why” behind your leans. If you’re trying to decide when a price is actually worth taking, this breakdown of NHL underdogs helps frame the risk, and this guide on NHL public betting data can keep you from misreading market sentiment. And if you’re playing puck lines or derivatives, you should understand puck line wagers and NHL alternate lines before you start getting creative.
Finally, when the calendar flips and the style tightens, the edges shift. This piece on betting the NHL playoffs is the right lens for that environment.
