NHL Picks for Today: Wednesday, December 3
Dallas Stars vs. New Jersey Devils
Since center and key goal-scorer Jack Hughes’ injury, New Jersey’s offense has been exposed. Hughes’ loss has forced the Devils to lean more on their depth, and their depth has come up woefully short of producing at the level that it needs to. To be clear, the Devils can still produce against some defenses. They performed well offensively against the Sabres and Red Wings. However, those teams rank in the bottom six in goal-scoring defense. How New Jersey performs against them is irrelevant to how they will fare in a matchup against the Stars with their sixth-ranked goal-scoring defense.
A Devils team that has otherwise failed to exceed three goals in every game for the past month and that is struggling on defense to the tune of allowing five goals in each of its last two games will struggle against a great team like Dallas. Part of Dallas’ greatness lies in its ability to bounce back from losses. I love the Stars tonight because they are 3-0 in their last three games that followed a loss. In those three wins, they scored five, four, and eight goals, respectively. Therefore, wager on Stars ML.
Buffalo Sabres vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia is in a terrible spot given the loss of its forward Tyson Foerster. He evened the score in his team’s game against Pittsburgh on Monday but subsequently sustained an injury. The Flyers were blown out with his presence. They miss not only his scoring – he is their leading goal-scorer – but also the chemistry that he enjoyed with his teammates on the ice and his versatility, by which I mean that he excels not only at five-on-five but also at various other aspects of play, such as power kill and power play.
Even with Foerster, the Flyers rank in the bottom half offensively. Now they have to depend even more on unreliable players to make up for his productivity. Their statistically mediocre defense that regularly allows three goals or more against thinned and otherwise lackluster offensive attacks is not good enough when their offense is this unreliable. They lack the firepower to keep pace with a Buffalo team that, coming off a 5-1 win over Winnipeg, has rekindled the form that it displayed a couple weeks ago when it pounded Chicago and Carolina by a combined total of nine goals. For the above reasons, wager on Sabres ML.
Utah Mammoth vs. Anaheim Ducks
It’s a bad sign to see Utah fans clamoring for the dismissal of their head coach. The Mammoth are enduring a four-game losing streak during which they most recently suffered a shutout loss to St. Louis with its second-to-last-ranked defense and a three-goal loss to San Jose. One can hardly expect them to turn things around against an Anaheim team that has really been figuring things out offensively. Thanks to their play during the last two weeks, they now rank fourth in goal-scoring. When these two teams last played, Anaheim hadn’t figured things out offensively and Utah was playing much better than it currently is. Nevertheless, the Ducks won in overtime. Logically speaking, one has to expect a stronger Ducks win tonight. So, wager on Ducks ML.
| Matchup | Pick | Odds | Confidence Level | Sportsbook |
| Stars vs. Devils | Stars ML | -105 | Highest | Caesars |
| Sabres vs. Flyers | Sabres ML | -105 | Highest | Caesars |
| Mammoth vs. Ducks | Ducks ML | -110 | Highest | BetMGM |
Dallas Stars vs. New Jersey Devils
Since center and key goal-scorer Jack Hughes’ injury, New Jersey’s offense has been exposed. Hughes’ loss has forced the Devils to lean more on their depth, and their depth has come up woefully short of producing at the level that it needs to. To be clear, the Devils can still produce against some defenses. They performed well offensively against the Sabres and Red Wings. However, those teams rank in the bottom six in goal-scoring defense. How New Jersey performs against them is irrelevant to how they will fare in a matchup against the Stars with their sixth-ranked goal-scoring defense.
A Devils team that has otherwise failed to exceed three goals in every game for the past month and that is struggling on defense to the tune of allowing five goals in each of its last two games will struggle against a great team like Dallas. Part of Dallas’ greatness lies in its ability to bounce back from losses. I love the Stars tonight because they are 3-0 in their last three games that followed a loss. In those three wins, they scored five, four, and eight goals, respectively. Therefore, wager on Stars ML.
Buffalo Sabres vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia is in a terrible spot given the loss of its forward Tyson Foerster. He evened the score in his team’s game against Pittsburgh on Monday but subsequently sustained an injury. The Flyers were blown out with his presence. They miss not only his scoring – he is their leading goal-scorer – but also the chemistry that he enjoyed with his teammates on the ice and his versatility, by which I mean that he excels not only at five-on-five but also at various other aspects of play, such as power kill and power play.
Even with Foerster, the Flyers rank in the bottom half offensively. Now they have to depend even more on unreliable players to make up for his productivity. Their statistically mediocre defense that regularly allows three goals or more against thinned and otherwise lackluster offensive attacks is not good enough when their offense is this unreliable. They lack the firepower to keep pace with a Buffalo team that, coming off a 5-1 win over Winnipeg, has rekindled the form that it displayed a couple weeks ago when it pounded Chicago and Carolina by a combined total of nine goals. For the above reasons, wager on Sabres ML.
Utah Mammoth vs. Anaheim Ducks
It’s a bad sign to see Utah fans clamoring for the dismissal of their head coach. The Mammoth are enduring a four-game losing streak during which they most recently suffered a shutout loss to St. Louis with its second-to-last-ranked defense and a three-goal loss to San Jose. One can hardly expect them to turn things around against an Anaheim team that has really been figuring things out offensively. Thanks to their play during the last two weeks, they now rank fourth in goal-scoring. When these two teams last played, Anaheim hadn’t figured things out offensively and Utah was playing much better than it currently is. Nevertheless, the Ducks won in overtime. Logically speaking, one has to expect a stronger Ducks win tonight. So, wager on Ducks ML.
