{"id":548993,"date":"2026-04-09T21:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T21:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/548993\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T21:00:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T21:00:26","slug":"nhl-picks-best-bets-today-wild-vs-stars-sharks-vs-ducks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/548993\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Picks & Best Bets Today: Wild vs Stars, Sharks vs Ducks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Get picks and parlays for Thursday’s NHL slate, including Wild vs Stars, Sharks vs Ducks and Predators vs Mammoth. Get moneyline picks, totals and more.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Expert
\n\t\tNHL Best Bets & Picks: Wild vs Stars, Sharks vs Ducks & More \u2013 Expert Game Previews<\/p>\n

The National Hockey League (NHL<\/a>) has a total of 14 games on the schedule Thursday ahead of a rare day off for all teams Friday. The Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders meet at 6:45 p.m. ET on Hulu\/Disney+\/ESPN+, while the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars drop the puck at 9:00 p.m. ET, also available on Hulu.<\/p>\n

We’ll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Thursday’s MLB and\/or NBA action. Good luck with all of your plays! Let’s get started.<\/p>\n

Top up your bankroll thanks to sportsbook promos<\/a> like this BetMGM bonus code<\/a> offering $1,500 in bonus bets.<\/p>\n

For the latest\u00a0NHL Odds<\/a>, including\u00a0NHL Futures<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0NHL player props<\/a>, visit RotoWire’s\u00a0NHL Betting<\/a>\u00a0page. For up-to-date\u00a0NHL player news<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0NHL Injury Report<\/a>\u00a0info, head to RotoWire’s\u00a0NHL Lineups<\/a>\u00a0page. You can find more picks at Bookies.com\/picks<\/a>. Here are our NHL Best Bets today, featuring expert NHL picks for an action-packed slate of games.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Wild \"MIN\"\/ at Dallas Stars \"DAL\"\/<\/p>\n

The Wild (45-21-12) and Stars (46-20-12) meet at American Airlines Center in Dallas at 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and Hulu.<\/p>\n

Minnesota enters play with 102 points, just two points back of Dallas for second in the Central Division. Finishing in second earns home-ice advantage for the first-round series between these two teams, as neither can catch the Colorado Avalanche (112 points).<\/p>\n

The Wild are 23-11-4 on the road this season, while the Stars are 24-11-4 at home. Both teams are impressive in goal differential as well, with Dallas at plus-48 on the season, and Minnesota sitting with a plus-36 mark. Those are the second- and third-best marks in the Western Conference behind the Avalanche (plus-93).<\/p>\n

Minnesota leads the season series 2-1, with the home team winning all three meetings, and five consecutive matchups in this series. The underdog is 4-2 in the past six games in the series. The Over is 2-1 in three meetings this season, but the Under cashed in a 2-1 overtime win by Minnesota in St. Paul on March 21, and the Under is 5-2 in the past seven installments.<\/p>\n

With so much on the line, we’ll definitely go low on the total here. Let’s also stick with the home team trend.<\/p>\n

Stars ML (-125 at Bet365, Caesars, DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)Under 6.5 Goals (-130 at Fanatics Sportsbook)<\/p>\n

Don’t make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps<\/a> without first consulting the latest NHL odds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nashville Predators \"NSH\"\/ at Utah Mammoth \"UTA\"\/<\/p>\n

The Predators (37-31-10) and Mammoth (41-30-6) meet at Delta Center in Salt Lake City at 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.<\/p>\n

These two teams currently occupy the two wild-card spots in the Western Conference, with the Mammoth totaling 88 points, four points clear of the Predators. Nashville has played 78 games, and it has one more point than than the Los Angeles Kings, who have a game in hand. The San Jose Sharks are also in the mix with 81 points through 77 games, and the Winnipeg Jets have 80 points, also through 77 games. Nothing is quite determined yet, but a victory in Salt Lake City would be giant for the Predators.<\/p>\n

The Predators have managed a 17-16-7 record on the road, while the Mammoth have a 20-14-3 record at home. Utah has won four in a row and has a plus-31 goal differential, fourth-best in the Western Conference. Utah is playing good hockey down the stretch and building momentum toward the postseason.<\/p>\n

Juuse Saros<\/a> (28-20-8, 3.11 GAA, .894 SV%) will start for the Predators, while Karel Vejmelka<\/a> (36-18-3, 2.76 GAA, .895 SV%, 2 SO) will get the nod in the other crease. Vejmelka was pounded for five goals on 26 shots despite a 6-5 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. His play lately has been a bit erratic.<\/p>\n

Utah’s offense is strong, but the defense and goaltending, especially with Vejmelka, have been a bit shaky. Let’s side with Nashville lightly, while going Under.<\/p>\n

Predators ML (+140 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars and Fanatics Sportsbooks)Under 6.5 Goals (-130 at DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)San Jose Sharks \"SJS\"\/ at Anaheim Ducks \"ANA\"\/<\/p>\n

The Sharks (37-33-7) and Ducks (41-32-5) meet at Honda Center in Anaheim at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.<\/p>\n

All three games this season, and four consecutive matchups in the series, have been decided by a single goal. That includes a 4-3 win by the Sharks in San Jose on April 1, and 5-4 in Anaheim on Dec. 29 as a moderate underdog (+140). The Over has cashed in four straight meetings in this series.<\/p>\n

The Ducks were sitting atop the Pacific Division as recently as last week, but they’ve tumbled down the standings due to a six-game losing streak (0-5-1). The defense and goaltending for Anaheim have struggled recently, allowing four or more goals in each of the losses, giving up an average of 4.8 goals per game (GPG). The Over is 4-1 in the past five games as well. Based on that, and the recent Over results in the series, go high, and go rather aggressive on the total.<\/p>\n

Let’s also side with the Sharks on the puck line, if you’re a bit conservative. The past four meetings have been decided by a single goal. If you’re a bit more aggressive, take San Jose straight up.<\/p>\n

Sharks +1.5 Goals (-160 at Caesars Sportsbook)Over 6.5 Goals (-122 at FanDuel Sportsbook)<\/p>\n

Missouri sports betting<\/a>\u00a0is live, and you can check in on the best\u00a0Missouri sportsbook promos<\/a>\u00a0if you’re located in the Show Me State.<\/p>\n

Parlay Strategy and Super Parlay Picks for NHL Betting Slates6-Leg NHL Super Parlay (+4012 at FanDuel Sportsbook)Predators ML (+142) at MammothUnder 6.5 (-130) – Predators at MammothUnder 5.5 (+114) – Stars vs. WildStars ML (-122) vs. WildSharks +1.5 Goals (-176) at DucksOver 6.5 (-122) – Sharks at Ducks3-Leg Sides Parlay (+590 at DraftKings Sportsbook)Predators ML (+142) at MammothStars ML (-122) vs. WildSharks +1.5 Goals (-176) at Ducks3-Leg Totals Parlay (+588 at DraftKings Sportsbook)Under 6.5 (-130) – Predators at MammothUnder 5.5 (+114) – Stars vs. WildOver 6.5 (-122) – Sharks at Ducks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get picks and parlays for Thursday’s NHL slate, including Wild vs Stars, Sharks vs Ducks and Predators vs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[2210,233,5292,1739,5,55615,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-548993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim-ducks","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-ducks","10":"tag-anaheimducks","11":"tag-ducks","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-minor-league-stats","14":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116376767404187401","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}