Free NHL Betting Picks For Tuesday, January 31 (17-10 YTD)


The NHL resumes tonight after a 4-day all-star break, and we’re also back with our free NHL betting picks for tonight.

There is a full slate of FOURTEEN games on the schedule tonight. We’ve narrowed things down to 3 bets we like the most.

Tonight’s NHL Lines

NHL betting odds tonight Jan 31

(For up to the minute odds, visit our Live NHL Odds page)

NHL Betting Picks For Tonight

1. Bruins First Period Moneyline -109 (Pinnacle)

There have recently been plenty of calls for Claude Julien’s head in Boston, but the funny thing is that the team is actually playing pretty well. They’ve outshot each of their last 10 opponents, 7 of them by 8 shots or more. Their defensive play is a bit of an issue, but that’s more an indictment of Rask than it is of the head coach. Regardless, Boston skates into Tampa with a 13-9-6 road record and some good first period stats on the season. They’ve also outscored the opposition 11-5 in first periods over their past 5 games. The Lightning has had problems with slow starts all year at home (getting outscored in the first period by an average of 1.05-0.5) and Tampa could find itself behind the 8-ball early once again tonight.

Bet this game at Pinnacle

2. Blackhawks +135 (5Dimes)

The Blackhawks are a pretty funny team when it comes to betting. They’re not very good in traditional bounceback spots (case in point, losing to the Jets at home on Thursday, 2 days after losing to the Lightning at home) but as soon as you count them out, they remind you why they’re a perennial Cup contender. We think we’ve got that situation again tonight as they go up against a Sharks team that everyone loves to bet on at home. There’s tons of value on what should be a hungry Chicago team tonight, and while San Jose lost its last game before the all-star break, we don’t think it ruined their time off as much as the Blackhawks were bothered by their recent struggles. We give each team a 50/50 shot here, so the +135 price on Chicago makes this worth taking a shot.

Bet this game at 5Dimes

3. Wild/Oilers Under 5 +130 (Sports Interaction)

Betting the Oilers Under at home has been a cash cow this season (18-5 Under) and there’s really no reason to stop now, especially with +130 return on the Under 5. We’d rather have a 5.5 to work with (you can find it for around -145 odds if you shop around) but there’s a pretty good chance one of these teams gets limited to 1 goal or less tonight, and it’s possible that neither of them get to 3. Minnesota has been held to 2 goals or less in regulation time in two of its last 3 outings, while the Oilers have been limited to 14 regulation time goals in their last 6 games at home. Edmonton is also playing some pretty solid defence of late, allowing 9 regulation time goals in its last 5 home games. Minny can score, but we don’t see this being a shootout – and if it goes to a shootout, the likely worst-case scenario is a push on the Under 5.

Bet this game at Sports Interaction