NHL Best Bets for January 31: Totals Worth Targeting on Short NHL Card
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Eric Kelly
- January 31, 2025
Top NHL Pick: Predators-Sabres Over 6.5 (+100) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
We have just four NHL games on our NHL betting card tonight and we are looking to target some totals for tonight’s matchups.
Firstly we expect goals (and lots of them) in the Nashville and Buffalo matchup, while Dallas and Vancouver go head-to-head in what could be a low-scoring game.
Nashville Predators vs. Buffalo Sabres
Friday, January 31, 2025 – 07:00 PM ET at KeyBank Center
Sabres to Rinse and Repeat
It’s back for seconds when looking at the total to go over in this NHL matchup with the Buffalo Sabres involved. The Sabres come into this game off the back of a 9-goal game in a 7-2 victory over the Boston Bruins at the time of writing.
On top of this 9-goal thriller, the Sabres have seen the total go over 6.5 in 90% of their previous 10 home games, with an average of 7.7 goals per game (the highest in the NHL right now over the previous 10 games on home ice).
Tonight’s traveling team, Nashville, has seen 60% of their previous 10 road games go over 6.5 goals and seen an average of 6.4 goals in those matchups.
Taking a look at recent head-to-heads, only 5 of their last 10 games have gone over 5.5 goals but four of those five occurred in the previous five matchups.
Predators/Sabres Trends & Facts
- The total has gone over in 4 of Nashville’s last 5 games.
- The total has gone over in 6 of Buffalo’s last 7 games at home.
- The total has gone over in 4 of Buffalo’s last 5 games against an opponent in the Central Division.
The Pick
Both these teams rank towards the bottom half of the league when it comes to goals allowed per game, with the Sabres allowing the 4th most overall this season and the Predators allowing the 8th most.
Offensively the Sabres are much stronger than Nashville and right now seem red hot, so take the over 6.5 goals line in this game for some nice money at +100 NHL odds, we would happily bet this down to as low as -110/-115.
NHL Pick: Over 6.5 (+100) at BetOnline
Vancouver Canucks vs. Dallas Stars
Friday, January 31, 2025 – 08:00 PM ET at American Airlines Center
Dallas Don’t Do Overs
With an overall record to the under sitting at 29-15-6, the Dallas Stars have seen the 4th most games go under the total in the NHL this season. On top of this, they boast the 3rd best defense with just 2.45 goals allowed per game.
Although their opponents tonight Vancouver are an overs team, they do have a positive unders record when playing on the road, having seen them go 13-11-1 to the unders when away from home.
Results between these two teams have been very sporadic in recent meetings, with 6 of the last 10 games at American Airlines Center going under 5.5 goals, the remaining four games seeing 7/9/7 and 6 goals scored respectively. Dallas has seen 7 goals in their previous home games, so we should see them look to tighten things up tonight.
Canucks/Stars Trends & Facts
- The total has gone under in 4 of Dallas’ last 5 games at home.
- The total has gone under in 13 of Dallas’ last 19 games against an opponent in the Pacific Division.
- The total has gone under in 4 of Vancouver’s last 6 games.
The Pick
The under seems very likely to hit in this game and we love the -125 odds for a possible push when looking at the 6.0 total line. We wouldn’t put anyone off taking a look at the under 5.5 line either at odds of +100, but we do like the push here as Vancouver games can be prone to randomly getting into a high number of goals, and like we stated some of the previous games between these teams have had a high number of goals.
That said, the stats speak for themselves on this occasion and you would be a brave punter to get involved with a team to go over the total having seen 13 of their previous 19 games against opponents in the Pacific division go under the total.
NHL Pick: Under 6.0 (-125) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
