Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Friday, March 20

Expert NHL betting picks & best bets today: get sharp insights for Avalanche vs Blackhawks & Ducks vs Mammoth to power your winning plays.

March 20, 2026

Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Friday, March 20

By:

Daniel Dobish

March 20, 2026

NHL Picks

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NHL Best Bets & Picks: Avalanche vs Blackhawks & Ducks vs Mammoth – Expert Game Previews

The National Hockey League (NHL) has five games on the slate for Friday night, with three puck drops at 8:30 p.m. ET or later. We'll focus on two of those games, including the Anaheim Ducks and Utah Mammoth at 10:00 p.m. ET. At the beginning of the season, who would have thought that might be the best game of the day at any point?

We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Friday's NBA and/or NCAA Tournament college basketball action. Good luck with all of your plays! Let's get started.

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For the latest NHL Odds, including NHL Futures and NHL player props, visit RotoWire's NHL Betting page. For up-to-date NHL player news and NHL Injury Report info, head to RotoWire's NHL Lineups page. You can find more picks at Bookies.com/picks. Here are our NHL Best Bets today, featuring expert NHL picks for an action-packed slate of games.

Colorado Avalanche at Chicago Blackhawks

The Avalanche (44-13-10) and the Blackhawks (26-30-12) meet at 8:30 p.m. ET at United Center, as Colorado looks to maintain its mastery in this series.

Colorado has won four straight low-scoring meetings with Chicago, outscoring the Blackhawks 10-3 in that span, including a 3-1 win as heavy favorites (-335) at Ball Arena on Feb. 28 in the most recent meeting. The Under also hit in a 1-0 victory in Chicago on Nov. 23 as heavy favorites (-225). Cale Makar scored the only goal of the game at 18:21 of the second period, while Scott Wedgewood stopped all 22 shots he faced.

The Avalanche are skidding a bit right now, at least by their standards, going 0-2-1 in the past three games, and 1-3-1 in the past five matchups. That includes a 7-2 loss at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, and a 2-1 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars at Ball Arena on Wednesday, as the Stars creep closer in the tightening Central Division.

The Avalanche still sit atop the division with 98 points, but the Stars have 96 points. However, Colorado does have a game in hand.

The Blackhawks topped the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in St. Paul on Thursday as moderate underdogs (+150) as the Under (6) cashed, and Chicago is a respectable 4-2-3 in the past nine matchups, with the Under going 4-1 in the past five games, and 9-3 in the past 12 contests.

Mackenzie Blackwood (18-8-1, 2.48 GAA, .904 SV%, 3 SO) is confirmed to start for Colorado, while Arvid Soderblom (6-10-3, 3.70 GAA, .875 SV%, 1 SO) is likely to go for Chicago.

While Colorado has dominated this series, we can't take Colorado straight up at nearly three times your potential return. Let's take Chicago on the puck line at home and hope for a close game, or even overtime or a shootout. Additionally, based on the trends for Chicago lately, and in this series, let's go low.

Blackhawks +1.5 (+110 at Caesars, DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)
Under 6.5 (-120 at Bet365, Caesars, DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbooks)

Don't make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps without first consulting the latest NHL odds.

Anaheim Ducks at Utah Mammoth

The Ducks (37-27-4) and Mammoth (36-27-6) meet at Delta Center in Salt Lake City at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+, and this could be a playoff series preview.

The Mammoth hope it goes like the most recent meeting when Utah routed Anaheim 7-0 at Honda Center on Dec. 3. The Ducks won the first meeting 3-2 in overtime, also in Anaheim, on Nov. 17.

In that 7-0 win, Utah had six different goal scorers, with only JJ Peterka getting onto the scoresheet twice. Karel Vejmelka stopped 27 shots in the shutout victory. Ville Husso stopped 17 of 21 shots after two periods, and Vyacheslav Buteyets had 10 saves on 13 shots in a period of relief.

Utah is coming off a 4-0 road win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, as Vejmelka got his mojo back a bit after a tough stretch. The Mammoth have won back-to-back games after an 0-2-2 slide, and the Under is 4-2 in the past six games, and 7-3 in the past 10 contests.

Anaheim suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday as moderate favorites (-150) as the Under (6.5) cashed. The Ducks are just 1-2-1 in the past four games, and the Under is 2-0-1 in the past three matchups, and 7-2-1 across the past 10 contests.

Let's back the Mammoth to get the job done at home, as they're playing with renewed confidence, especially after shutting out the Golden Knights. Based on the trends for both sides lately, let's go low on the total.