Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Monday, December 22

Expert NHL picks & best bets for Blues vs. Lightning and Blue Jackets vs. Kings — strategy-backed previews, odds insights & parlay ideas to boost your wins today.

December 22, 2025

Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Monday, December 22

By:

Daniel Dobish

December 22, 2025

NHL Picks

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NHL Best Bets & Picks: Blues vs Lightning and Blue Jackets vs Kings – Expert Game Previews

The National Hockey League (NHL) has just four games on the slate on Monday, but there are a handful of interesting matchups. The Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia Flyers drop the puck at 7:30 p.m. EST, and that game can be viewed or streamed on NHL Network.

We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Week 16 NFL Monday Night Football, NBA and/or NCAA 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.

St. Louis Blues at Tampa Bay Lightning

The Blues (14-15-8) and Lightning (19-13-3) meet at Amalie Arena in Tampa at 7 p.m. EST, and the game can be viewed on ESPN+.

St. Louis won 6-2 on Saturday in the first half of the Sunshine State two-stop trip, cashing as moderate underdogs (+155) as the Blues took care of the Over (5.5) on their own. In fact, the six goals scored marked a season high.

The Blues quieted the crowd with a Jake Neighbours score midway through the first period, while Jonatan Berggren notched a power-play goal early in the second period to make it 2-0. However, A.J. Greer and Sam Reinhart (PPG) notched two goals to level the game 2-2, and bettors had a feeling that, OK, things are back on track for the two-time defending champs.

However, like we've seen most of the season, Florida is like Five Finger Death Punch lately, and something is just a little bit off. Justin Faulk netted a killer goal at 19:59 of the second period, restoring the lead to 3-2.

In the third, it was all Blues, as Neighbours had his second goal, and Robert Thomas had an even-strength insurance marker, and an empty-netter, and the rout was on. It was more than enough support for Joel Hofer, who stopped 27 of 29 shots. He has been a steady presence in between the pipes, more so than Jordan Binnington at this point.

Binnington (7-7-6, 3.41 GAA, .873 save percentage) continues to get a chance to work things out, and he was decent last time out with 29 saves on 31 shots in a 2-1 overtime loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday. He is confirmed to get the start against the Lightning. The Over is 3-1 in the past four games with Binnington.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (12-7-2, 2.38 GAA, .911 save percentage, 1 SO) is expected to be in the blue ice. It's been a slow go in his two starts back from an injury. He was 6-1-0 with a 1.35 GAA and .953 SV% before he went down to injury, so Tampa Bay is hoping he can get it back soon.

The move is going with the puckline as a favorite, and we'll go high on the total based on Binner's struggles and the mediocre play of Vasilevskiy since returning from injury. The Over is 4-2 in the past six games for the Lightning, too.

Lightning -1.5 Goals (+110 at Bet365 and Fanatics Sportsbooks)
Over 5.5 Goals (-120 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbooks)

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Columbus Blue Jackets at Los Angeles Kings

The Blue Jackets (14-15-6) and Kings (15-10-9) square off at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, with a puck drop at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

These teams split the season series in 2024-25, with the Kings winning at home on Nov. 9, 2024, by a 5-2 score. The Kings have won the past four at home against the Blue Jackets since April 16, 2022, outscoring Columbus 16-5, while the Under has cashed at a 3-1 clip in those games.

Columbus kicked off a quick two-game pre-holiday break trip to Southern California with a 4-3 loss in Anaheim, and it is limping to the holiday hiatus with a 1-6-1 mark in the past eight games, while the Over has cashed in four in a row. The Jackets have averaged 3.0 goals per game (GPG) in the past three games, while allowing 4.0 GPG. They've allowed 46 goals in the past 11 games, or 4.2 GPG, as neither Jet Greaves nor Elvis Merzlikins has offered much relief in the cage.

The Kings scratched out a 2-1 win in Tampa last time out on Thursday, snapping a 0-2-2 slide. The Under has cashed in five in a row, while going 10-3 in the past 13 outings.

Anton Forsberg has been strong in between the pipes lately, and he is 5-4-3 with a 2.69 GAA and .900 save percentage with 1 SO so far. He'll likely be opposed by Greaves (8-9-5, 2.77 GAA, .903 save percentage), who is 1-5-0 in five starts and six appearances in December, which sounds terrible, but he has a solid 2.65 GAA, which is better than his overall season mark, and he has a .912 SV% in the month, too.

The Jackets are struggling to score goals, and that isn't likely to change against the red-hot Forsberg. We'll back the Kings laying the goal and a half, while taking the Under based on the latest trends.