Sandwiched between two busy nights of hockey, we have a fairly light slate tonight with three games on the docket. Here are my recommendations among Wednesday's limited options.
SLATE PREVIEW
The Avalanche are regarded as the overwhelming favorites (minus-480) over Vancouver (plus-360) based on FanDuel's moneyline. Los Angeles (minus-154) is also favored over St. Louis (plus-128), while Anaheim (minus-113) versus San Jose (minus-106) is roughly even.
GOALIES
Mackenzie Blackwood, COL vs. VAN ($8,100): As noted above, Blackwood is a heavy favorite to pick up the win against the 21-44-8 Canucks, so long as he gets the start. The 29-year-old netminder has a 21-9-1 record, 2.42 GAA and .905 save percentage in 33 appearances in 2025-26. Vancouver ranks 32nd in goals per game with 2.49 this season.
Joel Hofer, STL at LAK ($7,500): The Blues might be seen as the underdogs, but the Kings have struggled with a 6-9-5 record over their past 20 games, while St. Louis has won 10 of its last 14 matches. Hofer has also been very effective recently, posting a 7-1-2 record, 1.66 GAA and .943 save percentage over his past 10 appearances. So the FanDuel moneyline might be overstating the Kings' chances.
VALUE PLAYS
Chris Kreider, ANA at SJS ($5,000): Kreider has been a steady offensive force recently, collecting two goals and 14 points across his past 14 outings. That gives him 22 goals and 47 points in 68 appearances in 2025-26.
Jake Neighbours, STL at LAK ($4,400): Neighbours is coming off back-to-back multipoint games (four assists), so he might be in the early stages of a hot streak. He's up to 14 goals and 30 points in 60 appearances this season.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Avalanche vs. Canucks
Nathan MacKinnon (C - $8,300), Martin Necas (W - $7,500), Artturi Lehkonen (W - $5,600)
MacKinnon is clearly one of the best forwards in the league with 49 goals and 120 points in 72 outings this campaign. He's on course to finish the season on a high note after supplying six goals and 16 points over his last 10 outings. He's easily the highlight of this line, but Necas is a star in his own right. He has four goals and 11 points over his past six outings, bringing him up to 35 goals and 92 points in 70 appearances in 2025-26.
Lehkonen is a solid forward to round out this unit. He has 20 goals and 45 points in 62 outings this campaign.
Vancouver ranks 32nd in goals allowed per game with 3.77 this campaign, so this is also a good night to select Avalanche forwards in general.
DEFENSEMEN
John Carlson, ANA at SJS ($6,600): Carlson is on a four-game scoring streak in which he's contributed a goal and eight points. He has 11 goals and 55 points in 63 outings between Washington and Anaheim this campaign, which is his highest offensive output since the 2021-22 regular season (71 points).
Philip Broberg, STL at LAK ($4,500): Broberg has recorded a point in each of his past five games, giving him two goals and three assists over that stretch. He's been somewhat streaky offensively this campaign, but he's a solid value option when he's hot.
