Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Thursday, March 12

Expert NHL picks for March 12: Best bets, odds & team previews for Predators vs Canucks & Penguins vs Golden Knights. Win big with smart betting insights!

March 12, 2026

Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Thursday, March 12

By:

Daniel Dobish

March 12, 2026

NHL Picks

NHL Best Bets & Picks: Predators vs Canucks & Penguins vs Golden Knights – Expert Game Previews

The National Hockey League (NHL) has a total of 14 games on the schedule for Thursday night, with the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars tangling at American Airlines Center at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and Hulu.

We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Thursday's 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.

Nashville Predators at Vancouver Canucks

The Predators (29-27-8) meet the Canucks (18-37-8) at Rogers Place in Vancouver, British Columbia for the third meeting this season.

Nashville is making its third stop on a five-game road trip. The Predators have played well so far on the sojourn, falling 3-2 to the first-place Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, while doubling up the Seattle Kraken 4-2 at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday as slight underdogs (-105) as the total (6) pushed at most sportsbooks.

The Predators are in the hunt for the playoffs, sitting a point back of the Kraken for the final wild-card spot, which is why Tuesday's win was so crucial. There are four teams with 66 or 67 points in a logjam for that final playoff spot.

Juuse Saros (23-19-6, 3.16 GAA, .893 SV%) has allowed three or fewer goals in five consecutive starts, and he is a respectable 2-2-0 with a 2.80 GAA and .910 SV% in four March starts, picking up the pace a bit.

Saros did allow five goals on 36 shots in a 5-4 overtime loss to Vancouver way back on Nov. 3, but he was beaten by Thatcher Demko, who is long gone after another lower-body injury ended his season prematurely. Saros also stopped 21 of 22 shots in a 2-1 win in the Music City on Oct. 23 against the Canucks.

The Canucks' goaltender for Thursday is Nikita Tolopilo (4-5-2, 3.24 GAA, .899 SV%), so the goaltending scales are heavily tipped in favor of the visitors.

Vancouver was blanked 2-0 by the visiting Ottawa Senators on Monday, and the Canucks have recorded two or fewer goals scored in 11 of the past 13 games. The Canucks are only 1-6-3 in the past 10 matchups, while going 3-18-5 in the previous 26 games, picking up just 11 out of a possible 52 points. That's a big reason the Canucks are stuck in the basement of the NHL with just 46 points and a league-worst minus-73 goal differential.

Let's go rather aggressively on the Predators straight up, but we'll also go with the Under based on the Canucks' offensive struggles lately.

Predators ML (-160 at BetMGM, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)
Under 6.5 (-130 at DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbooks)

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Pittsburgh Penguins at Vegas Golden Knights

The Penguins (32-17-15) and Golden Knights (29-22-14) meet at T-Mobile Arena at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+, and Vegas will have revenge on its mind.

These teams just met on March 1 in Pittsburgh, with the Penguins embarrassing the Golden Knights 5-0 behind 22 saves from Arturs Silovs in a shutout. The Under (6.5) cashed in that one, and it is now 5-0 in the past five meetings in this series.

Silovs (14-8-8, 2.84 GAA, .897 SV%, 2 SO) will go for the visiting Penguins, with Adin Hill (6-6-3, 3.31 GAA, .859 SV%) confirmed for the home side.

Pittsburgh makes its second stop on a five-game road trip which, with a scheduling quirk, starts and ends in Raleigh against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Penguins lost 5-4 in a shootout Tuesday night to kick off the run. The Over has cashed in three consecutive matchups, but the Under is 5-3 in the Penguins' past eight games.

Vegas has had trouble lighting the lamp lately, going for just five total goals in the past three games (1.67 GPG), while the Under is 2-0-1 in that span, and the Golden Knights have managed 13 goals in the past seven outings. The Under is 5-1-1 in that span, including the shutout in Pittsburgh.

With the Golden Knights going 1-6-0 in the past seven games, the Penguins are worth a look as a moderate underdog, while going low on the total based on the the Golden Knights' struggles on offense lately.