Free NHL Hockey Picks

Welcome to Play By Play's free NHL picks page where we will provide you with our best inside information betting on tonight's NHL hockey predictions.

Handicapping the NHL might seem like a daunting task. With teams playing 82 games per regular season before the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it can be difficult to figure out which teams are hitting hot streaks or cold streaks at just the right time. However, there are a few tips you can follow when it comes to making NHL predictions ... a few trends that work over and over in hockey. Picking NHL games should be a little easier by following these tips.

Keep in mind that handicapping the NHL means usually relying on understanding the moneyline for hockey wagering. Some bookmakers will offer a puckline, which is similar to a point spread in a football game. Just be sure you understand how your bookmaker will handle NHL games that end in shootouts.

In baseball wagering, it pays to know the starting pitchers for both teams because they play such a big role in determining the outcome of a game. In making winning NHL picks, you need to know the goalies for both teams for the same reason. If a backup goalie is starting for one team, that could affect how you'll be picking NHL games. Also, keep tabs on a goalie's history; some goalies get hot for several games in a row, while others may only be able to ride a hot streak for two or three games.

Be choosy with your NHL hockey predictions and wagering. Most nights, you'll have several games to choose from, but you don't have to wager on every NHL game on the board. Pick and choose the best NHL wagers and only play those games.

Because NHL teams can play several games in a limited number of days and can go on long road trips, it pays to know the travel schedule before making NHL predictions. A team in the middle of a 7-game, 11-day road trip might not be as sharp as the home team, for example.

Most NHL experts will tell you that playing winning hockey follows the same principles as other sports: Great defense wins games. When picking NHL selections always consider which team is more physical defensively, especially in very important regular-season games.

Betting pays handsomely well in Football and Basketball and so it does in Hockey. Placing a wise bet does not need to understand the rules of the game to the letter but ample knowledge on how to place bets is good enough to give you some cash as you enjoy thrilling action of crashing rivals. Just like other games featured in many National Leagues, Hockey also enjoys the same feature which makes it a highly competitive betting sport.

National Hockey League (NHL) enjoys enormous fan-count that makes hockey betting interesting and rewarding.

Responding well to the high waging demand, the game offers a good number of betting avenues to its fans. Outlined below are some of the betting ideas that hockey bettors can use:Winning Team Basis - You can place your bet in favor of a team that you find likely to win the game.

In essence, betting for a stronger team beating a weaker team attracts a smaller gain but betting otherwise rewards handsomely which happens quite often.Number of Goals Scored per game - You can also predict the number of goals that are likely to be scored in a given match.

By the fact that a hockey match rarely gets a basketful of goals as is the case with Basketball, making a prediction becomes easy and attracts many bettors who eventually spice the deal.Goals Scored in day - Sometimes betting against your favorite team becomes hard as many fans feel as if they are betraying their beloved teams.

In such a case, goals scored per day acts as a good option for the die-hard fans of a given team.Player rating betting - Player rating also acts as a good betting avenue in the Hockey League. Ideally, the likes of Sidney Crosby, Henrik Lundqvist, Zdeno Chara, Steven Stamkos and other top-notch Fantasy Hockey players will never fail to appear among the highly rated players. You only need to select your favorite player and hope that he won't disappoint you in the end.