Ice picks: Today's best NHL bets

Toronto Maple Leafs at Chicago Blackhawks (-194, 6)

The Blackhawks are still without their big offseason acquisition Marion Hossa and they just lost their centre Bolland to a back injury. But these young Hawks still have plenty of offensive weapons to get the job done.

With a core group of talents like Toews, Kane, Sharp, Campbell and Versteeg, you can bet that water bottles will be flying come Friday night versus the slow-moving Maple Leafs.

Jonas Gustavsson may be the future net minder that Toronto has been waiting on but not even the Monster will be able to contain an offense like Chicago.

Luke Schenn, the sophomore defenseman has lost his physical edge and fellow blueliner Mike Komisarek will be sidelined for up to three weeks with a small tear in his quadriceps.

The Blackhawks are an impressive 8-2-1 at home while the Leafs have struggled on the road with a 2-3-3 record.

Expect the blue and white to see a lot of red as they get lit up in this Original Six matchup.

Pick: Chicago -1.5


Los Angeles Kings at Atlanta Thrashers

Anze Kopitar and Ryan Smyth have brought back a flare that L.A. fans haven't seen since the days of Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille.

The pair has combined for a total of 55 points with Kopitar leading the NHL in both goals and assists at 19 and 14 - seven points ahead of Washington superstar Alexander Ovechkin.

Smyth, the savy veteran, seems to have finally found his stride after being bounced around with a number of teams since his days in Edmonton.

Atlanta's high-scoring forward Ilja Kovalchuk is still nursing a broken foot and practiced for the first time in three weeks Tuesday. Even if Kovalchuk is cleared to play Friday, don't expect him to be 100 percent.

"There is just a little soreness after two hard days of practice", Thrashers head coach John Anderson told reporters. "It takes a lot out of you...When you feel good walking around, sometimes you don't feel so good after you've worked out pretty hard."

This spells trouble for the Thrashers, who are 1-4 in their last five home games.

Pick: Over