NHL Betting News and Notes Saturday, November 4th, 2017

NHL Knowledge

Las Vegas lost its last three games 6-3/6-4/2-1; they’re 8-4 in their first NHL season, 2-3 on the road. Over is 7-3 in their last ten games. Ottawa is 3-5 in its last eight games, seven of which were at home- they’re 3-6 at home. Over is 5-2 in their last seven games.

Columbus won three of last four games with Tampa Bay; road team won 7 of last 10 games. Blue Jackets won three of last five visits to Tampa Bay. Columbus won four of last five games overall, three of last four on road. Over is 6-3 in their last nine games. Lightning won five of last seven games; under is 3-1 in their last four games. Tampa Bay lost its last two home games.

Flyers won five of last seven games with Colorado; over is 4-2 in last six series games. Colorado lost four of last five visits to Denver. Avalanche won three of last four games, but they were outscored 14-2 in losing their last three road games. Over is 5-0 in their last five games. Flyers lost four of last six games overall, three of last four at home. Over is 4-2 in their last six games.

Washington won its last nine games with the Bruins (under 6-2-1); they won their last four trips to Boston. Capitals are 3-5 in their last eight games, 2-3 in last five road games. Three of their last four games went over the total. Bruins are 0-4 this season in game following a win; they lost three of last four road games. Three of their last four games stayed under total.

Rangers won seven of last ten games with Florida (3-3 in last six); they won four of last five games in this building. Over is 6-3 in last nine series games. New York won three of last four games; they’re 1-3 on road. Over is 6-2 in their last eight games. Panthers lost seven of last nine games; they were outscored 18-10 in losing last three home games. Over is 8-2 in their last ten games.

Blues won six of last eight games with Toronto; under is 2-1-3 in last six series games. Leafs lost three of last four visits to St Louis. Toronto lost four of last five games overall, three of last four on road— over is 4-3-1 in last eight series games. Blues won four of last five games; they’re 5-1 at home. Three of their last four games stayed under the total.

Canadiens are 6-4 in last ten games with Winnipeg, 3-2 in last five visits here. Four of last five series games went over. Montreal is 3-2 in its last five games after a 1-7 start; over is 8-1 in their last nine games- they lost four of last five road games. Jets won their last three games, allowing four goals; they won four of last five home games, with last four going over the total.

Home side won eight of last ten Buffalo-Dallas games; Sabres lost their last five visits to Texas. Under is 7-3 in last ten series games. Buffalo is 4-6 in its last ten games, 3-2 in last five on road. Over is 5-2 in their last seven games. Dallas Stars are back from a 2-3 road trip; they won last three home games. Five of their last seven games went over the total.

Chicago won three of last four games with Minnesota; road team won four of last five meetings, with last four going over the total. Blackhawks lost five of last seven games; over is 3-0-1 in their last four road games. Chicago lost three of its last four road games. Minnesota won three of last four games, all at home; over is 6-3-1 in their last ten games.

Road team won eight of last ten Carolina-Arizona games; Hurricanes won their last five games in Arizona. Three of last four series games went over. Carolina lost five of last six games; they split last six road games. Five of their last six games went over. Arizona is 1-13 to start season, 0-6 at home; their last six games went over the total.

Penguins won eight of last ten games with Vancouver; they’re 4-1 in last five visits here. Under is 3-1-2 in last six series games. Pittsburgh lost three of last four games overall, four of last five on road. Under is 5-1 in their last six games. Canucks lost 2-1ot/2-0 in last two games; they’re 1-4 in last five home games. Four of their last five games stayed under the total.

Kings won five of their last six games with Nashville (under 3-1-1). Predators lost their last three games in Staples Center. Nashville lost four of last five games; under is 7-2 in their last nine games. Predators are 2-3 in their last five road games. Los Angeles won eight of last ten games, including last four at home. Four of their last six games stayed under the total.

Anaheim won six of last eight games with the Sharks, winning three of last four visits to San Jose. Under is 5-0-4 in last nine series games. Ducks won four of last six games, three of last four on road; over is 4-2 in their last six games. San Jose won six of its last eight games, four of last five at home. Under is 8-2 in their last ten games.

Armadillosports.com

NHL Picks and Betting Tips
By Parker Michaels
Bangthebook.com

MORNING LINE REPORT

We hit a nice solid winner on Edmonton last night as the game played out as expected with the Oilers controlling the play most of the night. Cam Talbot was excellent when called upon which is a good sign moving forward for them. I kicked myself pretty hard for adding the Ducks as a play. I’ve been on a pretty good heater for about a week where everything was hitting so I tried to sneak that one in but it just didn’t work out.

We have a huge 13-game card tonight starting with an afternoon matinee in Ottawa and we’re going to have a rooted interest to tide us over until the evening games. Lots of good info below so grab a coffee and settle in for hopefully an enjoyable read. Still a couple of lines not available yet so stay tuned to my social media later this morning as I am most likely going to be getting involved in at least one more play today.

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS @ OTTAWA SENATORS

Projected Goaltenders
Vegas – Maxime Lagace (confirmed)
Ottawa – Craig Anderson (confirmed)

Injury Report
Vegas – no significant injuries (other than goalies)
Ottawa – MacArthur (out), Ryan (out), Borowiecki (out)

The Vegas Golden Knights have dropped the first three games on their daunting six game, nine day road trip after Thursday’s 2-1 loss at Boston. The Knights played a good game in Boston and the players remained upbeat afterwards rather than letting frustration set in.

Vegas will have a slightly different look to their line combos for today’s matinee as Gallant moved Cody Eakin down to the third line between Oscar Lindberg and Alex Tuch. Erik Haula will take his spot between James Neal and David Perron. Brayden McNabb will remain in the lineup as well over Jon Merrill and that’s a good thing for the Knights blueline.

The Ottawa Senators will finally wrap up this long stretch of home games which has seen them play eight of their last nine at Canadian Tire Center before leaving for a five day trip to Stockholm, Sweden on Monday for a pair of games with the Colorado Avalanche as part of the NHL’s new Global Series.

This is a unique situational spot for the Sens as a loss here is not going to sit well before a long trip overseas and no game until next Friday.

Goaltender Craig Anderson will likely be fighting back emotion this afternoon as his wife Nicholle will be on the ice for the ceremonial faceoff as part of the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer. Nicholle overcame a rare form of throat cancer last year which saw Anderson miss a significant portion of the season to be with her. We’ve seen Anderson post big games in the past in emotional situations like this so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him shut down the Golden Knights attack today.

The Senators gave the Knights a lot of praise on Friday and said they won’t be taking the expansion club lightly. Boucher called Vegas the hardest working team in the league while Mark Stone said they won’t be surprised and want to get up on them early and “really pound them”.

Dion Phaneuf is expected to be in the lineup after missing Friday’s practice. Boucher says he’s dealing with a nagging problem that isn’t an injury. Mark Borowiecki will be out again as he recovers from a virus.

This line is a touch inflated on the Senators side but it’s nothing outrageous. We’ll likely see a bit of early Vegas money today but it’s nothing I want a part of. One of the many spreadsheets I keep is a team-by-team schedule where I keep results and is full of travel information for each team, game-by-game which was part of my preseason preparation. The majority of teams this year have at least one excruciating block of games where it should be a brutal stretch for them. Vegas is currently is theirs which will end when they finally return home late next week. I won’t be betting on teams when they are within their block of tough games even if there’s a bit of line value, so even though this line would suggest Vegas or nothing, it will most certainly be nothing. I think the under is the play to look at here which is a little scary in Vegas games but with the total at six I think we can get away with it. If you have team totals available I would like the Vegas team total under best of all.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS @ TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Projected Goaltenders
Columbus – Sergei Bobrovsky (likely)
Tampa Bay – Andrei Vasilevskiy (likely)

Injury Report
Columbus – Atkinson (out), Carlsson (doubtful)
Tampa Bay – no significant injuries

This should be a great game between two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and I think we’ll just enjoy watching this one as the line is where it should be, although I would be inclined to look at Columbus or nothing if having to choose for something like a Saturday pool as I know some of you are in. Both teams are off to fantastic starts but it seems like the Jackets are underperforming a bit while the Bolts are due for a bit of regression as their advanced metrics suggest they’re unlikely to continue winning at this rate.

It’s a big game for the Lightning, however, as they’ve lost two in a row on home ice and head out to the West Coast after this one so they’ll want to leave on a positive note.

Cam Atkinson isn’t traveling with the team as he deals with a lower body injury. Defenseman Gabriel Carlsson is likely ready to return as he’s been fully practicing with the team, although Tortorella said he’s not willing to split up the current six defensemen to get him back into the lineup which is unfortunate. The Jackets third-pair will be stronger once he gets back into the lineup.

I imagine we’ll see Bobrovsky versus Vasilevskiy in net although neither coach has confirmed his starters yet. Unless there’s some drastic line move here (there won’t be) let’s just move on to a better spot.

COLORADO AVALANCHE @ PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Projected Goaltenders
Colorado – Semyon Varlamov/Jonathan Bernier (unknown)
Philadelphia – Michal Neuvirth (confirmed)

Injury Report
Colorado – Jost (out), Compher (out), Wilson (out)
Philadelphia – MacDonald (out), Gostisbehere (questionable), Gudas (questionable), Patrick (questionable)

The Colorado Avalanche survived an onslaught by the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night as Semyon Varlamov made 57 saves to earn a 5-3 win. The Avs were outshot 60-27 overall and have allowed over 33 shots per game, the eighth worst mark in the league, but continue to get outstanding goaltending from Varlamov. The Avs open a back-to-back tonight before leaving for Sweden and Bednar hasn’t disclosed whether we’ll see Varly or Bernier tonight.

The Philadelphia Flyers return home to open a three game homestand after a very ugly, yet very impressive, 2-0 shutout win in St. Louis on Thursday night. Michal Neuvirth continued his early season dominance with 33 saves and now has a .941 save percentage. He’s beginning to wrestle the starter’s job away from Brian Elliott who has been inconsistent and has earned another start tonight.

The most important thing here will be the status of Shayne Gostisbehere, Radko Gudas and Nolan Patrick. All have skated this week and Hextall said all three could return to the lineup today so we’ll have to wait and see this morning.

There’s a bit of value on Colorado at the current line but I’m going to need to wait on this one for more info. We’ll need to confirm the Avs goaltender and the status of Ghost and Gudas are vital. I expect at least one to be back and if Bernier starts we definitely won’t have a play here. I’ll tweet out an update once we know more.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS @ BOSTON BRUINS

Projected Goaltenders
Washington – Braden Holtby (probable)
Boston – Tuukka Rask (confirmed)

Injury Report
Washington – Burakovsky (out), Niskanen (out), Connolly (questionable)
Boston – Krejci (out), Backes (out), Spooner (out), McQuaid (out), Marchand (questionable)

The Washington Capitals scored the first goal for the first time in eight games and never trailed in Thursday’s 4-3 home win over the Islanders. The Caps finally received some secondary scoring as the third and fourth lines contributed three of the goals which is half the total they had scored all season.

The Caps will try to win consecutive games tonight for the first time since the opening two games of the season. Brett Connolly has missed the past three games with what’s believed to be a concussion but is possible to return today.

The Boston Bruins grinded out a hard 2-1 win over Vegas on Thursday night as they continue to try and overcome the injury bug which has somewhat decimated their team this year.

The biggest thing to keep an eye on here is the status of Brad Marchand. He was absent from practice on Friday but Cassidy said it was just for maintenance and they wanted to give him a break since he’s logging so much ice time but it was also reported it was to deal with a lower-body injury.

David Krejci won’t play tonight but is hopeful to return Monday against Minnesota.

The Capitals have defeated the Bruins nine straight times and I think they’re likely to make it ten tonight. We don’t currently have enough line value to typically warrant a play (I usually want at least eight cents of value and it’s currently only three cents) but I’m going to take a gamble on Washington. Anything at plus money is okay. If you prefer to only play the games with the recommended edge then feel free to sit this one out.

NEW YORK RANGERS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS

Projected Goaltenders
NY Rangers – Henrik Lundqvist (confirmed)
Florida – James Reimer/Antti Niemi (unknown)

Injury Report
NY Rangers – no significant injuries
Florida – no significant injuries

The line looks right on this game so we won’t spend much time here. The New York Rangers have won back-to-back games for the first time this season after Thursday’s big 2-1 road win at Tampa Bay. The Rangers said they were extra focused knowing they were playing one of the most dangerous teams in the league. It will be interesting to see if they remain as focused here against a struggling Panthers team who have lost three in a row and given up 15 goals over the last two games.

Florida is expected to get some healthy bodies back as Boughner said Connor Brickley, Jared McCann and Colton Sceviour are all probable to play tonight after fully practicing on Friday. They will be a big help to their penalty killing unit which will allow Barkov and Trocheck to slide back to their regular usage.

Roberto Luongo practiced with the team again on Friday and is nearing a return which is good news as James Reimer has struggled to carry the load. Reimer has been pulled in his last two starts and Boughner said he was concerned about Reimer’s energy and hadn’t decided yet if he or Antti Niemi would start tonight.

If Niemi starts then we may have a play on the Rangers here but otherwise we’ll sit this one out and look for better spots.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS @ ST. LOUIS BLUES

Projected Goaltenders
Toronto – Frederik Andersen (confirmed)
St. Louis – Jake Allen/Carter Hutton (unknown)

Injury Report
Toronto – no significant injuries
St. Louis – Fabbri (out), Berglund (out), Bouwmeester (out)

The Toronto Maple Leafs wrap up a tough four game road trip tonight after dropping a 5-3 decision at Los Angeles on Thursday. I was encouraged by Babcock’s lineup moves in their victory over the Ducks but was disappointed to see him revert back to sitting Josh Leivo and re-inserting Roman Polak. The Leafs had plenty of energy despite being a back-to-back and largely outplayed the Kings but couldn’t stop turning the puck over which led to too many easy chances. Toronto sits second in the league with the most giveaways.

Frederik Andersen will be back in net tonight and despite splitting the first two games of this road trip, Andersen looked much sharper allowing just three goals on 67 shots.

The St. Louis Blues four game win streak was snapped after Thursday’s 2-0 loss to Philadelphia, a game that was arguably one of the Blues finer efforts this season despite the result. Carter Hutton is back with the team after becoming a new father. I was unable to confirm if he or Allen will start today.

There’s currently no line value here but the Leafs didn’t practice on Friday so we’ll have to wait and see what lineup Babcock goes with tonight. This is a difficult spot for Toronto to end the road trip and if Babcock doesn’t put out his best lineup it’s going to be a hard game to win.

MONTREAL CANADIENS @ WINNIPEG JETS

Projected Goaltenders
Montreal – Al Montoya (confirmed)
Winnipeg – Connor Hellebuyck (confirmed)

Injury Report
Montreal – Hemsky (out), Schlemko (out)
Winnipeg – Perreault (out), Lowry (questionable)

Montreal fans exhaled a collective gasp on Friday when it was announced Carey Price would miss today’s game with a lower-body injury. Julien said he doesn’t think it’s serious but with Price having a history of knee problems there will be major concern until he’s back on the ice. Al Montoya will start tonight and with the Canadiens playing again tomorrow in Chicago it could be a difficult weekend.

Julien will make another lineup change as Alex Galchenyuk is back on the top line, this time with Drouin and Lehkonen.
Connor Hellebuyck continue to win for the Jets as he improved his record to 7-0-1 after Thursday’s 5-2 win over Dallas. The Jets have been getting a better effort from their bottom six but it’s the top six who continue to do the heavy lifting. Adam Lowry is likely to return and center the third or fourth line tonight which will be a welcomed return.

The first period will be key here as Winnipeg has stormed out to early leads outscoring their opponents 20-9 in the opening 20 minutes while Montreal have been slow starters getting outscored 22-13. The Jets are as confident of a team as there is right now and if they can get to Montoya early it could be a long night for Montreal.

We’ve been on the Canadiens a few times recently but this line looks to be priced about right so we’ll likely wait for a better spot.

BUFFALO SABRES @ DALLAS STARS

Projected Goaltenders
Buffalo – Chad Johnson (probable)
Dallas – Kari Lehtonen (confirmed)

Injury Report
Buffalo – Josefson (out), Bogosian (out), Beaulieu (doubtful)
Dallas – Hanzal (out), Ritchie (out), Johns (out)

The Buffalo Sabres jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Arizona on Thursday night before having to hang on for dear life to secure a 5-4 victory. It’s a bit concerning to see a team struggling to secure points as much as the Sabres have suddenly take their foot off the gas and coast to a finish. Still, Buffalo has looked better lately with three wins in their last five games.

The Dallas Stars return home from a five game road trip with not much time to settle in after Thursday’s 5-2 setback at Winnipeg. The first game home after a long road trip is often difficult for teams but returning to Dallas from Canada with only one day off this is a particularly tough spot for the Stars.

It will be a battle of backups as Chad Johnson is expected to start for Buffalo with Kari Lehtonen confirmed for Dallas. The Stars will also be without the services of Martin Hanzal and Brett Ritchie once again.

This line opened at a pretty sky-high number of -201 and has come down overnight to currently sit at -185. It’s still too high with everything considered so we’re jumping on another ugly road dog here. I wish Lehner was in net but we’ll hope the Sabres recent good play continues in front of him.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS @ MINNESOTA WILD

Projected Goaltenders
Chicago – Corey Crawford (confirmed)
Minnesota – Devan Dubnyk (confirmed)

Injury Report
Chicago – Hossa (out), Forsling (out)
Minnesota – Parise (out), Coyle (out)

The Chicago Blackhawks ended a three game slide with an emphatic 3-0 shutout over Philadelphia on Wednesday behind Corey Crawford’s 35 saves.

The Minnesota Wild will conclude a six game homestand tonight in a game they are calling their most important of the season. The Wild have started to turn things around with wins in three of their last four after Thursday’s 6-3 victory over Montreal.

There’s a bit of value on the Hawks after an overnight move has bumped the Wild up from the open. I agree with the early move and think this is a much better spot for Minnesota so I’m choosing to not play the Hawks here. It’s the value side but I don’t feel as if they’re the smart side. I’ll tweet out an update if I decide to get involved here.

CAROLINA HURRICANES @ ARIZONA COYOTES

Projected Goaltenders
Carolina – Scott Darling (confirmed)
Arizona – Antti Raanta/Scott Wedgewood (unknown)

Injury Report
Carolina – Pesce (out), Stempniak (questionable)
Arizona – Chychrun (out), Hjalmarsson (out)

This game would have been playable on Carolina off the opener but an overnight move has the line close enough to where it should be so we won’t get involved here. That’s quite okay by me as it’s kind of an ugly spot for the Canes and I wasn’t excited about laying the road juice here. It’s not the best spot for Arizona either being their fourth game in six nights and with key defensemen out on both sides we’ll look for better spots than this one.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS @ VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Projected Goaltenders
Pittsburgh – Matt Murray (confirmed)
Vancouver – Jacob Markstrom/Anders Nilsson (unknown)

Injury Report
Pittsburgh – Schultz (out), Hunwick (questionable)
Vancouver – Eriksson (out), Edler (out), Stecher (out)

If you’re interested in Penguins vs. Canucks, reach out on Twitter and ask about this game, as I’m still looking over some things.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS @ LOS ANGELES KINGS

Projected Goaltenders
Nashville – Juuse Saros (probable)
Los Angeles – Jonathan Quick (likely)

Injury Report
Nashville – Ellis (out), Bonino (questionable)
Los Angeles – Gaborik (out), Carter (out), Clifford (out)

Nashville stormed out to an early lead in Anaheim last night then held on for a 5-3 win and now travel to LA for a tough road back-to-back. The Kings defeated the Leafs 5-3 on Thursday and now get the luxury of playing their second straight game against an opponent coming in on a road back-to-back.

We’ll wait for a line to pop up here but I’m not expecting to see any value here although I may look at the Kings as a parlay piece today, possibly with the Senators. I’ll update on Twitter, accordingly.

ANAHEIM DUCKS @ SAN JOSE SHARKS

Projected Goaltenders
Anaheim – Ryan Miller (probable)
San Jose – Martin Jones (likely)

Injury Report
Anaheim – Kesler (out), Eaves (out), Getzlaf (out), Fowler (out), Perry (probable), Bieksa (probable)
San Jose – Vlasic (out), Martin (doubtful)

The Anaheim Ducks came out completely flat last night and quickly fell behind 2-0 to Nashville. A stronger effort through the final 30 minutes nearly erased a three goal deficit but an empty-net goal by P.K. Subban sealed a 5-3 defeat.

It was a confusing effort to see the Ducks so unprepared especially considering the opponent, the team who eliminated them from last year’s playoffs. Ryan Miller is expected to get the start tonight on the back-to-back and this will also be the Ducks third game in four nights as they look to snap a two game losing skid.

Corey Perry took a slap shot to the arm early in the second period but was able to return. Kevin Bieksa was able to suit up and play last night and then took a puck in the mouth and had to leave for repairs. He also returned.

The San Jose Sharks have won three in a row and appear to have turned things around but may be without a very key piece tonight. Premier shutdown defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic sustained a concussion in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Nashville and won’t play tonight and may be lost for an extended period of time. DeBoer originally thought the injury wouldn’t be long-term but after a re-assessment on Friday he’s unsure how much time his star defender may miss.

Vlasic is one of the best shutdown defenders in the NHL (in my opinion, he is the best) and losing him for any amount of time will be a significant blow. San Jose might be okay in this spot tonight as the Ducks are also extremely banged up and on a back-to-back but Kucherov and Stamkos come to town on Tuesday and that could get ugly.

Paul Martin is close to a return as he fully practiced on Friday but he doesn’t expect to play tonight. He said he would need another practice but should be good to go for Tuesday.

We’ll wait for a line to open here but I think we might possibly still find some value in the Sharks. I’ll also be looking to jump on the under in this one as this is the one California battle which always seems to be the tightest and low scoring. These two teams haven’t combined for more than five goals in a game over their last nine head-to-head meetings. With totals being inflated if we can get lucky and see a 5.5 on the board we’ll be all over it. I’ll update on Twitter once we get a number.