NHL betting trends, odds and predictions for Tuesday, October 31st, 2017 from various handicappers and websites
NHL Knowledge
Las Vegas won five of its last six games, is 8-2 in its first NHL season, 2-1 on road. Over is 6-2 in their last eight games. Rangers lost seven of last nine games; they’re 3-6 at home. Five of their last six games went over the total.
Road team won six of last seven Arizona-Detroit games; Coyotes won three of last four trips to the Motor City. Over is 4-1-1 in last six series games. Arizona is 1-11 to start the season, 1-6 on road; they’ve lost one game in OT- over is 9-2-1 in their games. Red Wings lost six of their last seven games; they’re 1-3 at home. Last four Detroit games stayed under the total.
Winnipeg won its last two games with Minnesota; teams split their last ten meetings. Over is 6-1 in last seven series games. Jets are 2-3 in their last five trips to the Twin Cities. Winnipeg is 2-3 in its last five games, 2-3 on the road; over is 7-3 in their last ten games. Minnesota won three of last four games; they’re 2-2 at home. Over is 6-2-1 in their games this season.
Armadillosports.com
NHL Picks and Betting Tips
By Parker Michaels
Bangthebook.com
MORNING LINE REPORT
Happy Halloween! A lot of strange things are known to happen on All Hallows’ Eve but the weirdness got started a night early in the NHL as the Arizona Coyotes finally won a freaking game! I went over last night’s win in more detail in their game preview below but it’s certainly nice to finally have every team on the board with a win now. It was made even nicer by the fact we held a ticket on the Coyotes as I tweeted them out as a play yesterday morning after the line became widely available. I was quite literally shocked to see Philadelphia open as a -205 favorite, even with Scott Wedgewood as the starter for Arizona. We jumped on the Coyotes at a +184 price and the market agreed as the line was drove down throughout the day, closing about 20 cents lower.
It was a great night all around as the article picks went 3-0 yesterday and we had our single biggest day of the season. It’s been a great month overall but don’t let it go to your head. We’re only approaching the one month mark of a very long season and there will be ups and downs throughout the year. We happen to be on an up right now and while it’s okay to celebrate a little success, don’t let that change your daily approach. Keep your bet sizes consistent with what you’ve been doing. It’s when you start to feel most comfortable when things become the most unsettling.
We’ve got a lighter schedule over the next couple of nights but we’ll see what kind of value there is to be had. As of right now, it doesn’t look like we’ll have a play tonight which is probably disappointing to some after a big night but it’s important not to force things if they just don’t line up the way you want. It’s also okay to take a night off from betting now and again so enjoy some Halloween activities tonight with friends and family.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS @ NEW YORK RANGERS
Projected Goaltenders
Vegas – Maxime Lagace (probable)
NY Rangers – Henrik Lundqvist (confirmed)
Injury Report
Vegas – Theodore (probable)
NY Rangers – no significant injuries
The Vegas Golden Knights got their first taste of the harsh realities of playing on the road last night dropping a 6-3 decision to the Islanders. It wasn’t just their first ever road loss that stung, it was the fact they lost yet another starting goaltender when Oscar Dansk twisted awkwardly and appeared to hurt his leg. After giving up the tying goal to John Tavares late in the second period he was forced to leave and did not return. Vegas turned to their fourth goaltender already on this young season as Maxime Lagace entered the crease for his NHL debut.
It was a tough situation for Lagace to enter as the Isles had really started to take over the game just prior to the tying goal and they didn’t let up in the third as they torched Lagace for four goals on just 11 shots. There was no update on Dansk after the game but Gallant did say that Lagace would “probably” start tonight. The only other goaltender left in the organization is Dylan Ferguson who was playing with Kamloops in the WHL. He was called up and has joined the team in New York and is expected to backup Lagace tonight.
Marc-Andre Fleury is apparently with the team now on their road trip and while Gallant said he’s “basically day-to-day” he’s not expected to begin practicing for a few more days. The Knights play six games over nine nights on this road trip and it’s a lot to ask of Lagace and Ferguson. Lagace had just an .888 save percentage in four games with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL this year and looked overwhelmed in his 25 minutes last night. Hopefully Dansk is okay as he has looked really good at times.
Defenseman Shea Theodore was called up yesterday and skated in the pre-game warm-up but was a healthy scratch. Gallant said “He’ll probably play” tonight.
The New York Rangers fell back into the loss column with Saturday’s 5-4 loss at Montreal. The Rangers have been getting off to terrible starts in every game and Saturday was no exception as Montreal stormed out to an early 3-0 lead while outshooting New York 19-2 in the opening period.
Henrik Lundqvist will be back in the net tonight after giving way to Pavelec the last two games. Vigneault said Lundqvist worked on “a couple of technical things” this past week with goaltender coach Benoit Allaire and they’re going to need him to be sharp early tonight.
Alain Vigneault is reportedly on the hot seat and there’s even speculation that this could be his last game if the Rangers lose to the expansion Knights tonight. That’s probably a little extreme but it seems clear ownership has made their decision on Vigneault and it’s likely only a matter of time before the axe falls.
Vigneault shook his lines up in practice and it appears they will go back to where they started the season with a top line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich. Kevin Hayes will be with Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello on the second line with Desharnais, Vesey and Miller on the third line.
New York’s players like their coach and they defended him yesterday saying it’s not a coaching problem but rather on them. It’s often hard to take comments like that at face value but I would expect a big effort from the team tonight and a win for the Blueshirts. Unfortunately, that will likely only delay the inevitability of a coaching change.
This line isn’t widely available yet but BetOnline has opened the Rangers as a -181 favorite. That’s a little low (as was last night’s Vegas/NYI line) so we’ll see where others open this morning. I’ll tweet out an update if we’re jumping on board.
ARIZONA COYOTES @ DETROIT RED WINGS
Projected Goaltenders
Arizona – Antti Raanta/Scott Wedgewood/Hunter Miska (unknown)
Detroit – Jimmy Howard (likely)
Injury Report
Arizona – Chychrun (out), Hjalmarsson (questionable)
Detroit – DeKeyser (out)
The Arizona Coyotes finally got into the win column last night with a 4-3 overtime victory in Philadelphia. It was really a complete effort from beginning to (almost) end as the Coyotes came out flying and only allowed three first period shots and built a 3-0 lead with an early third period tally. As the third wore on you could tell the sticks were tightening and guys looked nervous with the anticipation of finally earning a victory and a late push by the Flyers resulted in two goals in the final minute to force the game to overtime. It was gut-wrenching to watch (especially holding a Coyotes moneyline ticket last night) but credit to the team for not folding up shop in the overtime. An early Flyers penalty in the extra session seemed to calm them down and although they weren’t able to capitalize in those two minutes, an outstanding individual effort from Clayton Keller turned an innocent looking rush into a one-timer winner from Alex Goligoski with just 14.4 seconds to play.
Scott Wedgewood was good in net although the Coyotes defense did a good job of not allowing him to be tested often. It’s unclear as of now whether Antti Raanta will be able to return tonight or if Wedgewood or Hunter Miska will get the start.
Also in question is defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson who left about the midway point of the third period after taking a stick to the face and did not return. An update on him is expected later today.
This is a tough spot for the Coyotes tonight being not just a road back-to-back but also their third game in four nights and four in six. This also begins arguably the toughest stretch of the season with 11 games over the next 19 days with the longest travel distance of the season.
The Detroit Red Wings snapped a six game losing streak with Saturday’s 3-2 win at Florida to end a three game road trip and now return home for a brief one game stop before heading back onto the road for four more. I’ve mentioned before how these single home games can be tough for players when they haven’t been home much as they have to look after family responsibilities. Detroit was last home on October 23rd and after this short stay won’t return home again until November 10th.
Defenseman Danny DeKeyser had a setback with his ankle injury and will be sidelined for another ten days to three weeks. Jimmy Howard spent most of Monday’s practice in the starters’ net but Blashill didn’t tip his hand as to whether he or Mrazek would start.
This is a tough spot for both sides so I think we’re best to just stay away from this one tonight. My line is with Raanta, Hjalmarsson and Howard all in the lineup so if things change I’ll update the new number on Twitter.
WINNIPEG JETS @ MINNESOTA WILD
Projected Goaltenders
Winnipeg – Connor Hellebuyck/Steve Mason (unknown)
Minnesota – Devan Dubnyk (likely)
Injury Report
Winnipeg – Perreault (out), Lowry (out)
Minnesota – Parise (out), Coyle (out), Niederreiter (likely)
The Winnipeg Jets finally broke out offensively after blitzing the Penguins 7-1 on Sunday night behind Blake Wheeler’s hat trick. The Jets scored early and often as they built a 5-0 first period lead that chased starter Matt Murray.
Connor Hellebuyck was in net again and improved to an impressive 5-0-1 with a 2.05 goals-against average and .937 save percentage, one of the best in the league to date. The Jets have looked like a different team since their opening two games which saw them give up 13 goals. The Jets are 5-1-2 while giving up just 18 goals in their last eight games.
The Minnesota Wild moved to 2-1-0 on their six game homestand after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Pittsburgh. The Wild have won three of their last four now and have done a good job of overcoming several key injuries. One of those injured players, Nino Niederreiter, may be looking at a return tonight after missing the past six games with a sprained ankle. Niederreiter has skated with the team for five straight days now without any setbacks. Boudreau refused to call him anything but “a game-time decision” for tonight but Niederreiter let it slip that he expects to play tonight. The Wild also only called up two forwards yesterday (Kunin and Eriksson Ek) and based on what we’ve seen in practice I think it’s likely a good bet we’ll see him in the lineup tonight but we’ll have to wait for official confirmation.
I think there’s some value on the Wild at the current number but I’m going to hold off on this one for now until I have more info. I would expect Hellebuyck to start in an important divisional game but if Mason starts in net I’ll likely be adding the Wild as a play but I also would like to get confirmation on Niederreiter. It will be Minnesota or nothing tonight and I’ll tweet out an update later.