Monday's Best NHL Bets
Boston Bruins at New Jersey Devils (-165, 5)
The Boston Bruins are going to have to find someone else to step up in place of the injured Marc Savard. The All-Star center led the B’s in scoring in each of the past three seasons but is expected to miss the rest of the season because of a head injury.
Canadian Olympic gold medalist Patrice Bergeron is playmaker most likely to see more ice time on the power play with Savard out. Bergeron tallied five points in his first two games without Savard but was held off the score sheet Saturday against the Canadians.
“We didn’t start right and ultimately it cost us the game pretty much. The first period wasn’t the way we wanted to start,” Bergeron told the Boston Herald following the 3-2 loss to Montreal.
While Boston offense is shorthanded, the Devils’ attack is rounding into form thanks the improved play from recently acquired Ilya Kovalchuk. The sniper has found the back of the net in four of his six games since returning from the Olympic break.
Pick: New Jersey
Edmonton Oilers at Columbus Blue Jackets (N/A)
Even the most dedicated hockey fan might have trouble telling you who the No. 1 goalie is in the City of Champions. The Oilers originally planned on having that position filled after the signing of Nikolai Khabibulin.
But a rash of injuries has left Edmonton coach Pat Quinn with a long list of jobbers, including Jeff Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk.
Of course neither no-name netminder is getting much help from his mates. Edmonton has been shorthanded 24 times in their last three games.
"Once again, we took too many penalties," Oilers defenseman Tom Gilbert told the Edmonton Journal following Saturday’s 6-4 setback to the Leafs. “It's not easy killing seven, eight penalties a game, especially five-on-threes.”
It shouldn’t come as a shock the Oilers are playing with undisciplined rage lately. They’ve been plagued by an injury and flu bug for much of the season, and Quinn probably stopped paying attention to the action on the ice about two months ago.
Even worse, when the Oilers actually do string together a few wins, like they did last week, their home fans start to complain about how the victories will affect the team’s position in the draft.
Not to worry, Edmonton fans. Your team has gone back into loser cruise control.
Pick: Columbus
Hot Teams
-- Devils won last three home games, outscoring foes 14-6.
-- Detroit was six of its last eight games. Flames won four of their last five games.
Cold Teams
-- Blue Jackets lost five of their last seven games. Oilers lost three in a row, nine of last 12 games.
-- Bruins lost three of their last four games.
Totals
-- Five of last seven Edmonton games went over the total.
-- Six of last eight New Jersey games went over the total.
-- Five of last six Detroit games went over the total. Under is 9-3-1 in last thirteen Calgary games.
Playing second of back-to-back nights
-- Calgary is 3-2 if it lost the day/night before.
Series Records
-- Blue Jackets won three of last four games vs Edmonton.
-- Devils won four of last five games against Boston.
-- Flames won four of last five games against Detroit.
BOSTON vs. NEW JERSEY
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games when playing New Jersey
Boston is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing New Jersey
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New Jersey's last 6 games when playing Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of New Jersey's last 6 games when playing at home against Boston
EDMONTON vs. COLUMBUS
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Edmonton's last 5 games on the road
Edmonton is 1-15 SU in its last 16 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Columbus's last 5 games at home
Columbus is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games at home
DETROIT vs. CALGARY
Detroit is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Calgary
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Detroit's last 6 games
Calgary is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Calgary is 8-15 SU in its last 23 games
EDMONTON (21-40-0-7, 49 pts.) at COLUMBUS (27-31-0-11, 65 pts.)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
EDMONTON is 6-5 (+1.2 Units) against the spread versus COLUMBUS over the last 3 seasons
EDMONTON is 6-5-0 straight up against COLUMBUS over the last 3 seasons
7 of 11 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+2.7 Units)
BOSTON (30-25-0-12, 72 pts.) at NEW JERSEY (40-24-0-3, 83 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
BOSTON is 30-37 ATS (-17.0 Units) in all games this season.
BOSTON is 10-18 ATS (-10.3 Units) second half of the season this season.
NEW JERSEY is 93-62 ATS (+27.1 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
NEW JERSEY is 15-3 ATS (+10.1 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a losing record this season.
BOSTON is 34-14 ATS (+16.7 Units) after a division game over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 43-33 ATS (+82.7 Units) in road games after playing 3 consecutive road games since 1996.
NEW JERSEY is 12-16 ATS (-14.5 Units) second half of the season this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
NEW JERSEY is 7-3 (+4.9 Units) against the spread versus BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
NEW JERSEY is 7-3-0 straight up against BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
5 of 8 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+1.2 Units)
DETROIT (33-23-0-12, 78 pts.) at CALGARY (34-25-0-9, 77 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 33-35 ATS (-14.9 Units) in all games this season.
DETROIT is 4-11 ATS (-10.2 Units) revenging a home loss versus opponent this season.
DETROIT is 12-16 ATS (-9.8 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent this season.
DETROIT is 12-2 ATS (+9.1 Units) in road games in March games over the last 3 seasons.
CALGARY is 37-42 ATS (-31.3 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
CALGARY is 27-26 ATS (-12.5 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 3 seasons.
CALGARY is 16-21 ATS (-16.4 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 6-5-0 straight up against CALGARY over the last 3 seasons
7 of 11 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+2.8 Units)
EDMONTON at COLUMBUS
EDMONTON: N/A
COLUMBUS: N/A
BOSTON at NEW JERSEY
BOSTON: 7-1 SU when playing 6+ games in 10 days
NEW JERSEY: 11-16 SU when playing their 4th game in 7 days
DETROIT at CALGARY
DETROIT: 12-2 SU Away in March games
CALGARY: 15-21 SU when playing their 4th game in 7 days