Wednesday's Best NHL Bets
Los Angeles Kings at Chicago Blackhawks (-177, 5.5)
The Blackhawks were handed a rude awakening by division rival Detroit Sunday. The Red Wings proved to the young Chicago roster that they still run the Central with a 5-4 win.
That game marked the seventh straight game in which the Blackhawks have played over the total. Chicago has averaged more than 4.5 goals during this stretch. And more notable, it has given up an average of almost four goals a night in that same span. Detroit scored all five of their goals in the middle frame of Sunday’s game.
"We seem to let down in the second period, and it's been happening way too much lately," winger Andrew Ladd told the Daily Herald. "It's something we've got to figure out in this room or we're not going to go as far as we want to. We've got to play for 60 minutes instead of in bits and pieces."
It seems the entire club is focusing on playing better defense and putting themselves between the puck and their goaltenders. With Chicago tightening up on the blueline, goals could be tougher to come by Wednesday night.
Pick: Under
Dallas Stars at Buffalo Sabres (-193, 5.5)
If American sports fans didn’t know who Ryan Miller was before the Olympics, they know now. The Team USA goaltender, who claimed the tournament MVP at the Vancouver 2010 games, is back on NHL ice and maintaining his high level of play.
Miller was on the Today Show while in New York earlier this week. Buffalo edged the Rangers 2-1 in overtime while Miller stopped 35 shots.
"It felt amazing, usually you go to opposing rinks and hear a lot of boos," Miller told the Today Show. "Hopefully we built some hockey fans."
Miller has made fans out of NHL bettors. He has allowed two or less goals in his past four starts, winning three of those contests. Under bettors are thrilled that Miller has avoided an Olympic hangover like some players, keeping scores below the betting total in all four of those outings.
Pick: Under
Bruins Are Underwhelming
By Ari Baum-Cohen
Unders Bruin
Currently occupying the final playoff spot in the East, the Boston Bruins will be without offensive leader Marc Savard indefinitely. Savard sustained a concussion after being hit by Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke.
“I think it’s the whole team that really has to step up their game. We’re going to have to play desperate hockey from here on in,” Boston coach Claude Julien told the Boston Globe.
Boston is in the middle of a season-long seven-game road trip.
The Bruins are last in the NHL in goals scored, averaging 2.31 goals a game. They have an over/under record of 22-37-5 and have gone over the total just once in their last 13 games (1-7-5 over/under).
Huet’s Hawks?
The Chicago Blackhawks are second in the NHL in goals scored (3.22 per game), third in the NHL in goals allowed (2.4 per game) and lead the Central division.
Despite Chicago’s success, a goaltending controversy has emerged between incumbent Cristobal Huet and rookie Antti Niemi.
Huet is 26-12-4 with a 2.38 goals against average and four shutouts. Niemi is 17-5-1 with a 2.25 goals against average and four shutouts. Niemi has the edge in save percentage (.909 vs. .898).
According to David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune, because Huet is a veteran and has playoff experience, he gives the Blackhawks the best chance to win in the playoffs.
Chicago has gone over the total seven games in a row and has allowed at least three goals in six of those games.
Cane they make the playoffs?
Yes, they are eight points out of a playoff spot with 17 games left. And yes, Justin Peters and Manny Legace make up Carolina’s goaltending duo. Still, the Carolina Hurricanes still have an outside chance to make the playoffs.
After a 5-17-5 start to the season, Carolina has won eight of nine and twelve of fifteen to climb to 27-31-7. The Canes have three games in hand on seventh place Montreal and the eighth place Bruins are playing without Marc Savard.
“We've just got to keep winning. We're getting closer and closer," Canes forward Brandon Sutter told the Carolina News-Observer.
Carolina is +50,000 to win the Stanley Cup at Bodog.com.
Edmonton Sp-Oilers
Edmonton has been out of contention since a 1-18-2 stretch that lasted half of December and all of January.
Oddsmakers have not been respecting the Oilers. Edmonton has not been favored since they were -106 against the Predators on January 12. Recently, the Oilers were +163 at home to the 13th-place Minnesota Wild and +205 to the New Jersey Devils.
That hasn’t stopped Edmonton from playing the role of spoiler. The Oilers defeated Minnesota and New Jersey and have won four of five in front of their home crowd.
"It's a fun team to play for. You know you're not going to make the playoffs so these are your playoffs and try to be a spoiler and that's what's fun about right now," newly acquired defenseman Ryan Whitney told reporters.
On the schedule
Wed. March 10 – Vancouver Canucks at Phoenix Coyotes
The Canucks end their 14-game road trip with their third road game in four nights (sixth in nine days) against a Coyotes team that will have not played since a Saturday home game.
Fri. March 12 – Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals
The Lightning, four points out of a playoff spot, play in Montreal Tuesday and Toronto Thursday before challenging the Washington Capitals and their 25-3-4 home record.
Sun. March 14 - Nashville Predators at Los Angeles Kings
After a Tuesday date with the Thrashers, the Preds play San Jose Thursday, Anaheim Friday and close out the week with a Sunday matinee against the Kings.
DALLAS (29-24-0-12, 70 pts.) at BUFFALO (35-21-0-8, 78 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
DALLAS is 8-23 ATS (-15.9 Units) in March games over the last 3 seasons.
DALLAS is 30-17 ATS (+47.4 Units) in road games after 3 or more consecutive overs since 1996.
DALLAS is 60-55 ATS (+125.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 3 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
BUFFALO is 2-0 (+2.2 Units) against the spread versus DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
BUFFALO is 2-0-0 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
1 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.0 Units)
CAROLINA (27-31-0-7, 61 pts.) at WASHINGTON (44-14-0-8, 96 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
CAROLINA is 23-41 ATS (-23.3 Units) after shutting out their opponent in their previous game since 1996.
WASHINGTON is 13-1 ATS (+10.9 Units) in home games second half of the season this season.
WASHINGTON is 14-2 ATS (+9.0 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
WASHINGTON is 19-6 ATS (+11.3 Units) revenging a home loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 20-5 ATS (+13.1 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent this season.
CAROLINA is 17-8 ATS (+26.4 Units) second half of the season this season.
CAROLINA is 13-4 ATS (+8.2 Units) in March games over the last 2 seasons.
CAROLINA is 6-2 ATS (+8.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
WASHINGTON is 17-30 ATS (-25.1 Units) in home games after playing 3 consecutive home games since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
CAROLINA is 8-9 (+0.5 Units) against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
WASHINGTON is 9-8-0 straight up against CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
9 of 16 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+1.2 Units)
NY RANGERS (29-28-0-9, 67 pts.) at NEW JERSEY (38-23-0-3, 79 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
NY RANGERS are 29-37 ATS (-12.1 Units) in all games this season.
NEW JERSEY is 37-21 ATS (+8.1 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
NEW JERSEY is 15-4 ATS (+9.8 Units) after playing 3 consecutive road games over the last 2 seasons.
NEW JERSEY is 10-15 ATS (-15.0 Units) second half of the season this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
NY RANGERS is 16-7 (+8.4 Units) against the spread versus NEW JERSEY over the last 3 seasons
NY RANGERS is 16-7-0 straight up against NEW JERSEY over the last 3 seasons
11 of 21 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.1 Units)
LOS ANGELES (39-22-0-4, 82 pts.) at CHICAGO (43-17-0-5, 91 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 36-18 ATS (+9.2 Units) when playing with 2 days rest over the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 64-35 ATS (+18.7 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game over the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 69-53 ATS (+5.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 3 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 39-26 ATS (+10.6 Units) in all games this season.
LOS ANGELES is 18-9 ATS (+28.9 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5.5 this season.
LOS ANGELES is 7-2 ATS (+9.4 Units) in road games second half of the season this season.
LOS ANGELES is 27-20 ATS (+50.0 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
LOS ANGELES is 5-5 (+0.9 Units) against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 5-5-0 straight up against LOS ANGELES over the last 3 seasons
6 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.6 Units)
VANCOUVER (40-23-0-2, 82 pts.) at PHOENIX (39-22-0-5, 83 pts.)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
PHOENIX is 5-5 (+2.1 Units) against the spread versus VANCOUVER over the last 3 seasons
PHOENIX is 5-5-0 straight up against VANCOUVER over the last 3 seasons
7 of 10 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+3.8 Units)
CAROLINA vs. WASHINGTON
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Carolina's last 5 games when playing on the road against Washington
Carolina is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Washington's last 10 games
Washington is 17-4 SU in its last 21 games
DALLAS vs. BUFFALO
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 7 games when playing Buffalo
Dallas is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing Buffalo
Buffalo is 3-8 SU in its last 11 games
Buffalo is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Dallas
NY RANGERS vs. NEW JERSEY
NY Rangers are 8-3 SU in their last 11 games when playing on the road against New Jersey
NY Rangers are 3-6 SU in their last 9 games on the road
New Jersey is 19-6 SU in its last 25 games at home
New Jersey is 3-8 SU in their last 11 games when playing at home against NY Rangers
LOS ANGELES vs. CHICAGO
Los Angeles is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Los Angeles's last 10 games when playing on the road against Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Chicago's last 10 games when playing at home against Los Angeles
Chicago is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games
VANCOUVER vs. PHOENIX
Vancouver is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Vancouver is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Phoenix's last 6 games when playing at home against Vancouver
Phoenix is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Vancouver
DALLAS at BUFFALO
DALLAS: 29-17 SU Away after 3+ consecutive overs
BUFFALO: 2-8 SU at home off an OT win
CAROLINA at WASHINGTON
CAROLINA: 13-4 SU in March
WASHINGTON: 16-28 SU at home after playing 3 consecutive home games
NY RANGERS at NEW JERSEY
NY RANGERS: 11-20 SU after losing in OT
NEW JERSEY: 7-0 SU after playing 4 consecutive road games
LOS ANGELES at CHICAGO
LOS ANGELES: 7-2 SU after 4+ consecutive overs
CHICAGO: 3-7 SU after 4 straight games with 7+ total goals
VANCOUVER at PHOENIX
VANCOUVER: N/A
PHOENIX: N/A
Hot Teams
-- Sabres won last two games, allowing three goals.
-- Hurricanes won eight of their last nine games. Washington won three of their last four games.
-- Kings won eight of last ten road games. Blackhawks won five of their last seven games.
-- Canucks won six of their last seven games. Coyotes won ten of their last fourteen games.
Cold Teams
-- Stars lost three of their last four games.
-- Rangers lost last three games, scoring one goal in last two. Devils lost ten of their last fourteen games.
Totals
-- Last five Buffalo games stayed under the total. Last four Dallas tilts went over.
-- Eight of last ten Washington games went over the total. Last three Carolina games stayed under the total.
-- Under is 5-1-1 in last seven Ranger games. Four of last five New Jersey games went over the total.
-- Last six Chicago games went over the total.
-- Seven of last nine Phoenix games stayed under the total. Vancouver's last six games all went over.
Playing second of back-to-back nights
-- Canucks are 7-2 if they played the night before.
Series Records
-- Sabres won last three games vs Dallas: 4-3/2-1/5-4.
-- Hurricanes lost six of last nine visits to Washington.
-- Rangers won three of last four games against New Jersey.
-- Kings lost three in row vs Chicago, scoring four goals.
-- Canucks lost three of last four visits to Phoenix.