The NHL's Five Hottest Over/Under Bets
By ARI BAUM-COHEN
At the beginning of the NHL season, most games were going over the betting total.
Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood told the Detroit News that referees, “call the most ridiculous things for the first two months of the season trying to jack up the scores then they call nothing as the season goes along.”
There is a lot of truth in that statement according to the numbers. Scoring has been on the decline since the first quarter of the season and, as of Wednesday, 52.22 percent of games have fallen under the total.
Here are the Top-5 over/under bets since the beginning of February:
Over
Washington Capitals
The Capitals lead the league in goals, averaging 3.88 per game - half a goal more than the second place Canucks. They are also allowing 2.76 goals a night.
The over/under is 9-3 in Washington’s games since the beginning of February and the Capitals have failed to score at least three goals only once in their last 26 games.
Washington has plenty of offensive talent. Superstar Alexander Ovechkin leads the league with 44 goals and 94 points, Nicklas Backstrom is fourth in the NHL with 80 points, Alex Semin is averaging well over a point a game and Mike Green leads all defensemen with 66 points.
Nashville Predators
Despite ranking in the middle of the NHL in both goals scored and goals allowed, the Predators have gone over the total in nine of twelve games since the beginning of February (9-3 over/under).
Nashville’s leading scorer is Martin Erat, tied for 96th in the NHL with 41 points, but the Preds provide a balanced attack with nine players having 30 or more points.
Nashville starting goaltender Pekka Rinne is also partly responsible for the trend. The sophomore is allowing .41 more goals/game than last year, and has a save percentage of .901, down from .917.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The over/under in Lightning games this season is 31-33-1, but Tampa Bay has gone over the total in seven straight games and in eight of the last 11 games since the beginning of February (8-3-0).
During the recent streak, there have been an average of 8.43 total goals scored and in six of those games, Tampa has allowed at least five goals.
Tampa Bay goaltenders Mike Smith and Antero Niittymaki have struggled this season. Niittymaki has wrestled the starting job away from Smith but is still in the bottom half of the NHL with a 2.72 goals against average and .912 save percentage.
Under
Philadelphia Flyers
Goaltender Michael Leighton is doing for the Philadelphia Flyers this year what Scott Clemmensen did for the New Jersey Devils last year. With Ray Emery out for the season, Leighton has been spectacular, posting a 15-3-2 record with the Flyers, 2.28 goals against average and .924 save percentage.
The Flyers have gone under the total in nine of 12 games since the beginning of February. Eleven of those were started by Leighton, who allowed more than two goals only twice during that stretch.
Phoenix Coyotes
The Coyotes have gone over the total only 21 times in 67 games this season (21-38-8 over/under) and only three times in their last 11 games (3-8-0 over/under). They are fifth in the NHL in goals allowed (2.43 per game) and 24th in goals scored (2.57 per game)
Led by goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, the surprising Coyotes have already won 40 games. Bryzgalov is tied for the league lead with seven shutouts and has a 2.31 goals against average and .920 save percentage - both among the Top 10 in the NHL.
Honorable mention
Over: Vancouver Canucks 8-4-1 over/under (eight in a row), St. Louis Blues 7-3-0 over/under (four in a row)
Under: Boston Bruins 2-5-5 over/under, Toronto Maple Leafs 3-7-0 over/under