Sportswagers
Carolina @ OTTAWA
Carolina +122 over OTTAWA
OT included. The Senators have scored 11 goals over their past two games in an OT loss to the Penguins and a resounding victory over Edmonton on Saturday. Ottawa has now picked up points in three straight games. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have dropped two in a row and five of their past seven. Combine the very recent results of these two and what you have is not only a false favorite, but a grossly overpriced one as well. Ottawa is as weak and beatable as any team in the league. Those three recent games in which they picked up five out of a possible six points is all fool’s gold. Against Buffalo, the Sens won 2-1 but were outshot 36-28 by the Sabres. There are lots to choose from but that victory over Buffalo might’ve been Ottawa’s worst performance of the year. In the second period, Buffalo outshot Ottawa 21-4. Against Pittsburgh, Ottawa was down 3-0 but rallied to force OT because Pittsburgh took its foot of the pedal and backup Thomas Greiss couldn’t stop a puck. Finally, on Saturday, Ottawa defeated Edmonton 7-2. Between Victor Fasth and Richard Bachman, the Oilers goalies posted a save % in that game of .825. Ottawa scored on its first shot of the game and subsequently scored two very soft goals early in the second to make it 3-1. Edmonton battled back to make it 3-2 but a couple of more softies made it 5-2 and it was all over. Prior to those three games, Ottawa lost three straight to Washington, New Jersey and Columbus while being outscored 8-3. That’s the real Ottawa team and with the hated Canadiens on deck Wednesday, that’s the same garbage team we expect to see here.
The ‘Canes last two losses were at Minnesota and Anaheim. They outshot the Ducks 36-17 and lost 2-1. In Minnesota on Saturday night, the ‘Canes were down 3-0 very early and 4-1 but rallied to make it 4-3 early in the second and it stayed that way for quite some time before the Wild scored to put it out of reach in the third. Minnesota recorded just 24 shots on net on Saturday and was outshot 27-24. Carolina held a significant edge in time of possession in the offensive end but ‘Canes backup goalie Anton Khudobin posted a save % of .783. No team can win with a save percentage that low. In Carolina’s other three losses over its past seven, one occurred in OT to St. Louis, one occurred in Anaheim, also in OT and the other was against the red-hot Rangers. Also prior to those last two losses, the ‘Canes picked up points in 12 of 14 games. Carolina is a quality hockey team that has had nothing but bad fortune all season. They are playing at an elite level right now. The ‘Canes have also played the NHL’s toughest schedule since the All-Star break and have outplayed or played nose to nose with all of them. Incidentally, Cam Ward is 4-0-1 with a 1.17 goals-against average in his last five starts versus Ottawa. Carolina should dominate this game from start to finish. If they end up losing, so be it but in terms of value, we’re going with the best of it here by a wide, wide margin and that’s always a good wager.
Our Pick
Carolina +122 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 2.44)
Edmonton @ WINNIPEG
WINNIPEG -1½ +137 over Edmonton
OT included. Ben Scrivens is out. That leaves Victor Fasth or Richard Bachman to tend goal for the Oilers and neither is the right choice. Fasth is not only rancid but he’s mentally fragile again after posting save percentages of .800, .885, .893 and .821 over his last four games. Bachman is worse with a 6.15 GAA and .853 save percentage in his only appearance this year and first since November of 2013. We’re likely to see both tonight. Edmonton concludes a six-game in nine night’s road trip here. They’ve won twice in six games thus far and one of those victories occurred in New Jersey. During this trip, Edmonton lost to both Ottawa and Toronto by a combined score of 12-3. That was Toronto’s only win over its last 15 games and they buried the Oilers, 5-1. Now, if you watch a lot of hockey or read locally what the media is saying, you may have heard or read from analysts or the Edmonton media that the team is performing better since they fired Dallas Eakins and replaced him with Todd Nelson. Yeah, ok. Believe that and we’ll convince you to NOT vaccinate your kids and that climate change is a hoax. The media base their opinions on wins and losses. We base ours on performance and we’re here to tell you that no team in the NHL (outside of Buffalo) has played worse hockey than the Oilers since Todd Nelson took over. There's a strong correlation between 5v5 score-adjusted Corsi and points/wins and that correlation improves as the sample size gets larger. Since the start of the 2010 season (or 4½ seasons), these teams are the top 4 in score-adjusted Corsi (SAC) in 5-on-5 play: Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and Detroit. The four worst? Buffalo, Edmonton, Colorado and Toronto? Since Nelson took over, Edmonton’s SAC has dropped to a league low 41.2%. It was at 49% with Eakins. We could go on and on about advanced stats before Nelson and after him but it’s not necessary. Let us just inform you that Edmonton is playing WAY worse under Nelson but the results have been better because Scrivens got hot for a few games. Now running on fumes and playing the last game of a six-game trip with their goaltending a complete mess, Edmonton figures to get buried again.
Winnipeg can’t wait to get back on the ice. On Saturday night they had an outstanding win in Detroit, rallying from two down to win 5-4 in OT. They outshot the Red Wings 38-29 and have now outshot their last four opponents, which also includes Minnesota (who rarely gets outshot) and Nashville. The Jets have picked up points in five of six. They’ve won three of their last four and they are only one of two teams to defeat the Wild over Minnesota’s last 14 games. The Jets are fully healthy and if you watched their game on Saturday in Detroit, you couldn’t help but notice newly acquired Tyler Myers thriving every time he stepped on the ice. The Jets have several guys playing at an elite level. As a whole, the team is playing at an elite level and the best part is they are playing with a ton of confidence. Winnipeg is intent and extremely motivated to make the playoffs. They don’t need help from anyone else, as they absolutely control their own destiny. These are the games they cannot lose and cannot let up in. On their worst day, Winnipeg should still beat these Oilers by three goals.
Our Pick
WINNIPEG -1½ +137 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 2.74)
Arizona @ COLORADO
Arizona +155 over COLORADO
OT included. The Coyotes are always a risky bet because they don’t score enough goals and because goaltender Mike Smith, although capable of a solid game, is always at risk for lousy performance. The Coyotes are unplayable as the chalk against anyone but as a big dog against Colorado, they are very playable. The ‘Yotes are coming off a 5-1 loss to the Rangers. That was all Mike Smith because Arizona held an edge in shots and in time of possession in the offensive end. They also held a significant edge in shots and time of possession in their 4-2 loss to the Sharks on Friday. Arizona’s last five games was against the Rangers, San Jose, St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit. They played well enough to win them all and didn’t look outclassed or out of place in any of them. One could easily argue that those teams took the ‘Yotes lightly but Arizona now takes a huge step down in class and can compete equally with these Avs on any day.
Colorado has one win in its last five games. That lone victory occurred against Dallas on Saturday night. Dallas was playing the tail-end of back-to-backs and they were also without Tyler Seguin, Ales Hemsky, Patrick Eaves and Antoine Roussel among others. These two have gone to OT four times in the last seven times they have met. Arizona has won two of the three other games. The one game they played this year went into OT with Colorado emerging, 4-3. The Coyotes outshot Colorado in that game and fired away 35 shots in total. Prior to defeating Dallas, Colorado allowed 11 goals against in its previous two games. In the two games prior to that, they failed to score a single goal. Of course Colorado can win here but just as the Coyotes are unplayable as the chalk, the Avalanche are just as unplayable, especially in this price range against a team that usually works harder than they do. This is a risk worth taking.
Our Pick
Arizona +155 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 3.10)