Pucking the trends: Take Washington and the over
In his weekly column Pucking the trends Illegal Curve?s Ari Baum-Cohen looks at news from around the NHL and the potential impact on bettors.
Capital Gains
Hopefully you have been parlaying the Washington Capitals to win with the over.
Not only has Washington won nine of its last 10 games, the over is 7-1-2 during that span.
Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post points out that Caps coach Bruce Boudreau has kept the same lines together during Washington?s impressive run.
"I like the chemistry on all four lines. I anticipate this is the way we'll go unless injuries dictate otherwise," Boudreau told the Washington Post.
Alex Ovechkin is playing with Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Knuble on the No. 1 line, while Tomas Fleischmann, Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin round out Washington?s top six forwards.
An Avalanche of wins
Craig Anderson and the Colorado Avalanche are not going away. The Avs, +3000 to win the Stanley Cup at betED.com, have won six in a row and lead the Northwest Division at 30-15-6.
Craig Anderson was named the NHL?s second star this week after posting a 3-0-0 record with a 0.33 goals against average, a .988 save percentage and two shutouts.
"I think the biggest thing with us right now is just confidence," Avs defenseman Kyle Quincey told the Denver Post. "We're coming into games expecting to win. We learned the hard way.?
Adrian Dater of the Denver Post points out that Colorado not only has five of the NHL?s top 25 rookie scorers, but their entire second line is composed entirely of rookies (Matt Duchene, T.J. Galiardi and Brandon Yip).
Boston browbeating
Last year the Boston Bruins lost 19 games in regulation all season en route to the best record in the East.
This year, the Bruins are in ninth place in the conference, on a five-game losing streak and have already lost 20 games in regulation.
Boston doesn?t play until Friday and, according to Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, coach Claude Julien is using the layoff to hold a four-day, back-to-basics seminar.
?We have to change,? goaltender Tim Thomas told reporters after Sunday?s loss. ?We have to come out with a clear vision of what we want to do and carry out that game plan, no matter what.?
The Bruins should be bolstered by the return of two-time All-Star Marc Savard on Friday.
Third period Blues
The St. Louis Blues are one of the best road teams in the league at 14-7-4 and are tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the worst home record in the NHL at 9-14-4.
St. Louis has lost three 3-0 third period leads at home and, according to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, blown leads were one of the reasons coach Andy Murray was fired earlier this year.
?For whatever reason, we seem to revert back to falling apart in the third period,? Blues center Andy McDonald told reporters after St. Louis? most recent loss. ?I don?t know how many games we?ve given away leads in the third period.?
As Rutherford points out, the answer is eight, most in the NHL.
On the schedule
Thurs. Jan. 28 ? St. Louis Blues at Edmonton Oilers
No team likes to play three games in four nights in western Canadian road trip, but at least the Blues get to play their final game against the hapless Oilers.
Sun. Jan 31 ? New York Islanders at Florida Panthers
The Isles play three road games in four days and on back to back days. After a matinee in Philadelphia on Saturday New York plays a Florida team that is 4-0-1 in its last five at home.
Sun. Jan 31 ? Los Angeles Kings at New Jersey Devils
The Kings wrap up a busy week (four road games in six days) with back-to-back games against the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils this weekend.
In his weekly column Pucking the trends Illegal Curve?s Ari Baum-Cohen looks at news from around the NHL and the potential impact on bettors.
Capital Gains
Hopefully you have been parlaying the Washington Capitals to win with the over.
Not only has Washington won nine of its last 10 games, the over is 7-1-2 during that span.
Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post points out that Caps coach Bruce Boudreau has kept the same lines together during Washington?s impressive run.
"I like the chemistry on all four lines. I anticipate this is the way we'll go unless injuries dictate otherwise," Boudreau told the Washington Post.
Alex Ovechkin is playing with Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Knuble on the No. 1 line, while Tomas Fleischmann, Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin round out Washington?s top six forwards.
An Avalanche of wins
Craig Anderson and the Colorado Avalanche are not going away. The Avs, +3000 to win the Stanley Cup at betED.com, have won six in a row and lead the Northwest Division at 30-15-6.
Craig Anderson was named the NHL?s second star this week after posting a 3-0-0 record with a 0.33 goals against average, a .988 save percentage and two shutouts.
"I think the biggest thing with us right now is just confidence," Avs defenseman Kyle Quincey told the Denver Post. "We're coming into games expecting to win. We learned the hard way.?
Adrian Dater of the Denver Post points out that Colorado not only has five of the NHL?s top 25 rookie scorers, but their entire second line is composed entirely of rookies (Matt Duchene, T.J. Galiardi and Brandon Yip).
Boston browbeating
Last year the Boston Bruins lost 19 games in regulation all season en route to the best record in the East.
This year, the Bruins are in ninth place in the conference, on a five-game losing streak and have already lost 20 games in regulation.
Boston doesn?t play until Friday and, according to Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, coach Claude Julien is using the layoff to hold a four-day, back-to-basics seminar.
?We have to change,? goaltender Tim Thomas told reporters after Sunday?s loss. ?We have to come out with a clear vision of what we want to do and carry out that game plan, no matter what.?
The Bruins should be bolstered by the return of two-time All-Star Marc Savard on Friday.
Third period Blues
The St. Louis Blues are one of the best road teams in the league at 14-7-4 and are tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the worst home record in the NHL at 9-14-4.
St. Louis has lost three 3-0 third period leads at home and, according to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, blown leads were one of the reasons coach Andy Murray was fired earlier this year.
?For whatever reason, we seem to revert back to falling apart in the third period,? Blues center Andy McDonald told reporters after St. Louis? most recent loss. ?I don?t know how many games we?ve given away leads in the third period.?
As Rutherford points out, the answer is eight, most in the NHL.
On the schedule
Thurs. Jan. 28 ? St. Louis Blues at Edmonton Oilers
No team likes to play three games in four nights in western Canadian road trip, but at least the Blues get to play their final game against the hapless Oilers.
Sun. Jan 31 ? New York Islanders at Florida Panthers
The Isles play three road games in four days and on back to back days. After a matinee in Philadelphia on Saturday New York plays a Florida team that is 4-0-1 in its last five at home.
Sun. Jan 31 ? Los Angeles Kings at New Jersey Devils
The Kings wrap up a busy week (four road games in six days) with back-to-back games against the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils this weekend.
