February 25, 2013

NHL Betting: Hockey Stock Market Report for 2/25/13

Hockey teams go like the stock market. Sometimes they’re hot and you have to buy them, and sometimes they’re cold and you have to sell. Our NHL betting tips show the teams that you should hold and the teams you should ditch here at Bang the Book!

Stock Up

Chicago Blackhawks: A permanent “stock up” for the Blackhawks at this point, and a much deserved one! The team has put together 18 straight games to start of the season without a regulation defeat, and that’s a new NHL record. The team still has a long way to go to get to the record for the most consecutive games ever without a regulation loss, but the streak dating back to last regular season is at 24 games and 30 out of 31. If that’s not impressive, we don’t know what is.

Boston Bruins: Almost equally impressive is what the Bruins have been able to do this year. The boys from Beantown have had to get on an airplane after nine consecutive games, yet they are 7-1 in those successive eight games. What’s scariest about Boston is that it really hasn’t totally put it together yet. Remember that this team won the Stanley Cup just two seasons ago, and averaging 2.9 goals per game and allowing 2.2 goals per game isn’t really all that special when you compare it to the numbers that the club put up when it won the Cup. Still, with 11 wins in 15 games in arguably the toughest division in hockey, where there are four teams with at least 11 wins on the season is no small feat, and it is one that should be commended.

Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks are the hottest of the hot right now in the NHL betting world, as they have scored six straight wins. The only reason that we are wary of what Anaheim has put together is that three of the wins came in shootouts and one came in overtime. Still, for a team that wasn’t really even expected to make the playoffs this year, putting up 13 wins in 16 games and six in a row is always impressive, especially in a season that, believe it or not, is already coming up on its halfway point. Anaheim is 6-1 this year at home and 7-1-1 on the road, and we aren’t sure which mark is more impressive. One thing that we do believe in? G Viktor Fasth has really come out of nowhere to replace G Jonas Hiller as the team’s starter, and he has eight wins and a 1.78 GAA.

Stock Down

San Jose Sharks: You have to go back to February 5th to find the last time that the Sharks scored more than two goals in a game, and you have to go back to January 27th to find the last time that they put up more than two in a game and won. For a team that has as much offensive firepower as San Jose does, there really is no reason for it to only have a total of seven goals scored in its last seven games. Needless to say, there is only one win to show for the Sharks’ won on this six-game road trip, and it has just one win in its last 10 games. San Jose has scored a total of just eight goals in its last seven road games after scoring 10 in its first two roadies of the year.

Nashville Predators: Whatever is going on right now with the Preds needs to change in a hurry. They have been shutout in back to back games, and they are well on their way to another rough outing on Monday against the streaking Dallas Stars. G Pekka Rinne can only do so much, and his defense’s numbers are starting to slack off as well. The team has allowed 3.5 goals per game in its last four, something that isn’t good for a club that has been shut out three times just since February 10th. The Predators have four losses and just three points to show for their last five games.

New Jersey Devils: Teams are going to lose four out of five at some point over the course of any season, especially one that is as short as this one. However, you really hope that those losses aren’t as bad as the ones that the Devils are suffering. They have now been beaten and beaten badly by the Winnipeg Jets, Washington Capitals, and New York Islanders just over the course of the last five, and those three games produced a lousy aggregate score of 14-4 against Jersey. That has to change if it is going to keep up with teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and ultimately, the New York Rangers in the stacked Atlantic Division.

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Andrew Ryan

Andrew Ryan has been in the sportswriting biz since the late-90s, and he has worked side by side with some of the best and brightest in sports gambling. Always searching for the best trends in sports, Andrew uses his brilliant math mind to his advantage to beat the books.