March 5, 2013

NHL Betting: Hockey Stock Market Report for 3/5/13

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: What more could we possibly ask of the Blackhawks? Now, not only have they been good for at least a point in 22 straight games to start the season and 29 dating back to last season, but now, they have nine straight victories as well. Every line continues to click, every shot continues to be contested, and every save looks easier than the last. With just two more games with a point, the Blackhawks will have gone a whopping half of the regular season without a single regulation defeat. That’s just mind-boggling for sure.

Los Angeles Kings: Here come those tricky Kings! The team has won eight of its last 10 games and just saw a five-game winning streak go by the boards on the road at the Vancouver Canucks, something that there is no shame in whatsoever. The key has been getting G Jonathan Quick back on track. Quick is getting some help from G Jonathan Bernier, who is becoming a star in his own right. The team has allowed just one goal in seven of its last 10 games, and that’s going to be the key for the rest of the season for this team competing once again for the Stanley Cup.

Carolina Hurricanes: Not only have the Canes been beating teams. They have been beating the snot out of teams. In a two-game set with the Florida Panthers to start off the month of March, Carolina outscored the defending Southeast Division champs 9-4. That came on the heels of crushing the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 and the New York Islanders 4-2. The only loss in the mix was on the road at the Washington Capitals, but that was really the only even somewhat suspect result that the team has had of late. And as always in the Southeast Division, a three-game winning streak is huge, and it tends to give you a big lead in the division. Carolina’s is now at four points.

Stock Down

Columbus Blue Jackets: It really isn’t totally Columbus’ fault. Someone has to be the worst team in the league. The team has lost four of its last five and seven of its last nine, but out of all of those losses, just one has come by more than one goal. Of course, the team hasn’t won a game by more than one goal since back on February 11th, 10 games ago, but that’s not what we’re referring to here. The Jackets aren’t as bad as 6-12-4 suggests, but they have to learn how to play in these tight games if they are going to be competitive in the Central Division at any point in the next few years.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Five straight games have gone down the tubes for the Bolts, and they’re starting to look a lot more like the team that was one of the most horrendous defensively in the league last year than the one that looked like it was going to race to the Southeast Division title at the outset of the season. The Lightning don’t even have a single point to show for their last five outings, and they have been beaten by an aggregate score in those games of 18-10. Now, G Mathieu Garon is hurt, which is going to put a lot of pressure on G Anders Lindback, who really isn’t ready to compete at this type of level based upon the looks of his form from the start of the campaign.

New Jersey Devils: The Devils are back on our naughty list for the second straight week, as now, their losing streak has run up to five games in a row and seven out of eight. Where has the offense gone for this team? New Jersey averaged 2.93 goals per game in its first 14 games of the season. Since that point when the team has been sliding, it has only been good for 1.75 goals per game. That’s just not good enough at this level, especially with G Martin Brodeur playing at this age. The good news? Either this losing streak or the streak of the Lightning has to end on Tuesday night.

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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.