YTD 8-8 +5.2 units
Florida -½ +180 over N.Y. ISLANDERS
7:05 PM EST. Regulation only. A few things to note here is that the Islanders overachieved in a big way last year when they were winning games they didn’t deserve to. This year, at least so far, they’re playing just as poorly but they don’t have two goaltenders that are walking on water. In four games thus far, the Isles have lost the puck-possession battle, the shots on net battle and the scoring chances battle in all of them. Its lone win this year came courtesy of the Jets but they didn’t deserve that one either, as Winnipeg had 31 scoring chances and buried just one of them. It’s not easy to be outchanced by the Jets.
Florida is also 1-3, which is why this game is so evenly priced but make no mistake that the hype that surrounded the Panthers before the season started was truly legit. Florida is a powerhouse offensive team that just keeps coming. Thus far, they have been the unluckiest team in the NHL, as they have not been outplayed in any of their games. Last night in Buffalo, Linus Ullmark made several spectacular saves that had the Panthers looking up to the skies. Even Florida’s fourth line is wreaking havoc with their relentless pursuit of the puck. The Panthers will go with their rookie backup goaltender here but at the end of the day, we’re getting great value with the far superior squad and we’re not going to miss it.
Columbus +180 over CAROLINA
7:05 PM EST. OT included. We found this excerpt from a well-known source that covers hockey extensively. This writer says that after five games, “The Hurricanes aren’t just rolling or speeding along, they’re a freight train. Simply put, Carolina has been spectacular.”
He went on to describe the ‘Canes 5-0 start:
“On opening night, the Hurricanes constructed a come-from-behind shootout victory over the Montreal Canadiens. In their first road outing of the season, Carolina again clawed back from a deficit to defeat the Washington Capitals in overtime. This past Sunday, coach Rod Brind’Amour’s group put on a stunning display to stun the Tampa Bay Lightning in an extra frame and then faced with a supposed-to-be up-and-coming Florida Panthers squad Tuesday, the Hurricanes thoroughly dismantled the Cats, scoring early and often to pick up a 6-3 victory and remain perfect after Week 1. Last night, they easily disposed of the Islanders”.
While we take nothing away from the Canes, let’s not get carried away here. Carolina’s first three games all went to OT, thus, they could have easily started 0-3 and than said media would be discussing something entirely different. See that “dismantling of the Cats” that the writer above refers to it as? Carolina allowed 50 shots on net while Florida’s goalie couldn’t get out of his own way. Don’t get us wrong, as the ‘Canes are rock solid but in no way are they dismantling clubs. The price to get behind them now has soared.
By contrast, Columbus is 1-3 after four games. The Jackets lost to Anaheim last night and they also lost to Toronto and Pittsburgh but held an advantage over both Anaheim and Toronto in terms of scoring chances. The Jackets lone win this year occurred in OT against Buffalo in a game they dominated for 60 minutes. In fact, Columbus outshot the Sabres 44-18. The price here suggests a mismatch but it’s not and we also like the situation for the Jackets. Aside from going with backup James Reimer, after this game, the ‘Canes head out to the West Coast for their first trip of the year. We often see teams vulnerable in their last home game before heading out on an extended road trip. Big overlay here.
CHICAGO -½ +123 over Winnipeg
7:05 PM EST. Regulation only. Chicago is 0-2 after losses to Philadelphia and San Jose but trust us when we suggest that they could easily be 2-0 after two, one goal defeats. The Blackhawks chose to use Corey Crawford in net in their first two games but had they chosen Robin Lehner, we might be discussing a 2-0 team instead. Actually, we wouldn’t be discussing anything at all because if Chicago was 2-0, its stock would be much higher in a market that values wins and losses above everything else and therefore they wouldn’t be so underpriced here. Chicago will go with Robin Lehner for this one.
Winnipeg was projected to be a team in trouble by every media outlet that covers this wonderful game. We don’t even have to tell you why because it’s so well documented. The Jets then go out and beat New Jersey, Pittsburgh and Minnesota in three of its last four games to squash those projections for the time being. What those victories do not reveal is that it’s probably worse than projected.
The Jets are coming off back-to-back three goal victories over the Pens and Wild. They were badly outplayed in both and outchanced by a wide margin in both also. In fact, Winnpeg was outchanced by a combined 52-30 in its last two games. The Jets have minor league defensemen getting an abundance of NHL minutes and it’s going to catch up to them. Furthermore, the Jets played their first four games on the road, came home for one game against Minnesota and had to head right back out for this one. The Jets have great talent up front but they are not going to keep winning games when they scoring chances against them are in abundance and we’ll gladly put that to the test against this hungry and dangerous host. Blackhawks a bargain here.
Philadelphia -½ +170 over VANCOUVER
10:05 PM EST. Regulation only. We like everything about the Canucks but we’re not going to ignore this opportunity to jump on the Flyers. Philadelphia’s projections this year were that they were a fringe playoff team at best and the market really hasn’t seen much of them at all. The Flyers started out the year with a weekday afternoon game overseas so few witnessed or even cared that they beat Chicago, 4-3. In its second win, Philadelphia beat the Devils, 4-0, but that win holds little weight right now because the Devils are winless at 0-4.
While two wins do not make a season, we like the sound of the Flyers locker room. Players are speaking of a great system under new head coach Alain Vigneault. What especially sticks out to us is that Philadelphia out-chanced Chicago 31-14 and then out-chanced New Jersey 30-13. Those are two very significant marks against offensive minded teams. The Flyers also have great confidence in their goaltender for the first time in a long time, as young Carter Hart looks like the real deal and that matters. Off to a 2-0 start under this new regime and very much under the radar, the Flyers are an underdog for the first time this year after the Canucks scored eight times on the Kings last game out. Once again, we could take back a tiny price with OT included but much prefer to play the Flyers to win in regulation with a much bigger takeback.
Florida -½ +180 over N.Y. ISLANDERS
7:05 PM EST. Regulation only. A few things to note here is that the Islanders overachieved in a big way last year when they were winning games they didn’t deserve to. This year, at least so far, they’re playing just as poorly but they don’t have two goaltenders that are walking on water. In four games thus far, the Isles have lost the puck-possession battle, the shots on net battle and the scoring chances battle in all of them. Its lone win this year came courtesy of the Jets but they didn’t deserve that one either, as Winnipeg had 31 scoring chances and buried just one of them. It’s not easy to be outchanced by the Jets.
Florida is also 1-3, which is why this game is so evenly priced but make no mistake that the hype that surrounded the Panthers before the season started was truly legit. Florida is a powerhouse offensive team that just keeps coming. Thus far, they have been the unluckiest team in the NHL, as they have not been outplayed in any of their games. Last night in Buffalo, Linus Ullmark made several spectacular saves that had the Panthers looking up to the skies. Even Florida’s fourth line is wreaking havoc with their relentless pursuit of the puck. The Panthers will go with their rookie backup goaltender here but at the end of the day, we’re getting great value with the far superior squad and we’re not going to miss it.
Columbus +180 over CAROLINA
7:05 PM EST. OT included. We found this excerpt from a well-known source that covers hockey extensively. This writer says that after five games, “The Hurricanes aren’t just rolling or speeding along, they’re a freight train. Simply put, Carolina has been spectacular.”
He went on to describe the ‘Canes 5-0 start:
“On opening night, the Hurricanes constructed a come-from-behind shootout victory over the Montreal Canadiens. In their first road outing of the season, Carolina again clawed back from a deficit to defeat the Washington Capitals in overtime. This past Sunday, coach Rod Brind’Amour’s group put on a stunning display to stun the Tampa Bay Lightning in an extra frame and then faced with a supposed-to-be up-and-coming Florida Panthers squad Tuesday, the Hurricanes thoroughly dismantled the Cats, scoring early and often to pick up a 6-3 victory and remain perfect after Week 1. Last night, they easily disposed of the Islanders”.
While we take nothing away from the Canes, let’s not get carried away here. Carolina’s first three games all went to OT, thus, they could have easily started 0-3 and than said media would be discussing something entirely different. See that “dismantling of the Cats” that the writer above refers to it as? Carolina allowed 50 shots on net while Florida’s goalie couldn’t get out of his own way. Don’t get us wrong, as the ‘Canes are rock solid but in no way are they dismantling clubs. The price to get behind them now has soared.
By contrast, Columbus is 1-3 after four games. The Jackets lost to Anaheim last night and they also lost to Toronto and Pittsburgh but held an advantage over both Anaheim and Toronto in terms of scoring chances. The Jackets lone win this year occurred in OT against Buffalo in a game they dominated for 60 minutes. In fact, Columbus outshot the Sabres 44-18. The price here suggests a mismatch but it’s not and we also like the situation for the Jackets. Aside from going with backup James Reimer, after this game, the ‘Canes head out to the West Coast for their first trip of the year. We often see teams vulnerable in their last home game before heading out on an extended road trip. Big overlay here.
CHICAGO -½ +123 over Winnipeg
7:05 PM EST. Regulation only. Chicago is 0-2 after losses to Philadelphia and San Jose but trust us when we suggest that they could easily be 2-0 after two, one goal defeats. The Blackhawks chose to use Corey Crawford in net in their first two games but had they chosen Robin Lehner, we might be discussing a 2-0 team instead. Actually, we wouldn’t be discussing anything at all because if Chicago was 2-0, its stock would be much higher in a market that values wins and losses above everything else and therefore they wouldn’t be so underpriced here. Chicago will go with Robin Lehner for this one.
Winnipeg was projected to be a team in trouble by every media outlet that covers this wonderful game. We don’t even have to tell you why because it’s so well documented. The Jets then go out and beat New Jersey, Pittsburgh and Minnesota in three of its last four games to squash those projections for the time being. What those victories do not reveal is that it’s probably worse than projected.
The Jets are coming off back-to-back three goal victories over the Pens and Wild. They were badly outplayed in both and outchanced by a wide margin in both also. In fact, Winnpeg was outchanced by a combined 52-30 in its last two games. The Jets have minor league defensemen getting an abundance of NHL minutes and it’s going to catch up to them. Furthermore, the Jets played their first four games on the road, came home for one game against Minnesota and had to head right back out for this one. The Jets have great talent up front but they are not going to keep winning games when they scoring chances against them are in abundance and we’ll gladly put that to the test against this hungry and dangerous host. Blackhawks a bargain here.
Philadelphia -½ +170 over VANCOUVER
10:05 PM EST. Regulation only. We like everything about the Canucks but we’re not going to ignore this opportunity to jump on the Flyers. Philadelphia’s projections this year were that they were a fringe playoff team at best and the market really hasn’t seen much of them at all. The Flyers started out the year with a weekday afternoon game overseas so few witnessed or even cared that they beat Chicago, 4-3. In its second win, Philadelphia beat the Devils, 4-0, but that win holds little weight right now because the Devils are winless at 0-4.
While two wins do not make a season, we like the sound of the Flyers locker room. Players are speaking of a great system under new head coach Alain Vigneault. What especially sticks out to us is that Philadelphia out-chanced Chicago 31-14 and then out-chanced New Jersey 30-13. Those are two very significant marks against offensive minded teams. The Flyers also have great confidence in their goaltender for the first time in a long time, as young Carter Hart looks like the real deal and that matters. Off to a 2-0 start under this new regime and very much under the radar, the Flyers are an underdog for the first time this year after the Canucks scored eight times on the Kings last game out. Once again, we could take back a tiny price with OT included but much prefer to play the Flyers to win in regulation with a much bigger takeback.
