Written by Graeme on Friday, February 25th, 2022
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Hi all,
Well it was a disappointing 0-2 last night, and bar a bunch of picks the next few days and a couple of sweeps, February is going to be a losing month for us.
There have been some crazy results this month. There were a few last night and unfortunately we got caught up in one of them, as the Calgary Flames got absolutely roasted by the Canucks. Flames just self combusted it seemed with a whopping 34 penalty minutes to 2. Canucks took advantage with 3 PPGs on that.
Bruins got the win alas it was in OT, not regulation as the Kraken held on strong. Grubauer had another excellent night out there.
Yesterday wasn’t all bad at least – Glasgow Rangers absolutely battered Dortmund in the Europa League. Amazing scenes.
Let’s see what we got for Friday:
Hurricanes vs Blue Jackets:
Hurricanes are very heavy favourites here. I’ve been hesitant to back them in regulation lately but that’s off the table here. Even the -1.5 odds are brutal at 1.74 odds.
Going against a Jackets team who are playing well – even with them on a back to back – I’m steering clear of this one.
Blues vs Sabres:
Blues would be another team where I’d have to back the handicap. They disappointed against the Habs a week ago, but have played well since.
When they win at home, they have covered the spread the last few games. Sabres come in on a rough 4 game losing streak, and were just blanked by Montreal.
Buffalo has quite a few players on day to day which is helpful. These two haven’t played yet this season. Actually, the last game between them was over 2 years ago.
In recent times when the Sabres lose, they fail to win by the puck line. Their last 7 regulation losses have seen that happen.
Gotta go with the data here. Blues -1.5.
Canada: 1.85 Odds at Sports Interaction (SIA).
USA: -120 Odds at GT Bets..
Everyone Else: 1.83 Odds at Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv.
(Odds correct as of 2022/02/25 9:29:32 AM EST but are subject to change.)
Blackhawks vs Devils:
I mean Devils coming in off that huge win yesterday – just no idea what to expect. This really feels like a coin flip of a game. There might be value betting the Devils. But backing the Devils on a road game, on a back to back? Not something I could advise here.
Avalanche vs Jets:
Not betting anything involving the Jets.
Coyotes vs Knights:
Just can’t back a handicap on the road so nothing for the Knights. Call me crazy – especially with DeBoer going for his 500th victory as an NHL coach – but my gut says we see an upset here and the Coyotes win.
Heck, I might even make a play on them to win in regulation. The problem is I can’t just advise that on a pure gut play – I have to be able to back Coyotes winning with some sort of data. There’s nothing that will really suggest they do that.
No bet.
Ducks vs Kings:
Feels like a game that could go either way and the bookies feel the same with the odds set the way they are.
Absolutely no idea on this one. One of those where I probably throw a small amount on it going to overtime just to give me something to cheer for. I’ve never been able to predict overtime games with any real degree of accuracy – which is a shame, as I do feel there is a lot of value in that line. So going to pass on this one too.
It seems there are more nights when the dogs are prevailing or at least keeping it close than not recently. It could be a point in the season when teams on the bubble or below it are playing with more urgency while teams who are cruising are taking the teams lower on the table less seriously. The psychological aspects of the games can’t be overlooked.
The Blue Jackets are playing with confidence in front of Jean-Francois Berube who continued his storybook return to the NHL, by winning his third consecutive game after seeing his first NHL action in over four years earlier in the week. I’ll gladly take them +PL and TT over 2 1/2. In L4, Blue Jackets have scored 6-4-7-7 and Canes have given up 3 goals in each of the L5 and Anderson has given up 3 in his L4.
The Devils are on a B2B but I like for them to continue their momentum from dummying the Pens last night. The return of Bratt, Johnsson and Hamilton was huge for that lineup and the Blackhawks have been bad this month. I’ll take positive odds with the Devils
That’s all for now.
GLTA SDB
To WIN moneyline: St. Louie’s Blues
To WIN puckline: Colorado
To WIN against the PL spread: Columbus, so +1.5
Full game OVER 5.5: Columbus, and LA games
Lean: Flames don’t play today
I’ve never seen such a totally weird NHL game as yesterday’s Canucks/Flames game. Were the officials on LSD, or maybe the Canucks were all on it and it worked wonders? Officials were weird, Calgary paraded to the sin bin, Canucks shots were so perfectly aimed that no doubt they used up two month’s worth of luck. Canucks players looked stunned at how things were going, it wasn’t confidence they were showing. At least two Flames goals called back. Johnny Hockey given a misconduct for mouthing off at refs who were blatantly incompetent for at least half the game. Lucic ejected for what I don’t know. The NHL should review the officials, it was nuts. Also, there was a steady occurrence of turnovers and it seemed they all went against Calgary, it was like the game was a Tarot Card picture indicating a day of extreme and crazy misfortune. Still freaked out about it. Maybe watch for more bizarre crap at the next Canucks home game?