Hockey Handicapping Articles

NHL Eastern Conference Finals Predictions: New York Rangers vs Tampa Bay Lightning
by Devon Rymarchuk - 5/31/2022

The back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions Tampa Bay Lightning find themselves in very familiar territory as they face off against the New York Rangers, who are coming off a blowout Game 7 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Both teams have been led all season and the playoffs by superior goaltending. Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy are amongst the league’s finest when it comes to goaltending, and both are front runners (best odds) for the Vezina, which is given to the league’s best goalie.

NHL First Round Series Predictions and Betting Odds
by Devon Rymarchuk - 5/2/2022

The 2022 regular season is in the books for the NHL, and the league could not be heading in a better direction. The transparency throughout the league and how many contenders for the Stanley Cup the NHL has right now makes it one of the healthiest leagues in all of sports.

NHL Betting Help: Hot and Cold Moneyline and Puckline
by Cameron McQuade - 4/1/2022

We are officially under one month away until the end of the NHL regular season. The Eastern Conference playoff teams seem to have solidified their spot in the Top 8 and are now just fighting for seeding. The Western Conference is much different, with a great fight between Winnipeg, Dallas, and Vegas. With many meaningful games remaining, it’s important to see which teams are hot and cold to bet accordingly, follow the trends, and know when to fade the trends.

NHL Betting Help: Hot and Cold Moneyline and Over Under
by Josh Weil - 2/20/2022

The NHL season started off with a ton of COVID issues, and the results were truly all over the place. However, now it feels like a normal season again. Hockey betting is very trend happy, especially compared to other sports. As a result, it is very important to realize which teams are scoring goals, conceding them, and winning. We will be focused on the moneyline and game totals here.

Biggest Comebacks in NHL History
by Mike Pruitt - 10/26/2021

In games like hockey, coming back from a large deficit is one of the most difficult things to do in the entire sporting world. Once a team is up a couple of goals, and we have made it at least to the second period, this is when you will see the squad with the lead shift their line into a much more defensive posture.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens NHL Playoff Series Predictions
by Doc's Sports - 5/18/2021

For these two storied franchises, playoff success has been rather few and far between since Montreal was last able to hoist the Stanley Cup back in 1993. That remains the last time a Canadian team won the Cup. And as such, this championship drought has made the Canadian franchises the butt of any jokes involving the playoffs. For as big a rivalry as the Leafs/Habs has been over the last couple of decades, the fact remains that this is the first playoff meeting between these two clubs since 1979. That’s right, 1979. That’s doesn’t mean there hasn’t a rivalry, it has just been a bit fabricated in terms of legitimate hate towards one another. But boy am I glad to finally see this series come to life.

Nashville Predators vs Carolina Hurricanes NHL Playoff Series Predictions
by Doc's Sports - 5/17/2021

Oh, how the tables have turned. The Nashville Predators had a great run of form from the 2016-17 season where they went to the Cup Finals only to lose to Pittsburgh in six games. They followed that up with back-to-back division titles, but since then it’s been nothing but misfortune for the Predators despite reaching the playoffs in both last year and this season.

Minnesota Wild vs Vegas Golden Knights NHL Playoff Series Predictions
by Doc's Sports - 5/15/2021

This first-round matchup between the Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights could easily be the hardest series to predict. Why? Well because the Golden Knights finished second overall in the entire league – level with Colorado for most points – and second in the division, seven points up on Minnesota, yet they actually have a losing record against the Wild. Yes, Vegas finished the regular-season series against the Wild with just a 3-5 record, which is absurd given how dominant they were at times this season. Hockey has a funny way of evening out the playing surface as we’ve seen time and time again; a certain team just having another team’s number.

2021 NHL West Division Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 1/4/2021

If you’re a fan of old-school hockey and love watching 2-1 games every single night, the NHL’s newly-minted West Division might be the division for you. Outside of the Avalanche, who boast elite talent up and down the lineup, this division figures to be extremely low scoring amongst the other six teams in the division. For starters, you have three of the top six teams from last year in respect of goals-against average and four of the top-13 teams, with Vegas sitting 13th.

2021 NHL East Division Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 1/4/2021

If I was a fan of any team in the league, I would be extremely worried about making the playoffs in the NHL’s newly minted East Division as this division is perhaps the strongest and will be the most competitive division from start to finish. Right off the bat, you have a Boston team who checks in as the favorites to win the division. And in a shortened season, this veteran squad could get hot at the right time and make another deep playoff run.

2021 NHL Central Division Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 1/4/2021

The NHL’s newly minted Central Division is a collection of teams that have either tasted success recently or been on the wrong end of a hard-fought playoff series. For starters, you have the Lightning, who are the defending Cup Champions at the expense of the Dallas Stars, who also find themselves in the Central Division. The Hurricanes are two seasons removed from competing in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Bruins, only to be swept 4-0.

2021 North Division Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 1/4/2021

As I was preparing to write this intro, I listed off a bunch of words that I could use to describe what an all-Canadian division is going to be like. The word that stuck out the most to me was “intense”. Not only does each Canadian team play each other nine or 10 times, they do so with such geographical rivalries that only a few teams are familiar with.

New York Rangers vs Carolina Hurricanes NHL Series Odds and Expert Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 7/28/2020

The goal for these preview pieces is to help inform you/remind you which team has the edge on both ends of the rink. I fully acknowledge the fact that because of the weird circumstances and the whole “bubble” thing with no real home-ice advantage, the stats before the lockdown and after the restart may not look similar at all. Teams will be rusty, and I expect teams to be a bit cautious as to how they attack the play-in round as they know one bad game could be the end of the line for them.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Series Odds and Expert Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 7/28/2020

This series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets figures to be one of the most-watched play-in series the NHL has to offer. On one side of the coin, you have the Blue Jackets, who were in a battle for a wild-card spot before the league shut down, and then you have the Leafs, who were three points up on the Panthers for the final divisional spot in the Atlantic. Both of these teams have to like their chances of winning this round and advancing, but only one can do so.

NHL All-Star Game Predictions and Expert Betting Picks
by Doc's Sports - 1/24/2020

This year, the NHL All-Star game will take place on Saturday January 25, 2020, at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. This will be the NHL's 65th edition of the showcase but just the fifth under the newest format, which pits the Atlantic Division against the Metropolitan and the Central against the Pacific, for the right to battle in the finals for a payout of a cool $1 million.

NHL Division Winner Odds and Expert Betting Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 12/19/2019

The playoff format the NHL has used these last few years has no shortage of flaws. It's dumb, really. But one positive it does have is that it makes the divisional races much more interesting than they are in the NBA. Where you finish in your division really matters. A lot. Too much. So, as we near the short Christmas break in the league, it's a good time to check in on how these races are breaking down.

NHL Betting Advice: Value Teams Better than Record
by Trevor Whenham - 12/11/2019

We are more than a third of the way into the NHL season. The sample size is large enough that we probably know what most teams are. When you look at the standings, though, it is striking how many teams aren't what their record suggests they are. Edmonton, Arizona and the Islanders are all teams that could easily be accused of overachieving and putting up numbers they will struggle to match in the second half of the schedule.

Expert NHL Handicapping and Betting Advice: Home and Road Splits
by Trevor Whenham - 12/6/2019

There is no better indicator in the NHL - at not one you can see in a glance - of a team in the NHL that has some issues that they need to resolve if they want to have any real success than a gap in performance on the road compared to at home. Winning on home ice is easier than on the road for reasons both real - like having the last line change - and psychological.

Expert Hockey Betting Advice: Which Team is Poised for Post-Holiday Turnaround?
by Trevor Whenham - 11/27/2019

There is a theory in NHL circles that if a team is not in a playoff position by Thanksgiving, then they are in real trouble. It's more than a theory, really - it's a pretty solid trend. In the five years prior to last season, 62 of the 80 teams that had been in a playoff spot as people sat down to gorge themselves on turkey were still there when the season ended so many months later. That's a 77.5 percent rate. Last year, things were just a little off of that pace, as 11 of the 16 playoff teams were in those spots in November.

NHL Betting Advice for the Best and Worst Teams for Wagering Profits
by Trevor Whenham - 11/20/2019

We are a quarter of the way through the NHL season, give or take. Some things have turned out as expected - the Bruins and Capitals are as strong as expected, and the Blues have kept rolling after their stellar second half and Cup win last year. But there are several results that aren't living up to expectations.