The Blue Jackets dominated the first two periods, but were unable to get a lead against the Avs and Semyon Varlamov, who is making me feel like that trade between the Avs and Caps was less one-sided every day. In the 3rd the Blue Jackets scored an early goal, but that turned out to be their only shot of the period as the Avalanche showed some guts that I didn’t think they were capable of putting up 16 shots and scoring a goal to force OT. We all know what happened in the shootout and that’s 2.25 units lost bringing my yearly total to (3-5) for -2.85 units. There are plenty of games to choose from tonight so let’s find some sharp lines.
Colorado Avalanche @ Ottawa Senators
These are two teams that could have easily been at the 29th and 30th position of many experts power rankings to start the season. The Avs are playing a little bit over their heads with a 2-1-0 start after their comeback victory over the Blue Jackets last night, while the Senators earned a well deserved shootout win over the Wild on Tuesday after coming back from 3-1 down in the third to win a game that they dominated for the most part. Semyon Varlamov has been a big part of the Avs success so far, so it’s good for the Sens that he is being rested in favour of Giguere in this back-to-back situation. Expect the Senators to take full advantage of this goaltender change and the fact that the Avs should be tired following their intense 3rd period in Columbus where they outshot the Blue Jackets 16-1 in the final frame to get back into the game.
Play: Ottawa Senators -140
Tampa Bay Lightning @ New York Islanders
The Lightning are (1-1-1) but you can still tell from watching them play that this teams success last year was no joke. The Islanders are still a sub par team this line is just too good to not take the Lightning on Long Island.
Play: Tampa Bay Lightning -118
Washington Capitals @ Pittsburgh Penguins
Malkin is once again out and you have to wonder if the Penguins will be able to muster up enough offense to keep up with the high powered Caps who seem to once again be scoring in bunches circa Caps of 2009. The other Penguins can step up for a while when a star is out, but eventually everyone goes back to playing at their level and that level shouldn’t be high enough to beat the Caps.
Play: Washington Capitals -109
Vancouver Canucks @ Detroit Red Wings
The Canucks lost a tight one in Philadelphia last night and now they travel quickly to another top NHL team in Detroit. The Red Wings have won two games very convincingly to start off the season and they have had a long break between their last game (October 8th) and tonight. The Red Wings should take advantage of a tired Canucks team. It’s also good to note that it’s often possible to find sharp lines against the Canucks when they are facing other top teams because the Canucks have so many easy inter-division games that their stock rises naturally.
Play: Detroit Red Wings -129
**Note that the links with the plays lead to the online sportsbook with the best odds for that outcome.
To keep up with the games live, I use NHL.com. The software is much improved from previous years and the games update in real time.
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Written by: Niko de Jonge
Tagged with: Colorado Avalanche Betting • Ottawa Senators betting • Tampa Bay Lightning betting • Washington Capitals betting