| Range | W | L | P | +/- (Units) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yesterday | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | +0.82 |
| Last 30 Days | 6 | 13 | 0.00 | -11.40 |
| Season to Date | 6 | 13 | 0.00 | -11.40 |
N.Y. ISLANDERS -½ +106 over San Jose
Regulation only. The Sharks are 4-0. They’ve allowed an incredibly stingy two goals against in those four games while scoring 14 of their own. San Jose is off to a scorching hot start and they have deserved every goal and every point in the standings earned. Goaltender Martin Jones has been sensational. The Sharkies are playing with confidence and they’re not a team that the market is not looking to fade right now.
What sticks out to us is that the oddsmakers made the Islanders a -155 favorite here to open. That line is rather ludicrous when you consider how good San Jose has been. With that in mind, we’re going to ignore everything and just play the line. When a team is favored by that much when they clearly should not be, it’s a clear indication to us that the oddsmakers are welcoming all San Jose money. There are times when we just have to play the numbers and in this case the line strongly suggests an Islander win. We’ll allow the oddsmakers to choose this winner for us and there is nothing more to be said about it.
Edmonton +131 over CALGARY
OT included. Do you really want to be spotting a tag like this with the struggling Flames? We don’t. Calgary has one win in four games. They have mustered a mere 38 shots on net combined over its last two games, 18 on St. Louis and 20 last night against Winnipeg. In three of their last four games, the Flames have been on the power-play just twice so the Flames aren’t drawing many penalties either. They also have weak goaltending and it would appear that Jonas Hiller will start this one after Kari Ramo played last night. We wouldn’t lay this price with Hiller in net even if the game was final.
The Oilers are really just the unfortunate recipients of a tough early schedule but we trust it’ll serve them well in the near future. Edmonton is 0-4 after three road games and one home game against the always tough Blue Notes. The Oilers also played the Blues in St. Louis with their other road games being in Nashville and Dallas. Edmonton has not been dominated at all this year. They played nose-to-nose with St. Louis in both games and were the better team in Nashville. The Oilers drew five penalties against St. Louis and five against Nashville but went 0-10 in those PP opportunities. A slight tweak there or a few better bounces and things could get better in a hurry. We’ve been backing the Oilers early and we would throw in the towel if they were playing poorly but they’re not. This is Edmonton’s chance to get off the mattress. They have a big edge in net and they have too much firepower to be held to such low goal totals much longer. Edmonton’s offensive breakout will happen and this is its easiest assignment to date. Great value here.
Boston -105 over ARIZONA
Had this game been scheduled one week ago, the Bruins would be a -150 favorite but Arizona’s hot start combined with Boston’s poor start has this number a little out of whack. One has to love what the Coyotes have accomplished so far. Max Domi and Anthony Duclair have been lighting up the scoreboard while Mike Smith has gone Carey Price on the opposition. However, the Coyotes only scoring line is that young one. In the preseason, Arizona scored four goals in its final six preseason games. Mike Smith cannot keep it up because he’s just not that good and we highly doubt he’s found some secret sauce to make him better.
Meanwhile Tuukka Rask is 0-3 with a poor .846 save percentage and 4.72 goals-against-average. This isn’t bizarro world. Things will go back to normal anytime now. Far too much weight is being put on Boston’s tough start. While we agree that Boston is not as strong as previous years, they are still a formidable team with many good parts. Zdeno Chara is back. The B’s went into Colorado in their last game and defeated the Avs 6-2. Sometimes getting on the road and reorganizing is the best medicine for a team off to a shaky start. Boston has allowed just 22 and 23 shots on net over its last two games against Tampa Bay and Colorado respectively. That’s significant. The Bruins cannot be a pooch in Arizona this early in the season. If both these teams continued on their current paths for 20 games it would be warranted but we’re talking about one week of hockey here. The Bruins at a bargain price is the right position.
