NHL Hockey Betting

NHL Hot or Not

The NHL season is over and the playoff match ups have been set. For this edition of the NHL Hot/Cold we will look at the NHL teams that are in the playoffs and ones that are hot going in and ones that are cold. The hot teams entering the playoffs are Washington, Anaheim, and Montreal and the cold teams are Ottawa, Boston, and the New York Rangers.

No team in the NHL is hotter than Washington, as the Capitals have won 9 of their last 10 games. In their last 5 games the Caps have won against the spread every time and scored an average of 3.6 goals a game only allowing 1.2 goals a game in that 5 game span. Betting on the Caps in the first round is tricky, as they match up with Philadelphia in the first round, as the Flyers have won 7 of their last 10 games. Anaheim is also hot entering the post season, as the Ducks have won 8 of their last 10 games and in their last 5 games have won against the spread 4 times. The best bet in the first round may be for Anaheim, as they match up with Dallas who have only won 3 of their last 10 games. Defense is key in the playoffs and the Under bet in this series is the smart wager, as the Ducks have gone Under 4 times in their last 5 games because of their stellar defense. Montreal is hot and grabbed the #1 seed in the East. In the Canadians last 10 games they have won 8 times and in their last 5 games they have won against the spread 4 times. In the first round they play Boston, who Montreal has beat 8 times in a row. Betting on the Canadians is the smart bet. It is interesting that in the last 5 games for Montreal they have only allowed an average of 1.8 goals a game, while in their last 5 games Boston has only scored an average of 1.8 goals a game.

Ottawa did not play well in the second half of the season and limps into the playoffs only winning 3 of their last 10 games. In their last 5 games the Senators have only won against the spread 1 time giving up an average of 3 goals a game in that 5 game span. The Senators are hurt by injuries and wracked by controversy and play a tough Pittsburgh team in the first round. Betting against Ottawa may look tempting but beware, as the Senators knocked off the Penguins in last year's playoffs in 5 games. Boston is cold entering the post season only winning 4 o their last 10 games in their last 5 games have only won against the spread 2 times. For the Boston / Montreal series the smart bet is not only taking Montreal but they Under as well, as the Bruins have gone Under in their last 5 games. The New York Rangers have been up and down all season and did not finish the year strong only winning 5 of their last 10 games. In their last 5 games the Rangers have only won against the spread 2 times. Betting against the Rangers their first round match up with the New Jersey Devils is a good call not only because the Rangers are cold, but also because the Devils have Martin Brodeur between the pipes. Goaltending wins playoff games and Brodeur and his 2.17 goals against average is still one of the best in the league.