As we steamroll to show time at 8pm ET tonight, there are some picks to be made in the new month. Last month we lost a couple weeks due to unforeseen circumstances but not this month. By the way the 45-15 record in November was very respectable.
Tonight we are going to take a look at four of the later games (the ones that start right as the show starts). The key in getting off to a quick start in the month is to know your trends. What you have seen in the first two months of the season should paint at least a somewhat clear picture in your head of what is going to transpire. Yes, upsets happen and there are always one or two a night minimum but if you stick to your guns, the success rate should be above 50% most any night and approaching 70-80% on some other nights.
So what is going to happen tonight since we bypassed the three early games? Well we are taking on the other four. I make it a general rule not to mention team records because it is common knowledge. If you base picks solely on that fact, one could really end up in trouble and fast. Now no one is saying that this is not a successful method but you can end up unlucky almost as much as lucky on that one. Common sense over high risk / high reward is much more prudent especially when putting your hard earned money on the line.
With that being said, there are some tough ones to be had on this night. Think of the first night of the month as a warm-up to some of the bigger and better nights to bet. Washington and St. Louis is first up on the docket and this features the Caps offense versus the Blues goaltending in Jaroslav Halak. When Halak is on, the Blues are tough to beat but when he is off, this team falls flat worse than pan pizza bread at Little Caesar’s. Alex Ovechkin is a passing machine, Alex Semin has 18 goals and suddenly Washington feels the need to send a 50 point scorer away for a guy a half step slow in covering the top players. Well that is an improvement. That being said, Washington has a bit too much firepower and they have to start winning. Take the plus 1 1/2 on the Caps.
Next up, Phoenix and Minnesota get all wild for us at the XCEL. The problem in some ways is that these teams are mirror images of each other. Throw out the records for this game and do not even look at them. They both rely on superior goaltending that can get very fussy and moody from time to time. Then they toss in just enough timely scoring to make it all work. The goalie Backstrom has slipped back a bit as I had predicted in my fantasy hockey projections but not enough to completely dismiss Minnesota for this tilt. Yes Phoenix has been winning lately and Ray Whitney looks like the player he was supposed to but the Coyotes scoring can dry up like the desert dogs they are tonight. Look for Minnesota to cover barely and to send Phoenix back home limping.
Now we head off to Calgary to see how else the Sutter brothers can screw this one up. Actually Vancouver and Calgary is always a fun match-up. Miikka Kiprusoff versus Roberto Luongo in a battle of goalies who should be a bit better than their numbers. Throw out the first lines and this game is pretty even but the problem is we cannot do that here. That would be a disservice to our readers. The Sedin twins normally will edge out Tanguay and Iginla any day of the week. It is why I have Vancouver at least covering if not winning outright. This is the type of game the Sedin twins relish. Expect a big effort from them tonight.
Finally, we quickly delve into Florida vs. Anaheim. Anaheim is much better team at home than on the road. Florida is 0 for November on the man advantage. The player to look out for as far as Anaheim may be Cam Fowler who has 9 points in his last 10 games and yes Teemu Selanne has 23 points in his last 20 games. Tomas Vokoun is 2-8-1 career against Anaheim with a 3.29 GAA. See where I may be leaning here? Watch Florida score on the man advantage tonight and yet it will not matter as Anaheim wins this one by just enough with the empty net cover on their side.
So how will we do tonight? I do not know. However, thanks to the many betting sites that help us out and you can go to our show page on Blog Talk Radio for the latest hockey betting lines. Good luck tonight and hopefully on this Hump Night you have something to celebrate.
Game being played at Stockholm, Sweden
