January 13 2014 Expert NHL Picks
The Sabres got past the Capitals 2-1 in a shootout cashing a HUGE underdog winner for us. We got the Sabres at 2.79, however as predicted by sports insights, the line did move in favor of Buffalo as they were 2.88-3.00 at most sports books before game time. If you waited a bit to place your bet, you would’ve won even more. The Devils lost to the Leafs in a shootout, barely missing our other huge underdog play on the Devils. We finished the day 1-1 and picked up 1.58 units of profit. We’ve got another huge underdog pick for tonight that provides great value:
Vancouver Canucks @ LA Kings: CANUCKS 2.41
Note: You may want to lock this in ASAP, as sports insights has a 73% confidence that the line on Vancouver will go down. I highly recommend giving Sports Insights a try, it is an incredible piece of software and they have a $79 trial that you can learn more about by clicking here.
What great odds we are receiving on the Canucks tonight. Both the Canucks and Kings are struggling to find wins. The Canucks managed to pull of a 2-1 victory over one of the best teams in the NHL on Friday, the St.Louis Blues. Before their victory, Vancouver had lost 5 in a row, 2 of 5 on the road. The Kings have suffered a similar fate, losing their last game 1-3 against the Detroit Red Wings (Kings were huge favorites, around 1.50). The Los Angelas club has lost 7 of their last 10 games, and are having a hard time finding the back of the net. The Kings were scoreless in two of those losses, in a blistering 5-0 loss to the St.Louis Blues (Jan.2), and a 1-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on December 30th. Over their last 10 games the Kings have only been able to put 1.70 goals per game on the board, which just won’t win hockey games. Overall, the Kings offense is scoring 2.46 goals per game, ranked 22nd overall for scoring. The Canucks scoring is down slightly over their last 10 games, putting an average of 2.20 goals per game on the board, however they are still outscoring the LA Kings. The Canucks score 2.63 goals per game overall, 15th for scoring. When it comes to defense, the Kings have the best defense in the NHL, allowing just 2.02 goals against per game, however over their last 10 games they have allowed 2.60 goals against per game, which is the exact number of goals the Canucks have allowed across their last 10 games. Both the Kings offense and defense have been underperforming lately. Jonathan Quick (probable tonight against Vancouver) won his first outing back which was against the Canucks (3-1 victory, .964 SV%) however since that game he has lost 2 of 3 games, which includes the 3-1 loss to Detroit (.885 SV%) and a 2-1 SO loss to Minnesota. He managed a victory against the Bruins, however he finished the game with a .909 SV%. These two clubs share a similar power play, with Vancouver slightly ahead at 15.5% (23rd) while the Kings have a 15.3 PP% (24th). The Canucks own the best penalty kill in the NHL at 89.1%, while the Kings are ranked 8th on the penalty kill at 84.4%. The Kings are slightly less disciplined than the Canucks, taking 11.6 penalty minutes per game while the Canucks are taking 10.8 PIM/G on average. As you probably know, Roberto Luongo is sidelined with an ankle injury (1-2 weeks), so Eddie Lack will likely start tonight for the Canucks. Eddie has gone 8-3-3 this season, has maintained a 2.19 GAA and a .923 SV%: his GAA and SV% are slightly better than Luongos. Quick is 12-6-1, has a 2.22 GAA and a .909 SV%. The Canucks have a greater chance at winning this game than the price indicates, which provides exceptional value for us. We’ll take the Canucks over the Kings for 2 units tonight and will look to cash in on another huge underdog.
