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After a short Christmas break, NHL is back in action with 14 games on Wednesday night. We have the done a game breakdown of the top four games of the night.
The Ottawa Senators have a lot of work to do to get off the bottom of the conference and winning points in Toronto would be a huge confidence boost. The Boston Bruins are on the longest losing streak this season and will have a chance to bounce back when they visit Buffalo. The Vegas Golden Knights are on top of the West and will visit Anaheim looking for another win over the Ducks. In a matchup between two teams from California, the Los Angeles Kings will host the San Jose Sharks.
Let’s take a deeper look at the NHL betting trends for these four games.
Ottawa Senators vs Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are having a solid season but are still one step behind the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Currently, they are fourth in the East with a 17-8-6 record, seven points behind the leading New York Rangers.
The Leafs are third in the league scoring 3.58 goals per game and Auston Matthews leads NHL with 28 goals this season. William Nylander also has a fantastic year totaling for 45 points which ranks him fourth in the league. The Leafs are also in top 10 in the league in points per game and power play conversion.
The won 3 of the last 5 games, including a 7-0 blowout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Anyway, two consecutive losses followed that one, 5-2 at home to the Rangers and the toughest loss of the season, 9-3 in Buffalo. In the last game before the break, the Maple Leafs defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1.
The Ottawa Senators have a season to forget being stuck at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 12-17-0 record, four points behind the closest team in the standings.
The Senators were on a six-game losing streak, allowing at least four goals of each of those games, before winning 5-4 in overtime over the Penguins in the last one.
Ottawa is ranked 27th in the league allowing 3.55 goals per game. Brady Tkachuk is the top goal scorer on the team with 15 so far in the season while Tim Stutzle is on top with 32 points, 25 of whom are assists.
Ottawa Senators vs Toronto Maple Leafs: NHL betting trends
The total has gone over in the last five Senators games and in 6 of the last 7 Maple Leafs games.
Prediction and Conclusion
Both teams are usually going over this season and that has been the case with their recent head-to-head games. The last three matchups between these two teams have seen at least six goals and the last time Ottawa visited Toronto, the Senators won 6-3. The total goal line is set at 6.5 for this game and the score will probably get closer to 10 than to the given line.
Boston Bruins vs Buffalo Sabres
The Boston Bruins had an excellent start of the season but things are not going quite well lately. The Bruins have lost four consecutive games, the longest losing streak in the last two seasons. The first two losses came at home in overtime against the Rangers and Wild, and then Boston lost on the road in Winnipeg 5-1 and in Minnesota 3-2.
Still, Boston is second in the Eastern Conference with a 19-7-6 record and are three points behind the leading Rangers.
The Bruins are fifth in the league allowing 2.66 goals per game and have the highest saving percentage in the NHL of 92%. David Pastrnak is the best player on the team with 44 points, 20 of which are goals which ranks him fourth in the league.
The Buffalo Sabres are 14th in the East with a 14-17-4 record. They are 4-4-2 in the last 10 games and are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Rangers, third in the last four games for the Sabres.
Casey Mittelstadt and Rasmus Dahlin lead the team with 29 points each.
Boston Bruins vs Buffalo Sabres: NHL betting trends
The Bruins have defeated the Sabres the last five times they visited Buffalo and covered the spread in each of those games.
Prediction and Conclusion
The Boston Bruins are one of the best teams in the league despite losing four straight games. They play with a chip on their shoulder after winning the most points ever in a regular season last year, but failed in the first playoff run. The Sabres are near the bottom of the standings in the East and the Bruins are a team that has been dominating them regularly in the last couple of season. Boston needs to get out of a deep hole and will take care of business against the Sabres by covering the spread of -1.5 goals.
Vegas Golden Knights vs Los Angeles Kings
The defending champions Vegas Golden Knights are second the Western Conference with a 21-9-5 record, two points behind the leading Vancouver Canucks. It seems like they really needed the Christmas break as they lost the last three games, all of which in regulation on the road.
The Golden Knights are 11th in the NHL with 3.37 goals per game and are third with a total of 324 points.
Jonathan Marchessault leads the team with 17 goals and Jack Eichel is on top with a total of 39 points. Still, goalie Adin Hill is the strength of the team as he is on top of the league allowing only 1.93 goals per game and have league-high 93.3% save percentage.
The Anaheim Ducks have another disappointing season as they sit 14th in the West with a 12-21-0 record. The Ducks had only one win between the middle of November and middle of December, before winning back-to-back games in New Jersey and Detroit. They started an eight-game home span with losses to Calgary and Seattle.
The Ducks lead the league in penalty minutes and are ranked 24th allowing 3.36 goals per game.
Vegas Golden Knights vs Los Angeles Kings: NHL betting trends
The Golden Knights have gone over the total goal line in 4 of the last 5 road games and in 8 of the last 9 overall. Furthermore, the Ducks and the Knights have played over in 4 of their last 6 head-to-head games.
Prediction and Conclusion
Both teams are going into this game with losing streak hoping to bounce back. There is no doubt that Vegas is a much better team but the Ducks won the last two home games against the Golden Knights. The Ducks have no defensive assets to slow down the Golden Knights, so they will have to attack and hope for the best. The total given line for this game is set at 6 and the final score will most likely go over it for fifth time in the last seven games between these two teams.
San Jose Sharks vs Los Angeles Kings
The San Jose Sharks are at the bottom of the Western Conference with the worst record in the entire league of 9-22-3. The Sharks are especially bad on the road with a 3-14-1 record. They have lost the last five games and are going to LA after a 7-4 loss to the Canucks in Vancouver.
The Sharks are by far the lowest-scoring team in the league averaging only 2.15 goals per game. They are also at league bottom allowing 4.04 goals per game.
Tomas Hertl is the best player on the team with 27 points, followed by Mikael Granlund with 23.
The Los Angeles Kings are having a promising season, being sixth in the Western Conference standings with a 19-7-4 record, but have played at least two less games than the competitors. The Kings have the worst home record among the teams from the top half of the standings being only 6-6-3 playing in LA.
The Kings have won 3 of the last 4 games and are coming off a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames. They are the best defensive team in the league allowing only 2.37 goals per game and are ranked fourth scoring 3.53 goals per game.
Anze Kopitar leads the Kings with 31 points this season.
San Jose Sharks vs Los Angeles Kings: NHL betting trends
The Kings have defeated the Sharks in the last five head-to-head games.
Prediction and Conclusion
The two teams from California have totally different seasons. The Kings look like real contender while the Sharks are at the rock bottom of the league and it seems like they will stay there for good. The Sharks are the worst scoring team in the league and scoring against the best defense in the league on their ice will be extremely difficult. The Kings won the last five against the Sharks and that run will continue.
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