NHL Hockey Best Bets for December 27, 2015
The NHL is back to work after the holiday break. There’s nine games on the card for Sunday night and here are our best bets:
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS AT NEW YORK ISLANDERS:
The Leafs are nothing special but the Islanders have lost three of their last four games, beating only hapless Anaheim. In the three losses they scored only two goals. The big problem is a lower body injury to leading scorer Kyle Okposo that might end up being more significant than the team originally let on. Hard to see the holiday break being a positive for the Islanders’ offense. Adding to the bad news–starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak missed practice on Saturday due to what is being described as an upper body injury. Halak is listed as ‘day to day’ which means that Thomas Greiss will be between the pipes until he recovers. Greiss is 9-4-2 with a 2.03 goals against average and 0.933 save percentage and 1 shutout.
Toronto will start Jonathan Bernier who hasn’t been able to buy a break this season. He’s split time with James Reimer and neither have been particularly effective. Reimer has had more ‘puck luck’ while Bernier has a record of 2-9-3 with a 3.21 goals against average and a 0.889 save percentage. He’s got one shutout on the season. The Islanders are a better team but are notorious underacheivers. The big question is why they’re -210 favorites minus Okposo and Halak? They shouldn’t be so we’ll take the big price on the road underdog.
BET TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS +180 OVER NEW YORK ISLANDERS
ST. LOUIS BLUES AT DALLAS STARS:
Quick rematch in a home and home series. Blues won the opening game on their home ice 3-2 in a shootout and now the Stars get a chance to return the favor. Typically, it’s a good idea to play against the game one winner in these quick rematches and that’s what we’ll do here. The Blues are playing well winning two straight and 7 of 10 but they’ve been very erratic this season. Perhaps the most problematic component of their game is a tendency to lose focus at times. That’s precisely why teams who win the first game of ‘quick rematch’ series are a go-against in the second game. Given the Stars success this season and particularly at home (14-4-0) that -140 looks pretty cheap.
BET DALLAS STARS -140 OVER ST. LOUIS BLUES