NHL Saturday night Lots of good games tomorrow night and I was trying to see what I thought would be some good prices in line with my thoughts. I bet 3 games very small to start but wanted to get something down on them and will watch for developments tomorrow.
(1) Islanders vs. Minnesota. I'm on the Islanders tomorrow night on the puck line at -208. The Wild are in line to lose 3 in a row if they lose this and that makes sense to me because I cannot believe they're this good a team to have the top record in the NHL. But they need some respect on the line. They do have great goaltending though but they've already announced that Koivu won't play and Latendresse (who has missed games already this year) is out, Setoguchi is already out and Pierre Marc Bouchard is out. No doubt they've been a surprise and the Islanders aren't too hot that is for sure but with those injuries it levels the playing field here quite a bit. Based on Minnesota's outperformance at least IMO and injuries I think the Isles offer some value.
In fairness if the Isles were at the Sharks, Detroit or Chicago the line would likely be higher than this so the oddsmakers are aware of the injuries and perhaps that Minnesota is overachieving so I don't think I'm slipping anything by them here. Where the difference in opinion is how much the injuries and how much overachieving is going on and what you think of the Isles and I'm giving a little more for that in the Isles favour.
(2) LA Kings vs. Detroit. The Kings fired Terry Murray this week and they've gone 9 games with no more than 2 goals. But they've really peppered the shots. They were actually lucky to beat Columbus the other night. The Kings have actually done very well in Detroit the past few visits and the Kings are a pretty good road team. I find these western teams can gather momentum on an east coast trip. Detroit is a powerhouse and combined with the Kings underachieving I think we get some value on the Kings. I played the puck line at -197 and the moneyline is +150.
(3) Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo. Another dog at +150 on the moneyline in the Sabres here. I played on them on the puck line as well. Pittsburgh has really been impressive the whole time when they haven't had Sid and I do think they have a good team but it is hard for me to believe they're a top team without him. I think they might be good but that is it. Buffalo is a good team who has underachieved so far and with Myers injured that hurts them on D but I like the odds here.
