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The warning flags should be going up all over the Big Apple about the Rangers’ realistic chances at winning the Stanley Cup this year. The Rangers required overtime of the seventh game of the series with Ottawato final crack the shell of what had been a weak Ottawadefense. Now the Rangers need a seventh game to decide whether or not Big Blue can get past Washington’s rookie goaltender. Even the best sportsbook online is having a hard time understanding how one player could be giving the Rangers such a hard time. ButWashington rookie goaltender Braden Holtby continues his Dryden-esque performance in this series by driving the Rangers crazy.

The Capitals are suddenly finding its scoring right when it needs it. All season long, the Washington Capitals could not find its scoring touch. Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin were not the point scoring machine they normally are. The Capitals looked disorganized, disgruntled and disinterested when the playoffs started. But the persistent play of Holtby has inspired the Capitals to come together as a team and start playing to its potential. The price per head sports experts had always considered Washington a potentially dangerous team, even when the Caps were falling apart during the season. But it took a rookie goalie to bring the team together and force it to be great.

New York Rangers

The Rangers are extremely difficult to understand in these playoffs. New Yorkentered the playoffs with the best defensive team in hockey that was enhanced by a very opportunistic offense. But when the puck dropped on the playoffs, the Rangers’ offense went south and never came back. New Yorkhas been living off of the play of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and has shown no indications that it can regain its scoring touch. When the Rangers lost game six by a score of 2-1, every NHL fan inNew York should have been preparing themselves for disappointment on Saturday night.

Washington Capitals

A sportsbook review of the Capitals’ play in the post-season shows that the team has been inspired and wants to win. There is talent on thisWashington roster, but it was not playing to its full potential all season long. A coaching change and several goaltending changes did not do anything to elevate the collective attitude of the Capitals. But when Braden Holtby started to look like he was batting on his own to win playoff games, the rest of the team responded. As the playoffs move forward, this Capitals team is only getting better.

The Bottom Line

The Rangers cannot pull this in every series and expect to get away with it. The Rangers cannot disappear offensively and rely on Lundqvist to win every game.New Yorkhas put itself in a position where Braden Holtby has shattered the Rangers’ offensive confidence. That means a lot and will be the main reason whyWashingtonadvances to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Pick; Washington Capitals

Online Sportsbook Overview

Few teams in the NHLhave been better than the Buffalo Sabres over the past couple of months, except for maybe the Pittsburgh Penguins. While the NCAA basketball betting was going on, the Sabres climbed from 15^th place immediately after the All-Star break all the way up to eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The team has been winning on the road and at home. Goaltender Ryan Miller has suddenly found his form and the team has lined up right behind him. The Sabres have run in to some injury problems again as defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Andrej Sekera were put on the injury list in the Sabres’ win over the Washington Capitals. But the Sabres have shown amazing depth in this run and have been able to plug in injured starters with minor league replacements without missing a beat.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were red hot before Sidney Crosby made his way back on to the roster. After over a year of repeated concussion issues, Crosbyis finally a stable member of the team and contributing. The price per head sports experts have been ready to give theNHL MVP award to Penguins’ star Evgeni Malkin all season long. Even withCrosby back in the lineup, Malkin has been a force that other teams seem unable to contend with. The only thing Malkin will need to be careful of is that it was a late season game againstBuffalo last year that put him out of the lineup for the playoffs. The Penguins are hoping that there is no repeat of that situation in this game.

Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres is 7-1-2in the last 10 games and currently riding a five-game winning streak. When Buffalohas needed to grab points in the standings, it has been able to do so. Many observers thought that a game a week ago against the Rangers would slow the Sabres down. But Buffaloplowed through Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers to add to its growing win total. A betonline.com review of the past few weeks shows goaltender Ryan Miller is playing some of the best hockey of his career. All the Sabres have to do to make the playoffs is win these last five games. It sounds easy, considering how the team has played, until you remember that the Penguins are playing for something in this game as well.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins is7-2-1in the last 10 games and trying desperately to catch the New York Rangers for first place in the Eastern Conference.Pittsburghmay not catchNew York, but this Penguins team has shown that it can play even under the worst conditions.Pittsburghmade the playoffs and performed well last year without Malkin and Crosby. This year, the Penguins have been a force in the Eastern Conference all season long andCrosbyhas just started to become a factor. With two defensive starters out for the Sabres,Pittsburghmay be able to walk throughBuffaloand grab this win.

The Bottom Line

The NHL fans inBuffalo are loving this recent run but most fans can’t help but feel like it would have been nice to see this from the Sabres earlier in the season. The Sabres are one of the best teams in the league and it could still miss the playoffs thanks to poor play in December and January. The Penguins are not giving an inch to anyone and this game is two points thatPittsburgh desperately wants.

Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins

Online Sportsbooks Overview

Now that the NHL trade deadline has passed and the March Madness betting in underway, NHL fans are settling in for what should be an exciting playoff run. The drama is thick in the Eastern Conference as several teams have a legitimate shot at making the post season. The teams that start to fall off now are the ones that will have an extremely difficult time climbing back up into the standings. The teams only have around 20 games left in the season. But most playoff races are so tight that 20 games can seem like an eternity.

Two of the teams that are right in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race are the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals. The fact that these two teams are playing at this point in the season makes for a very good game. The need by both of these teams for every point they can get their hands on means that desperation will hopefully create some very good hockey out of both teams. The Capitals have picked up its play in the past week while the Devils are in danger of being one of those teams that is headed for a late-season collapse.

New Jersey Devils

The Devils have lost three games in a row and while the bookie software still has the Devils in control of seventh place in the Eastern Conference, it would only take a couple of more losses for the Devils to slip a little more in the standings. On the flip side, the Devils are only one win away from tying the Ottawa Senators for fifth place in the conference. That is why every game is so important for the Devils.New Jersey has an impressive19-11-1 road record which gives the Devils the confidence it needs to go intoWashington and grab these two points.

Washington Capitals

The Capitals have been up and down all season long but are currently riding a three-game winning streak. The Capitals currently hold on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres are all within five points of the Capitals. If Washingtoncan extend its winning streak, then it can put some space between itself and those other teams while trying to climb the Eastern Conference standings. But a sportsbook review of the Capitals season shows that it has had trouble retaining consistency all season long.

The Bottom Line

The Capitals are21-8-2at home and riding a winning streak. Even with the team’s inconsistencies this season, it has been able to play well at home. The Devils come into this game having problems scoring goals. Both teams need these points but it is the Capitals that have the edge going into the game and it is the Capitals that will find the support it needs to perform well in front of its home fans.

Pick: Washington Capitals

Betting Websites Overview

This has been the season that never ends for the Washington Capitals. At no point in this campaign has the Capitals come even close to looking like the dominating force it was the past few years. The price per head sports experts will point out that the Capitals are currently three points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It has been years since the Capitals were so low in the Eastern Conference standings that it has not been in playoff contention. The Caps are being crippled by a lack of offense and inconsistency in the nets. Goaltender Tomas Vokoun was supposed to bring stability to theWashington goal, but Vokoun and backup Michal Neuvirth have both been extremely inconsistent.

The Florida Panthers are taking complete advantage of the problems that the Capitals and Tampa Bay Lighting have experienced this season to take over the lead in the Southeast Division. The sports fans in Floridahave been focusing on 2012 March Madness betting and the opening of MLB training camps lately. But the Panthers are giving sports fans inFlorida a reason to pay attention to theNHL. With Washington Capitals in trouble and the Tampa Bay Lighting languishing in the Eastern Conference basement, the Panthers have seized the opportunity to grab first place in the Southeast Division. Being the best team in the worst division does not usually give a team a lot of chance to win a championship. But, at this point, the Panthers would be happy just to make the playoffs.

Washington Capitals

Few teams display the damaging effects of a lack of confidence more than the Washington Capitals. After playing so poorly that head coach Bruce Boudreau was replaced with Dale Hunter, the Capitals have been unable to put together a significant winning streak of any kind this season. In the last 10 games, the Capitals are 3-4-3and are currently on a two-game losing streak. A sportsbook review of the Capitals’ season shows that bad defense and inconsistent goaltending are killingWashington. The team needs a good win to try and spark its confidence.

Florida Panthers

Floridais 6-3-1in the last 10 games and is 14-6-7at home. The Panthers does not a lot right when it comes to scoring goals and playing defense. But the little good it can do comes out right when the team needs it. When Floridaneeds to play decent defense to pull out a 6-5 win, then it seems to be able to do that. When the Panthers need to put a goal on the board to win a 2-1 game, it seems able to get that goal. NHL experts are not sure how long the Panthers can keep this excellent timing up. But the Panthers are hard to beat right now and it is all in the way it plays the game.

The Bottom Line

The Capitals desperately need this division win butWashingtonhas given no indication that it is capable of performing well in clutch games. The Panthers have developed a habit of sticking around in games and then winning in the closing moments. That will serveFloridawell in this important Southeast Division battle.

Pick: Florida Panthers

Betting Websites Overview

Two weeks ago, this game would have been nothing special. The general assumption would have been that the Buffalo Sabres would have continued to roll over, as it had done for the previous month, and just allow the Boston Bruins to walk out of the FirstNiagaraCenterwith a win. But right before the All-Star break, something clicked in the Buffalo Sabres and the team has gone 3-0-1 in its last three games. That stretch includes a 1-0 loss to the Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers which had to go to a shoot out to be decided. The pay per head sportsbook experts are not sure what has happened to the Sabres, but the fans inBuffalo are not complaining.

The Bruins, on the other hand, have looked very human as of late. Bostonis 5-4-1in the last 10 games and has been losing back to back games a lot more lately. Goalie Tim Thomas is still maintaining his status as the best in the league, but he has shown more vulnerabilities lately. But the Bruins have a few things working in its favor for this game. The most notable advantage the Bruins have is that Buffalo’s top scorer, Thomas Vanek, will be out of this game due to an upper body injury. That means that the Bruins can focus more on a physical game to try and get the Sabres off balance early on. According to the bookie software, the Sabres are 11 points out of a playoff spot and desperately need this win. The Bruins intend to counteract that desperation with solid defensive play.

Buffalo Sabres

Goaltender Ryan Miller recently passed Dominik Hasek as the goalie with the most wins in Sabres’ history when the Sabres came back for a 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders. The Sabres seem to be skating more but the team is still making careless mistakes that a team likeBostonwill exploit. Even in its comeback win over the Islanders, the Sabres were giving up the puck and making ill-advised blind passes to the center of the ice. The Sabres need to improve on its passing if it wants to beat a team likeBoston.

Sabres’ head coach Lindy Ruff took a tumble in practice on Monday and cracked three ribs. The bench boss is expected to be at practice Tuesday and will be coaching on Wednesday. It is just another in the long line of injuries the Sabres have suffered this season.

Boston Bruins

Sportsbook reviews of the last few Bruins’ games show thatBoston has not been nearly as physical as it has been in the past. The Bruins got back to the physical play against the Washington Capitals on Super Bowl Sunday and walked away with a 4-1 win. Goalie Tim Thomas has improved his play recently and is4-1-0 in his last five starts. But prior to that, Thomas was struggling. In that five game stretch, Thomas has one win where he allowed five goals. It has certainly been an up and down season for the Boston Bruins.

The Bottom Line

The Sabres showed a lot of heart against the Islanders, but fans are still anxious to see what the team does as the NHL trade deadline 2012 approaches. The Bruins stumbled a little just prior to the All-Star break, but seem to be back on track.

Pick: Boston Bruins

Betting Websites Overview

The NHL fans in Florida have not exactly been going to the arena in droves. But the fans that did come out to see the Florida Panthers play in the early part of the NHL season saw a team that was dominating the Southeast Division. But as the fans in Florida attend to their Superbowl betting, the Panthers are starting to see injuries and inconsistent play dissolve part of the good work that the team has done. The surging Washington Capitals have taken over the lead in the Southeast Division as the Panthers continue to struggle. But the Panthers are still staying close in their games as their last two losses came in overtime. No one wants to lose consecutive overtime games, but at least Florida is collecting points and staying in the playoff race.

The Chicago Blackhawks continue to be one of the top teams in the NHL and have enjoyed some very consistent play from its top players. The only Chicago superstar that seems to hit a rough spot as of late is Patrick Kane. Kane has been struggling with his play in recent games and was even having problems with a weak Buffalo Sabres’ defense in a recent home game. But the price per head bookie experts know better than to count Patrick Kane out of any season and fans can only imagine how much more potent the Blackhawks will be when Kane is back to his scoring form. For the time being, scoring leaders such as captain Jonathan Toews are helping the Blackhawks to stay on top in the Western Conference and the league standing.

Florida Panthers

The Panthers are 3-4-3 in the last 10 games and have hit a bit of a bump in its goaltending. Jose Theodore is back in the nets after coming back from an injury, but he looks a little rusty still. But the Panthers need Theodore to play well if it wants to regain its top spot in the Southeast Division. One of the big problems that the Panthers is having is the lack of scoring that has been an issue all season long is finally catching up with the team.  A 5 dimes review of the Panthers’ goal differential shows Florida at a -12. While this is nothing to be alarmed about, it is the pattern that the Panthers have shown all season. Earlier in the year, Florida was able to win those close games and grab two points. Lately, the Panthers have not been able to win the close games and that is one of the main reasons why the team is having problems getting points in the standings.

Chicago Blackhawks

The NHL fans in Chicago are having visions of another Stanley Cup in their heads. But Chicago is flirting with disaster as well with the way the Blackhawks’ defensemen constantly jump up into the play. The Blackhawks have a +21 goal differential, but it has also given up more goals than any other division leader. The Blackhawks will need to tighten up on defense if it wants to make another run at the Stanley Cup.

The Bottom Line

The free-wheeling Blackhawks may wind up being too much for the conservative Panthers. While Florida’s defense may be able to contain the Blackhawks for a little while, eventually the Hawks will break out and put this game away.

Pick: Chicago Blackhawks

Sports Betting Overview

On the last day before the two-day Christmas break, hockey fans get a quick preview of the 2012 Winter Classic as the New York Rangers host the Philadelphia Flyers. It is still strange to think that the Rangers are playing in the Winter Classic and the game is not in the New Yankee Stadium. But this game will be held atMadisonSquareGarden, and it is a game that both teams need. The Rangers trail the Flyers by four points in the Atlantic Division standings. It is a situation the Rangers have not been in for some time as the team is battling for the division lead heading into the new year. The addition of players such as Brad Richards have significantly helped the Rangers’ cause. This could be a very good year to be a Rangers’ fan.

The Philadelphia Flyers got their leading scorer Claude Giroux back from a concussion and Giroux got right back to lighting up the lamp with a four-point performance against the Dallas Stars. According to the price per head bookie experts, Giroux is definitely an early MVP candidate and a potential Rocket Richard award winner for top scorer in the league as well. The Flyers is still rotating goaltenders Sergei Bobrovsky and Ilya Bryzgalov without one goalie really showing that he wants to take the top spot. The price per head bookmaking experts point to Bryzgalov as the number one goalie due to the volume of work he has done so far this season. But the Flyers are not afraid to put in Bobrovsky when Bryzgalov is having a bad night.

New York Rangers

The one thing that has been in consistent in New York, and does not get enough credit for his work, is goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. With the acquisition of Richards in the offseason, the Rangers’ offense was given a tremendous boost. But New Yorkhas never worried about its defense because Lundqvist has been back there. A sportsbook.com review of Lunqvist’s stats this season show him at the top of the league in save percentage and goals against average again. The difference is that his efforts are helping to push the Rangers to the top of the Eastern Conference this season. The Rangers are scoring goals and playing good defense on their way to the Winter Classic.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers are a very fragile hockey team. Philadelphiahas already lost defenseman Chris Pronger for an extended period of time this season due to injury. Pronger is the team’s captain and he is gone for the season. When the Flyers lost Claude Giroux to a concussion for a couple of weeks, the team kind of buckled a little bit. The NHL fans inPhiladelphia are always wondering if their team has what it takes to win the Stanley Cup. For the last few years, the Flyers have been the victim of inconsistent goaltending. It is tough to get a read on where thePhiladelphia goaltending situation is headed this season, but it does look a lot more stable than it has in previous years. The Flyers finally have a real starting goaltender in Ilyz Bryzgalov and a quality backup in Sergei Bobrovsky. With thePhiladelphia offense back intact, that goaltending could be backstopping one of the best offenses in the league.

The Bottom Line

This will be a physical game and it will show why these two teams were selected to play in the Winter Classic this year. But the Philly offense may prove to be a little too much for the Rangers’ defense.

Pick: Philadelphia Flyers

Sports Betting Overview

Anyone who would have made the prediction that the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild would be battling it out to see who is the best team in the league on into the middle of December would have been laughed at by the price per head bookie crowd. There was absolutely nothing going on with either team that would have indicated that such a drastic turnaround was possible. The Wild missed the playoffs by a wide margin last season and the Blackhawks barely made it into the post season. There weren’t any major roster changes to either team that indicated potential success and the coaches are the same as well.

One of the things that happened to the Minnesota Wild is the emergence of goaltender Niklas Backstrom. According to the price per head services statistics, Backstrom has a record of11-5-2 this season. He has a 2.08 goals against average, a .932 save percentage and has recorded two shutouts. The Blackhawks discovered that Corey Crawford can be their starting goaltender, butChicago also picked up veteran goalie Ray Emery for insurance. Emery is6-1-2 in his starts this year and had been the defensive boost that the Blackhawks needed. Now both the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild are the top two teams in theNHL. When these two teams get together, you can imagine that goals will be at a premium.

Chicago Blackhawks

There are two significant differences between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild. The first difference is that the Blackhawks can score goals while the Wild rely more on defense to win games. Chicagois the second-highest scoring team in the league with 99 goals. That is only two goals behind the Philadelphia Flyers. A 5 dimes review of the Blackhawks’ roster shows that the scoring is pretty balanced between the forwards and the defensemen.Chicago is not afraid to bring its defensemen into the offensive play.

The other significant difference between the Blackhawks and the Wild is that the Wild does not allow nearly as many goals per game as the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks have given up 92 goals this season while the Wild have only given up 64 goals. That is a significant difference in philosophy.

Minnesota Wild

The NHL fans inMinnesota love a winner and they appreciate a team that works hard. The Wild falls into both categories.Minnesota grinds out wins and focuses more on efficient defense than flashy offense. With a quality goaltender to back up a solid defense, the Wild are hoping that it has the formula it needs for playoff success.

The Bottom Line

The Wild will grind down the Blackhawks and frustrate theChicagoscorers on a regular basis. This will not be a very high-scoring game, but it will be a fun game to watch if you enjoy hard-hitting hockey and world-class goaltending. But the Wild will find a way to neutralize theChicagoscoring attack which will shut the Blackhawks down completely.

Pick: Minnesota Wild

Online Wagering Overview

It has been a rough week for the Northeast Division. This was the first time in a long time that every team in a division had lost its most recent game in the same week. All of the Northeast teams are coming off loses this week, including the Toronto Maple Leafs. But the Leafs are still plugging away at the Northeast Division standings and trying to keep pace with the division-leading Boston Bruins. The Bruins are not making it easy when it goes8-1-1 in the last 10 games.Toronto has posted a5-4-1 record in its last five games, but there are no glaring weaknesses on the Leafs’ roster. Top goalie James Reimer is back from injury and trying to work the kinks out of his game. In the meantime, the Leafs are playing some hard-nosed hockey.

The price per head bookmaking sports crowd has noticed that the Washington Capitals are not playing any better under new head coach Dale Hunter than they did for Bruce Boudreau. The performance of the Anaheim Ducks since Boudreau arrived there after getting fired fromWashington would suggest that Boudreau was not the problem inWashington. Alexander Ovechkin sprung to life in the Caps’ most recent game againstOttawa to propel the team to a 5-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. But the Caps are still not playing with any heart, and that needs to change if the team is going to start picking up some much-needed wins.

Toronto Maple Leafs

There is not denying the fact that, even with a healthy Reimer in goal, the Leafs tend to give up a lot of goals. In 28 games played this season, the Leafs have given up 90 goals. That is better than three per game, and that can be a problem if your team is not scoring goals. In that same period, the Leafs have scored 89 goals. According to the price per head services experts, that means that the Leafs tend to get blown out of games every once in a while. With the Capitals starting to score goals in bunches, that could be bad news for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Washington Capitals

Dale Hunter was an aggressive player in his playing days and he is proving to be an aggressive coach. An aggressive coach that expects a lot from his players is exactly what the Washington Capitals need. This is the same team that benched star player Alexander Semin early in the season for a lack of effort. Hunter is trying to put a better work ethic and a meaner attitude into his team. He has the players to make that kind of an approach happen. It is just a matter of whether or not the players are interested in buying in to that kind of an approach.

The Bottom Line

A wagerweb review of the Caps’ last 10 games shows a team that has gone4-6-0. But the team appears to slowly be turning a corner and improving its play. The Caps are9-4-1 at home, and look to improve on that record when the Leafs come to town.

Pick: Washington Capitals

Online Sportsbook Overview

The Boston Bruins are the defending Stanley Cup champions that everyone expected to be at the top of the NHL standings again this year. With Boston’s physical style of defense, speed on offense and the goaltending of Tim Thomas, it is not hard to see why Boston keeps on rolling along. But the Toronto Maple Leafs was not expected to be a sustained element at the top of the Northeast Division standings. The Leafs had its goalie in James Reimer and that was all that Toronto was supposed to have. But general manager Brian Burke looks like a genius as his roster has gelled into becoming one of the top offensive teams in the league.

The problem for Toronto is that it feels like the team is playing on borrowed time. James Reimer has been out of the line-up since October 22 with an injury, but yet the Leafs keep on rolling. The price per head bookie websites are expecting the Leafs to start tumbling back down the Northeast Division standings without its goalie, but Toronto keeps putting up enough goals to keep on winning. The Leafs have a home and home series coming up with the Bruins where they play in Toronto on Wednesday and then in Boston on Saturday. These two games will give a good indication of where the Leafs are at without their goalie in net.

Boston Bruins

It was a rough start for the Bruins, but the defending Stanley Cup champions have finally risen to the top of the Northeast Division. However, Boston was only able to rise as high as second in the division. The very top spot in the Northeast Division is occupied by the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins play a tough style of defense and it has paid off for the team. In the last 10 games, the Bruins are 9-0-1 with the only blemish being a shoot-out loss to Detroit on November 25. The price per head fans in Boston are happy with the team’s start, and the team is finally rolling in a direction that puts it near the top of the NHL standings. The Bruins have finally become the test against which all other teams are graded.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Much to the surprise of the Maple Leafs’ faithful, back-up goalie Jonas Gustavsson has been instrumental in preserving the team’s three-game winning streak. A 5 dimes review of the play of Gustavsson shows that he has been keeping teams at three goals or less for four consecutive games and that Gustavsson himself is actually riding a four-game winning streak. But the Bruins will crash the net and make the Leafs earn this win, if that is what the Leafs wind up doing.

The Bottom Line

After more than a quarter of the season gone, it is safe to say that the Leafs can be considered playoff contenders this season. But before the Toronto faithful are convinced that they can stop throwing waffles on the ice, they will need to see Toronto compete against a team like the Bruins. The Leafs may not win either of these upcoming games, or the best it may do is a split. But if the Leafs can make a strong showing against Boston, then that sets up an interesting rest of the season.

Pick: Boston Bruins