The online betting world is fixated on the Super Bowl and the race for the NHL playoffs. Now that the NHL All-Star break is over, many of the teams in the lower part of the NHL standings need to start making their playoff pushes or risk being left out of the post-season. There are a few teams that have been slumping as of late and put themselves in bad situations while other teams are surging but may not be able to get out of the hole they have dug themselves. Lets look at the teams in the NHL that are battling for a playoff spot and evaluate their chances.

Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres may have dug themselves a hole that they will not be able to climb out of. When the All-Star break ended, the Sabres were tied for last in the Eastern Conference and 10 points out of a playoff spot. In its last three games, the Sabres are 2-0-1 and that includes an exciting 1-0 loss to the Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers. The Sabres are going to need to string a lot of wins together to have any chance of making the playoffs, but it is off to a good start so far.

Washington Capitals

The price per head sports experts were not sure what to expect from the Washington Capitals this season. What has emerged is a listless team that has already gotten one coach fired and is working on getting a second coach relieved of his duties as well. The scoring punch the Caps used to have is gone and there is just no stability in the nets forWashington. If the Caps want to make the playoffs, it will have to wrestle the Southeast Division title from the Florida Panthers, and that will not be easy.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Florida Panthers not only have to watch out for the Washington Capitals, but the Tampa Bay Lightning are making strides towards the division lead as well. The Lightning are currently riding a five-game winnings streak and have pulled itself to within nine points of the division lead after spending much of the season in the Southeast basement.

Dallas Stars

The Super Bowl odds do not affect the Dallas Stars, but its tumble down the Pacific Division standings has been a problem. The Stars used to be way out in front of the rest of the pack in the Pacific Division, butDallas now sits eight points out of the division lead and one point out of a Western Conference playoff spot. The Stars are losing games in bunches and are not winning enough to offset the ground it is losing in the standings.

Calgary Flames

A 5 dimes review of the Flames’ roster shows a group of players that would love to get captain Jarome Iginla into the playoffs one more time before he retires. Despite some great goaltending and timely goal scoring, the Flames are just not a very good hockey team. Calgary currently sits in 11^th place in the Western Conference and is three points out of a playoff spot. But this season is playing out a lot like last season did. Just when the Flames start putting wins together to push towards the playoffs, the team gets off track and goes on a devastating losing streak.

Florida State is one team that plenty of fans and media alike will be keeping an eye on, as we move closer to March Madness. Last season, the Seminoles top ranked defense paid huge dividends, as it literally carried them throughout the tournament. Last season, the Florida State Seminoles made it to the Sweet 16, before losing by a single point to surprise story of the tournament the VCU Rams. In theory, bookie software handicappers should feel safe laying their money on the Seminoles to return to the March Madness. In fact, depending on which expert you talk too, the Seminoles have a chance to enter the March Madness tournament, as a number one seed.

Essentially, the ACC is wide open this season, as along with FSU, North Carolina, Duke and Virginia all have a shot at winning the ACC tournament. FSU is in an interesting position too, as they do not face North Carolina at all the rest of the year, depending on both the ACC and March Madness tournaments. Meanwhile, FSU has become the thorn in the side of Duke, as no matter the season, they always seem to knock off the Blue Devils.  As it stands right now, FSU is in a three way tie with North Carolina and Duke for the conference lead, as all three teams have a five and one record.

Nevertheless, Virginia seems to be the most intriguing team coming out of the ACC this season, as NBA fans and handicappers alike, feel that the Cavaliers are a dark horse. With an overall record of 17 and three on the season, the Cavaliers appear to be human so far in ACC action, as they sit fourth with a four and two record. Meaning to say, is the 17 and three record a credit to facing a light schedule to start the year, or is Virginia for real? Despite going undefeated in two games this past week, we will get a better idea of who the Cavaliers are after their next two contests. Virginia plays Florida State and then clashes with North Carolina. For the reason that the Cavaliers have suffered two of three losses on the season in the last six weeks, it stands to reason, that the upcoming games with FSU and North Carolina, can make or break the Cavaliers season.

The team that appears to have the best chance at challenging Kansas for Big 12 supremacy just lost another game on Wednesday night, as the No. 2 Missouri Tigers dropped their second conference game at the Oklahoma State Cowboys 79-72. While the Cowboys have played particularly well as underdogs according to the pay head bookies against top-five ranked opponents, the Tigers have now dropped two of their last four on the road, and seem to become a little rattled in opposition buildings when things don’t go their way early on. Marcus Denmon remains one of the best players in college basketball, but he can’t do it alone and the Tigers will struggle when they are pushed by Kansas in early February.

If Missouri isn’t the team that knocks off Kansas, then it is difficult to imagine either the No. 7 Baylor Bears or No. 24 Kansas State Wildcats having a chance. The Bears have already dropped consecutive decisions to Kansas and Missouri this year, including an 18-point blowout loss to the Jayhawks at the Phog Allen Fieldhouse. The Bears built their record up by winning close games against Mississippi State and Kansas State, but the Bulldogs had gone through a stretch where they lost two of three with the other defeat against unranked Arkansas, and nobody thinks that the Wildcats are going to climb any higher than third. The emotion of the in-state rivalry between the Jayhawks and Wildcats could contribute to the spectacle of their contest, but it won’t make the difference.

The Jayhawks have the potential to be a sports betting powerhouse the rest of the way in the Big 12, as they have already beaten the Wildcats and Bears by double-digits, with two games remaining against Missouri to really prove their merit. Junior Thomas Washington has been a force with senior Tyshawn Taylor really helping him along to complete the best inside-outside tandem in the conference. Kansas will have the chance to work on some things over the next week with games against Iowa State and Oklahoma before their toughest test of the year at Missouri on February 4^th, and regardless of whether or not they are listed as the Betonline favorite, look for them to win big as they continue to prove they are the best that the Big 12 has to offer.

It would be a mistake to underestimate the Detroit Red Wings just because a game happens to be played outside of Joe Louis Arena. At home, the Red Wings have won 17 straight games and are approaching the all-time consecutive home win record of 20 posted by the 1929-30 Boston Bruins and the 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers. Since the Superbowl betting in Detroit lost its luster when the Lions got knocked out of the playoffs, the sports attention of Detroit has been turned to the Red Wings. The Red Wings have had competitive teams for many years, but none of the recent teams has even approached the level of regular season success that this team is enjoying.

The Montreal Canadiens are the only team in the Eastern Conference with a losing home record at 8-9-7. Even the last place Buffalo Sabres have a home record of 11-9-5. Montreal’s problems at home and on the road have been well-documented, and the variety of solutions the front office has employed to get the team going have been mystifying. From trading a player in the middle of a game to firing an assistant coach for seemingly no reason during the morning skate, the price per head bookie experts are wondering if the Montreal Canadiens have the know-how and ability to pull themselves out of this slide it is in. As always, the pressure to win in Montreal is intense. But things get much worse when bad decisions are being made.

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings have lost only two games at home all season long, but it has lost 13 games on the road. The Red Wings are clinging to a 13-13-0 road record and trying desperately to make sure that the Western Conference playoffs have to go through Detroit for all of the rounds. The Red Wings do not want to have to rely on winning road games to win the Stanley Cup. A 5 dimes review of the stats for the regular season so far show that the Detroit Red Wings have a +48 in goal differential this season, which is second in the league behind Boston’s +71. Detroit has a balanced attack and plays a solid game. It just needs to learn how to translate that to road games.

Montreal Canadiens

When the wheels started coming off of the Montreal Canadiens’ train, it was a complete loss of wheels. Everyone from the head coach to the goaltender could not seem to do anything right. When the Canadiens brought in new head coach Randy Cunneyworth, he was criticized by the local Montreal media for not being able to speak French. It is a said and degenerative condition that pervades the Montreal Canadiens. The team needs to be completely re-tooled and the current front office may not be qualified to do that.

The Bottom Line

The Red Wings need a win on the road to boost its confidence and the Montreal Canadiens need a complete overhaul. This does not look like it will be a good night for the Montreal Canadiens in front of its home fans.

Pick: Detroit Red Wings

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

March Madness, like the playoffs in the big four major sports, is a time of year, in which literally anything can happen. As we saw in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs, the Denver Broncos and New York Giants were just as deserving of their playoff spots as the Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers. While it could be suggested that the Broncos dream season was destined to come to an abrupt halt, the New York Giants appear to be the real deal. As it relates to the March Madness tournament, usually one team pulls a Broncos and squeaks into the tournament then overachieves, while another hits their stride right as the bookie software tournament gets under way.

With that in mind, two teams of particular interest to us in the March Madness Tournament will be the Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State Spartans. For all intents and purposes, we’ll call the Spartans our Denver Broncos, and the Wolverines our New York Giants. That is to say, the Spartans who currently sit 23^rd in the NCAA rankings, are a team that appears to be overachieving. They don’t have one specific star, but their program has been good enough to maintain a high ranking. On the other side of things, Tim Hardaway Jr. who like Eli Manning, has carried his team this season leads the Wolverines.

When looking at both teams, it really depends which of our colleagues you want to agree with, for who should fair better. Firstly, colleagues from Sports Illustrated have the Spartans as a final four pick, with the Wolverines coming in as a dark horse pick if the Spartans should flop. Conversely, at a couple other colleagues early projections, they have the Wolverines and Spartans swapping positions.

In our opinion, the final four will be Ohio State, Kansas, Syracuse and Michigan. Michigan will go head to head with the nation’s best team in Syracuse, while Ohio State will take on Kansas. For Michigan, facing Syracuse in the final four will be eerily similar to facing Duke a season ago, in that many will expect them to be destroyed, but they will take the Orange to the limit. As we noted earlier, Tim Hardaway Jr. who is a freshman and a game changer for the club leads Michigan. For that reason, we really believe Hardaway Jr. can be the difference between losing to Syracuse and pulling off a mammoth of an upset, before beating Kansas for the National Title.

There is no denying that at the time the stumble was a notable one, as the Tar Heels dropped a decision at UNLV by 10 points, and then lost at then-No. 1 Kentucky two games later. But losing two of three early on is no reason to doubt the long-term capabilities of a team, especially considering that North Carolina nearly came out with a win on the road against a talented team in Kentucky. The Tar Heels have followed that loss up with nine straight wins to remain at No. 3, and with two wins to open up their ACC schedule it will still be a little while before they get the chance to entertain the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils in their first meeting of the season. The pay head odds say that the North Carolina and Duke are the top two teams in the conference, and with no other team ranked higher than 17 at this point, the Blue Devils could be the only obstacle in the way of Harrison Barnes and company on their way to an ACC Championship.

Barnes and the other veterans on the team are the biggest reason to believe in the Tar Heels, as the experience and talent they have is unrivalled heading in to this year not Justin the ACC, but in the entire country. The sophomore Barnes is joined by junior John Henson and senior Tyler Zeller as three scorers averaging double-digit point totals, and as the season continues the chemistry that they continue to build will become a crucial advantage they hold over opponents. North Carolina ranks first in scoring, first in rebounding, and third in assists per game in the entire country, and to be so strong in so many areas is testament to how talented they truly are. The Tar Heels don’t just want to bring home an ACC Championship, they want to bring home a national title, and there is no doubt that they have the weapons to reach their goals. The sportsbook review sites should have North Carolina as a team that can really make some noise this year, so pay attention to their nightly lines.

Those simultaneous hissing noises you hear coming from Washington, DCand Pittsburgh, PAare the air being let out of the Capitals’ and Penguins’ seasons. The Penguins used to be resilient. It used to be that Pittsburghcould at least be competitive without its captain Sidney Crosby. But the price per head bookie experts have watched the Penguins fall from the top of the Atlantic Division to fourth place. One of the more distressing thing for Penguins’ fans is thatPittsburgh is holding on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by only one point. A little more stumbling and the Penguins could find itself on the outside looking in.

It has become extremely obvious by now that firing Bruce Boudreau as head coach of the Washington Capitals was not the answer to improving the team. The price per head sports experts would also like to point out that replacing Boudreau with rookieNHL head coach Dale Hunter was an even worse move. Hunter never had any leadership qualities when he was a player and that lack of leadership is spilling over into his head coaching style. The Capitals are afloat in a sea of mediocrity and it is hard to tell what can bring the team out of it. Even winning a couple of games last week did not seem to help. When things like this happen, fans look first at the coach and then the captain. The coach has been replaced, and team captain Alex Ovechkin is getting more and more disinterested by the day.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins are still playing hard every night and it could just be going through a stretch where nothing is going right. A 5 dimes review of the Penguins’ last 10 games shows a record of4-6-0. But that stretch includes a four-game losing streak where the Penguins cannot seem to do anything right. The fans inPittsburgh need to be patient asPittsburgh is only 10 points out of first place in the division. If there is a team in the NHL that has the capability to suddenly go on an extended winning streak, then that team would be the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Washington Capitals

For the first time in a very long time, the Washington Capitals have allowed more goals than it has scored. The other very noticeable attribute of the Capitals’ 2011-2012 record is that the NHL scores the Capitals are logging on the road are terrible. The Capitals are7-12-1 on the road, but the team is14-5-1 at home. The Capitals come into this game on a two-game losing streak and it is just one of many losing streaks the Caps have been on since Dale Hunter took over.

The Bottom Line

The Pittsburgh Penguins have shown an ability to fight back all season long despite long odds against them. The Washington Capitals have displayed signs of giving up at several points in the season. The goaltending with Tomas Vokoun has not panned out as it was supposed to and the Caps are not scoring. There is much more wrong with the Caps than just questionable coaching.

Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins

Any team that uses injuries as an excuse for poor play needs to look at the Pittsburgh Penguins over the last two seasons. Last season, the Penguins lost superstar Sidney Crosby in January for the rest of the season. But the team plodded forward and was still one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Then the Penguins lost superstar Evgeni Malkin a month before the playoffs last season and still wound up competing well in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now the Penguins face the very real possibility that it will have to move forward withoutCrosbypermanently. But yet the Penguins keep winning and keep playing great hockey.

The changes that the New York Rangers made in the off-season, especially the addition of Brad Richards, look like they are paying off. The pay per head sportsbook experts were not sure what to expect from the Rangers when the season started because it can sometimes take new players time to gel with existing players. But the chemistry on this Rangers’ team is so deep that the new players fit right in and the existing players kept right on going. It is starting to look like the New York Rangers made the best moves in the off-season free agency market.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Despite its current two-game losing streak, the Penguins remain one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. The bookie software shows that the Penguins have 46 points and trail the conference leading Rangers by only six points. Every game the Penguins play against the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers this season is extremely important to the Penguins’ chances of making the playoffs. The Penguins are a solid balance of goal scoring and solid defense, but the most notable part of the Penguins’ game is their tenacity. The Penguins score goals by never giving up on a play and grinding until the puck is in the net. That is what will make this a great hockey game.

New York Rangers

Rangers’ goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is having another banner season as the Rangers have only given up 79 goals in 37 games played. A 5 dimes review of the Rangers’ season last year compared to this year is that the team is scoring goals this season. The games that the Rangers were losing 1-0 and 2-1 last year have turned into wins because of the additional scoring punch the team has. The Rangers’ consistency and goal-scoring ability will make them very dangerous in the playoffs. In this game, it will be the Rangers’ ability to play in both ends of the ice that will grab the victory.

The Bottom Line

NHL fans inPittsburgh can only wonder how much better the Penguins would be if Sidney Crosby could play. But it looks like the Penguins will have to go at it without the team captain once again this season. In this game, the lack ofCrosby’s scoring threat will be the difference in the game.

Pick: New York Rangers

Depending on which site you use, you will either see the Syracuse Orange on top and Kentucky Wildcats in second overall, or vice versa. For all intents and purposes, Kentucky is the top seed despite a lower win loss record then Syracuse. The reason for Kentucky’s surge to the top is two fold, as they have the best roster in the country, and they recently destroyed the Louisville Cardinals, to jump ahead in the standings. However, with that in mind, it is important that bookie software agents, do not completely bank on Kentucky, while writing off Syracuse.

From a betting stand point, the Orange provide better value then the Wildcats, as the Orange are 10 – four – one against the spread, while the Wildcats are a miserable three – nine and one overall against the spread, but zero – eight – one in their last nine. Both Kentucky and Syracuse should remain one and two in the AP polls over the next couple weeks, as they face the cellar dwellers of their respective conference.

Looking ahead to tonight’s college basketball games, fans should keep an eye on the sixth ranked Missouri Tigers. Although they have an outstanding overall ranking, the Tigers similar to the Louisville Cardinals, are a bit overrated. In essence, the Tigers are undefeated through 13 games, but actually are five and three against the spread. Last game against Old Dominion, the Tigers big stars struggled against a stingy Old Dominion defense.

Tonight when they face the Oklahoma Sooners, if the Tigers struggle early, they could be looking at their first loss of the season. Oklahoma was projected to be at the bottom of the Big 12 this year, but has shocked many NBA handicapping sites, with their early success, only losing two of their first 15 contests. We believe that the Sooners will pull out their 14^th win tonight against the Tigers.

The 11^th ranked Michigan State Spartans will be looking to build off the momentum of their football contemporaries, as they travel to Wisconsin, to take on the 19^th ranked Badgers tonight. Michigan State kicked off the Big 10 league play last week, by destroying both Indiana and Nebraska. Meanwhile, the Badgers will be looking to rebound after an underwhelming performance against Iowa last week. With the Spartans playing on a whole different level than Wisconsin, we feel the Spartans will win this game as handily as they did against Indiana and Nebraska.