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NHL Betting Help: Hot and Cold Moneyline and Puckline

by Cameron McQuade - 4/1/2022

NHL hot and cold betting teams Cam Talbot Minnesota Wild

We are officially under one month away until the end of the NHL regular season. The Eastern Conference playoff teams seem to have solidified their spot in the Top 8 and are now just fighting for seeding. The Western Conference is much different, with a great fight between Winnipeg, Dallas, and Vegas. With many meaningful games remaining, it’s important to see which teams are hot and cold to bet accordingly, follow the trends, and know when to fade the trends.

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First off, let’s look at what teams have been HOT over the last few games for moneyline bets.

Minnesota Wild: The boys in Minnesota are definitely playing wild! No, seriously, Minnesota has been on an absolute heater. And at the moment, not many teams can stop them on a moneyline bet. The Wild have won 7 of their last 8 games, and they beat other scorching hot teams like Boston and Colorado along the way. They played the Pittsburgh Penguins last night at Xcel Energy Centre, where Minnesota had an 8-1 record over the last 9 games there. They took the loss in overtime, but really the game could have gone either way. Ride the Wild, because momentum is definitely on their side.

New York Rangers: Now in the Top 5 for the NHL Super 16 power rankings, the Rangers are heating up at the perfect time. They have won 4 straight games, all against playoff spot teams. With 2nd year player Alexis Lafrenière finally playing like a first overall pick of late, it looks like he’s figured it out. He has a career high 15 goals and 25 points this season in 64 games. Look for the Rangers to continue this trend of wins, as they play their New York counterpart, the Islanders, today (April 1st) at 7 p.m. EST.

Not every team in the NHL is hot like the Wild and Rangers, so now we’re going to take a look at 2 teams that are cold on the moneyline bets over the past week.

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings have played games this season where they've allowed 0,1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 goals. Interesting. Speaking of cold, they are freezing. Detroit has lost their past 4 games, with a goal diff of -15. Team captain Dylan Larkin had this to say to reporters last weekend, “We have to find a way to start forming an identity here down toward the end of the season and play for something”. Hopefully, the Red Wings can figure out some late season chemistry, but I believe it’s best to stay away from any moneyline bet that involves Detroit.

Anaheim Ducks: There’s a reason the Ducks took the “Mighty” out of their team’s name. All jokes aside, Anaheim has been struggling of late. They have lost 11 games in a row. Including a tough OT loss to Dallas last night. I hope no one has put their hard-earned cash on the Ducks. However, going forward, the trend could reverse. The Ducks have Ryan Getzlaf and Sonny Milano returning from injury. And with so many young players on their roster, everyone will be looking to make a final good impression ahead of the 2022-23 season. Don’t be surprised if they pull out a couple gritty wins over the next week. I’d stay away from moneyline bets with the Ducks, but some games with the puckline look promising.

That now leads us to some Hot and Cold puckline teams.

Hot Puckline Team of the week:

Buffalo Sabres: If you’ve been betting the puckline for Buffalo since March 10, you’d be 9 for 10! Since March 18 vs the Calgary Flames, Buffalo is 7-0 on the puckline. They have one of the best ATS records in hockey at 40-28-0 with a 58.8-win percentage. For not being in playoff contention, they are keeping games close and even beating teams like Calgary and Pittsburgh in March. Predominantly the underdog, the +1.5 puckline has been a great bet for the Sabres. However, with a very tough upcoming schedule, I think this trend could flip. Their next 8 games are all against playoff caliber teams, including 2 games vs Carolina and 2 games vs Florida, both top teams in the Eastern Conference. I see a few blowouts coming Buffalo’s way over the next week and not being able to cover the +1.5 puckline.

Cold Puckline Team of the week:

Washington Capitals: Since their last ATS win March 18 vs the Carolina Hurricanes, the Caps have not had any puckline luck. From March 20 until now, they are 0-5 ATS. They are not hitting as -1.5 favourites or +1.5 underdogs. Sitting 8th in the Eastern Conference with 84 points, they are well ahead of the Islanders and Blue Jackets, both with 69 points. Their upcoming schedule isn’t particularly easy, playing the Wild, Lightning, and Penguins in their next 3 games. I suspect a few underdog pucklines for Washington, that I believe would be a good bet to reverse this 0-5 trend. Let’s wait and see what the odds are for these next games and bet accordingly from there.

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