NHL Picks: Arizona Coyotes at LA Kings

Last night was a crushing loss. The Arizona Coyotes killed off a 5 on 3, Anders Lindback made huge saves, the Anaheim Ducks dominated most of the third and overtime, and then a sloppy drop pass led to a breakaway loss and in a moment it was all gone.

Tonight, I don’t expect to have the same problem. The Coyotes gave everything they had in the first half of this back to back in California. They are tired. They don’t have much left in the tank. The LA Kings are a physical, defensive ...

NHL Picks: Arizona Coyotes at Anaheim Ducks

This is a trickier game than it looks. On it’s face, the Anaheim Ducks are the obvious pick even at these sharp odds. They’ve won four in a row while the Arizona Coyotes struggle, the Ducks are on home ice, and by and large the Ducks are the drastically better team as they look to be a top team our West while the Coyotes are battling to avoid last place.

That said, this win streak isn’t all that it looks to be. The Ducks have gotten lucky in a couple games with good ...

NHL Picks: New York Rangers at Arizona Coyotes

We’re riding the red hot Rangers right now, and this is a high-value, high-risk play. Sure, New York is the much better team here, but they’re on a back to back and on the road a long way from home. The -123 line seems absurd to me as one of the best teams in hockey and the class of the Metropolitan Division faces one of the worst teams in the NHL. It’s a Wall Street trap by those Las Vegas tricksters, but after going unbeaten in the forum last night under similar ...

NHL Picks: Tampa Bay Lightning at Buffalo Sabres

If not for a monumental collapse, last night’s forum posts would have been up around five units. At the core of that was a game where we predicted the exact pace, flow, and final score. We’re off to a solid start to the NHL season as our NHL picks featured on this page have shown.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are a good team. This offense will skate circles around a meager Buffalo Sabres defensive unit. Both teams have their backup goalies in, so this one could get out of hand. The Lightning ...

NHL Picks: Florida Panthers at Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks are turning their season around. Ignore that incredibly slow start. The Anaheim Ducks have lost to playoff contenders in the Western Conference by one goal before taking out a very good Nashville Predators team. The Florida Panthers have played decent hockey this year, but the Anaheim Ducks should be the class of the West by the end of the season.

Rested, on home ice, and finally starting to look like the team I thought they were before the season started, I love the Anaheim Ducks in this spot. Z-Code public money ...

NHL Picks: Pittsburgh Penguins at Toronto Maple Leafs

Happy Halloween, Z-Coders. I love this one, but I have my hesitations about betting the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto, irrespective of how terrible Toronto is this year.

The Penguins are a little bit tired here and they’ve been inconsistent this season. On the road, they may come out a little slow with both factors coming together. Still, I don’t see how the Leafs can keep up with this kind of talent. I think the line is pretty reasonable, and even though we’re betting a favorite on the ...

NHL Picks: Buffalo Sabres at Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins are going with a backup goalie tonight on home ice, but against one of the worst teams in hockey I like their chances. The -210 line is reasonable, and the Penguins are winning hockey games. Still, the Penguins should give you a slight pause because this is a back to back.

The offense is due to explode, the Buffalo Sabres don’t have enough depth to shut down Pittsburgh, and I think even if there is some element of fatigue the Penguins should have enough to handle the Sabres with relative ...

NHL Picks: Arizona Coyotes vs New York Rangers

NHL Picks: Arizona Coyotes at New York Rangers I think the line is a little sharp here, but I really like the New York Rangers at home against the Arizona Coyotes. Despite the -210 line, I see a lot of value here.

I think the Rangers win this game more than 2 out of every 3 times, so I think there would be value even at a higher line. The young Coyotes offense had a nice run for a moment, but they’ve fallen off – as expected – in recent games. The goaltending can steal one, but I ...

NHL Picks: Nashville Predators at New Jersey Devils

Say what you will about how terrible my Devils are this year, but they still have a solid defense and a strong goaltending tandem. The Nashville Predators have one of the best goalies in hockey, an average offense, and an even stronger defense than New Jersey. This game asks one question for me – where will the goals come from?

I don’t know if New Jersey will even score in this one, and I’m not sure the Preds can dominate the game in a way that puts this one over five. I recognize ...

NHL Playoffs Picks: Anaheim Ducks vs Chicago Blackhawks, Game 5

NHL Playoffs Picks: Chicago Blackhawks at Anaheim Ducks This series is pretty much going to plan. The Anaheim Ducks anD Chicago Blackhawks continue to battle. The experience of the Blackhawks has been on display as they find ways to win overtime games. The explosiveness of the Anaheim Ducks has come to light throughout the series. This is a doozy.

What we thought would be the key to this series was the physicality and size of the Anaheim Ducks and whether they could wear down Chicago to win the series. We also noted that Crawford had returned to form and Anaheim ...