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 for Washington. 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, but Dallas 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 11th 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.

Sports fans in Florida are probably doing a lot of Superbowl betting but very little hockey betting. Both Florida teams, the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, are playing poor hockey and neither Florida team looks to be making a move towards the playoffs. The Panthers were riding the great play of goaltender Jose Theodore early in the season, but there is only so much that Theodore can do without a defense in front of him. The luckiest thing for the Panthers is that it plays in the worst division in hockey. That alone gives the Panthers hope for a playoff berth in April.

Washington Capitals
The Capitals do not seem to have any problems scoring goals, but the team is not getting the kind of play it expected to get from its goaltending. Newly acquired goalie Tomas Vokoun is doing well with a 20-12-0 record and a .916 save percentage. But Michal Neuvirth is obviously not enjoying the role of backup as he has posted a 6-7-3 record this season and has a .892 save percentage. The price per head bookie experts do not have a lot of faith in the Capitals when Neuvirth is in net and the Capitals seem to love to play its backup more than most other teams. As Vokoun plays more, the Capitals seem to gain stability. The fans are hoping that interim head coach Dale Hunter can see that and keep Vokoun in the nets.

Florida Panthers
The Panthers’ problems are not so much the lack of defense, it is more a lack of balance that plagues this team. Sportsbook reviews of games earlier in the season show a team that leaned way too much on a hot goalie. Once Theodore started to crack under the pressure, the offense could not pick up the pace. The Panthers need to start balancing their attack and bring their forwards back to start playing defense. If Florida does not make some changes to the way it plays, then other teams will just continue to skate around them.

The Bottom Line
NHL fans in Washington are frustrated and fans in Florida are apathetic. There is a feeling in Washington that the Capitals had its shot at the Stanley Cup but are past that and back into rebuilding. The Capitals players need to start picking up the pace to bring hockey excitement back to Washington.

Pick: Washington Capitals

The plight of the Anaheim Ducks has kind of been lost with all of the Super Bowl betting hoopla as of late, but things are not going well in Anaheim. The Ducks were not a very good team to begin with and relied heavily on goaltender Jonas Hiller to steal wins for the team. When the season started, Hiller wasn’t stealing anything. Then the Ducks decided to fire its head coach and bring in Bruce Boudreau three days after Boudreau had been fired by the Washington Capitals. It seemed like a great move at first, but now Anaheim is starting to find out why Boudreau was made the fall guy in Washington. As the Capitals move up the Eastern Conference standings without Boudreau, the Ducks continue to drop in the Western Conference standings.

Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars have hit a really rough patch as of late and were 4-5-1 in the 10 games leading up to the All-Star break. Even though the Stars are 11-12-0 on the road, the price per head bookie experts still do not seem concerned about Dallas’ ability to make the playoffs this season. The area where the Stars need to improve is defense. The Stars have scored 126 goals this season, but it has allowed 136. It cannot all be blamed on goaltender Kari Lehtonen as the Dallas defense has a really bad habit of leaving Lehtonen on his own much of the game. But Lehtonen still stands strong for his team and the Stars need to find that scoring touch again if it wants to start winning games. Lehtonen is 1-4-0 in his last five starts, but he only allowed a total of nine goals in those four loses. In one of those loses, Lehtonen only allowed one goal.

Anaheim Ducks
It would make sense that a team like Dallas, that is having problems playing defense and scoring goals right now, would be a great match for any team in need of a win. But things have not been that easy for the Ducks. On the plus side, sportsbook reviews of the Ducks’ last 10 games show an 8-1-1 record. The Ducks will have to climb high and fast if it wants to make the playoffs. But the team has just not shown the consistency needed to win big games.

The Bottom Line
The NHL fans in Anaheim know that the Ducks are more effective at home. But even with an 8-1-1 run leading up to the All-Star break, the Ducks just cannot count on getting the performances it needs from key players.

Pick: Dallas Stars

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 Capitals have not had an easier time this year. The Washington management tried to pin the team’s lack of success on head coach Bruce Boudreau and fired Boudreau earlier in the season. The problem is that rookie head coach Dale Hunter is not having any more success with the team than Boudreau did. But the sports bookie software is starting to notice a change in the Capitals that has not occurred with the Canadiens. Despite all of the personnel moves that Montreal has made, the Canadiens are still floundering in the basement of the Northeast Division. The Washington Capitals, on the other hand, is only one point out of first place in the Southeast Division.

Montreal Canadiens
The overriding problem in Montreal is not the coaching, even though the coaching staff has been taking the fall for the issues the team has been facing. A sportsbook.com review of the Canadiens’ roster shows small forwards and slow defensemen. Cammalleri was not traded because it made the team better, he was traded because he spoke out against the way the team was playing. Randy Cunneyworth is not going to have any success in Montreal so long as the Montreal front office remains more focused on the team’s image than the product on the ice. Goaltender Carey Price is struggling and the Canadiens cannot score goals. You need more than good coaching to solve those problems.

Washington Capitals
The Caps have suddenly come to life and seem to be responding to Dale Hunter’s system. In the last 10 games, Washington has gone 7-3-0 and that includes a three-game winning streak. But the Capitals are still being victimized by inconsistent goaltending. Tomas Vokoun was supposed to wrestle the starting job away from youngster Michal Neuvirth. Every time it seems like Vokoun has himself under control, he stumbles and Neuvirth needs to come in to save the day. That is something that the Capitals have seen before and it has hindered the team’s playoff success.

The Bottom Line
For all of its problems, the Washington Capitals are at least showing a glimmer of hope. The glimmer in Montreal is being clouded by insignificant bickering and decisions made based on emotion as opposed to what is best for the team.

Pick: Washington Capitals

Despite the improvements of both teams, the price per head sports experts still do not give either team much of a chance to win the Stanley Cup this season. The Avalanche is being given 65 to 1 odds on winning the Cup and the Panthers is said to have a 75 to 1 chance to win the hardware. So this game is hardly a battle of two NHL powerhouses. But the Panthers continue to establish its dominance in the Southeast Division, but hold on to the division lead by only four points. Every win is critical to the Florida Panthers.

Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche is 6-3-1 in its last 10 games. Even though the Avalanche let goaltender Craig Anderson go and replaced him with Semyon Varlamov, the goals against situation is not getting any better in Colorado. According to the price per head bookie experts, Varlamov does have a 2.90 goals against average this season and he is 4-1-0 in his last five starts. But backup JS Giguere has been getting a lot of work lately, and his play has been suspect as of late. Even with his impressive 2.14 goals against average, Giguere is 2-2-1 in his last five starts and has consistently been allowing four goals a night as of late. The Avalanche needs its goaltending to pick up the pace if it wants to get back into the playoff race.

Florida Panthers
The Panthers are 4-4-2 in its last 10 games and have been able to maintain the division lead thanks to some timely goal scoring. But the Panthers are not a prominent scoring team and it does not necessarily play great defense. A sportsbook review of the Panthers’ season shows a team that just knows how to win games in tight situations. The Panthers will not outscore a team and it will also not win any intense goaltending battles. But Florida has been able to string together wins in bunches based solely on its ability to stay close in tight games. The problem for Florida is that it has a tendency to get blown out every once in a while and that usually happens on the road.

The Bottom Line
It has been a while since the NHL fans in Miami have had something to cheer about. But with this game being in Colorado, and given the way that the Panthers have been playing lately, it just looks like the Panthers are do to drop another road game by a big score.

Pick: Colorado Avalanche

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.

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 rookie NHL 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 of 4-6-0. But that stretch includes a four-game losing streak where the Penguins cannot seem to do anything right. The fans in Pittsburgh need to be patient as Pittsburgh 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 are 7-12-1 on the road, but the team is 14-5-1 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