NHL Betting Picks: Phoenix Coyotes at Tampa Bay Lightning

Added on Feb 23, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NHL

Wednesday is a great day to bet on sports and there’s plenty of exciting NHL betting action on tap for this evening. This this post we’ll take a look at a non-conference matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Phoenix Coyotes. The high octane Lightning have assumed the role of the 2009-2010 Washington Capitals by trying to outscore everyone in the league. So far it’s worked pretty well–they’re leading the Southeast Division. The Coyotes have been coming on like a runaway Zamboni after a poor start to the season and with the exception of the inexplicable New Jersey Devils may be the hottest team in the NHL at the moment.

Phoenix Coyotes at Tampa Bay Lightning
February 23, 2011 4:35 PM Pacific

The Coyotes are playing insane hockey at the moment, having won 8 straight and 14 of their last 20. They really can’t afford to *not* play this way since they’re in the most competitive division in the league–they’ve managed to ‘open up’ a 1 point lead over the San Jose Sharks which has them currently seeded third in the conference. We’ve talked about the Pacific Division before–the Sharks and Coyotes are starting to pull away from the back with the remaining three teams all tied with 68 points. Right now 68 points is the cut off for playoff qualification in the West meaning that if the season ended today the LA Kings would be in while the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks would be out due to the vagaries of tiebreakers.

Tampa Bay is currently the #2 team in the East despite the fact that they’ve got a -6 goal differential–the 8th place Carolina Hurricanes are the only other playoff eligible team in either conference with a negative differential. The Lightning have a solid record against teams with winning records this year (16-11) but have lost three of their last five. It’s not going to get any easier for them down the stretch as they face teams with superior defense and goaltending–as good as they are on offense a #25 ranked scoring defense allowing 3.07 goals per game isn’t going to get it done. Coyotes are on a 9-3 run against teams over .500 and Phoenix has the superior defense and a huge edge in net with Ilya Bryzgalov. We’ll take the better team at a nice price.

Bet Phoenix Coyotes +145 over Tampa Bay Lightning