NHL odds: Favorites ice competition in historic weekend
Betting favorites in the NHL had a performance for the ages over the weekend.
Per The Action Network, favorites went 22-0 straight up on the ice from Friday to Sunday. This means bettors who wagered on those teams to win cashed in big this past weekend.
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Over the past five seasons, there have been at least 14 NHL games on the same day 21 times, per ESPN research. Saturday was the first time the favorites won every single game.
"I don’t ever recall a run like that ever off the top of my head where the favorites went absolutely perfect with such a large number of games," BetMGM director of trading Jeff Stoneback said. "Obviously, there has been times when all favorites hit before but probably not 22 consecutive."
With the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs in early May, playoff-contending teams are tightening their lineups while losing teams may be playing more inexperienced players with an eye to the future. This may explain why the favorites swept the weekend.
"It is hard to explain," FOX Bet sports trader Olegs Nikolajevs said. "And the scores were crazy, too — 9-1, 7-4 and 8-4 in one day (Saturday)."
Four teams — the Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres — went 2-0 over the weekend. Home teams went 16-6 straight up in that time span as well.
If you are looking to get in on some NHL action, Nikolajevs said he likes another home team to cover Monday night. He suggests laying a couple of bucks on the Vancouver Canucks (37-28-10, 84 points) getting 1.5 goals against the visiting Dallas Stars (43-27-5, 91 points), who are starting a three-game swing through Canada.
PICK: Vancouver Canucks (+1.5 goals at FOX Bet) to lose by one goal or fewer (or win outright)
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