Betting the Rest of the 2021 NHL Season

NHL teams heading into the home stretch of the 2021 regular season as most have roughly 10 games remaining to be played. Things are beginning to heat up especially in the West Division where just five points separate third-place Minnesota from Colorado and Vegas. Each team has been on fire recently with Vegas going 8-2 in its last 10 games, Colorado 9-1, and Minnesota 7-2-1.

As the league winds down its regular season and gets ready for an interesting postseason, there are a number of teams that bettors should keep an eye on for the rest of season.

Most Profitable

Washington, which is currently first in the East Division at 29-13-4, has been one of the most profitable teams to back this season. The Capitals are 14-6-2 at home and 15-7-2 on the road. Other teams to watch include Carolina, Florida, and Winnipeg. All have turned nice profits for bettors this season.

Carolina and Florida continue to battle for the East Division top spot. The Hurricanes are currently first with a record of 29-10-5 with the Panthers close behind at 29-12-5. Reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay is also in the mix at 30-13-1, but the Lightning haven’t been as profitable as the others.

The New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins are virtual moneyline locks when playing at home in 2021. The Penguins are 16-3-2 at home and the Islanders are 18-2-3 on their home ice.

Winnipeg has been very good to spread bettors. The Jets own the NHL’s best record against the spread at 32-13.

Back the Caps?

Speaking of Washington, they have been one of the more interesting teams to watch in 2021. They have one of the greatest scorers in league history in Alexander Ovechkin, but he’s getting older. The Caps weren’t really among the favorites to win a Stanley Cup in 2021 either.

Regardless of the Caps’ shot at a Cup, Washington is 16-7 straight up in its last 23 games. The Caps are not a great spread bet as they have covered just five times in their last 17 games. However, Washington’s ability to score – the Caps are second in the NHL in scoring averaging 3.54 goals per game – has led to seven straight Overs. For the season, the Over is 28-16 in Capitals’ games.

The Futures Market

Reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay was the overall favorite to win the title once again for most of the 2021 season. More recently, the play of the Colorado Avalanche has allowed the Avs to take over the favorite spot. Colorado is listed at +375 to win it all. Tampa Bay has fallen back slightly at +650 at top rated sportsbooks.

Currently in third place in the Central Division, the Lightning still have a very capable roster despite not having Nikita Kucherov for the entire season. The biggest thing standing in the way of a Tampa Bay repeat is history. Pittsburgh was the last team to do it winning the Cup in 2016 and 2017. The Penguins are the only repeat champions since the late 1990s.

Bettors should not forget Vegas at +700. The Knights just regained the lead in the West Division over Colorado. Vegas leads the Avs by two points in the division race. Both teams have been hot recently with Vegas winning eight of their last ten and Colorado winning nine of ten.

NHL Totals

Bettors looking to capitalize in the NHL totals market for the remainder of the season should keep an eye on a few teams. The Capitals with their 28-16 Over/Under record are one. Another is the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers haven’t had all that much to cheer about in 2021, but they do have the NHL’s best record in terms of the Over. The Over is 29-16 in Flyers’ games this season. It’s interesting because the Flyers are a middle-of-the-pack scoring team averaging 2.8 goals per game. On the other end though, Philly gives up 3.55 goals per game which ranks 30th out of 31 NHL teams.

The other team to watch is Arizona. Much like Philadelphia, the Coyotes are just 20-21-5 on the season though they do have a shot at earning the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division. Arizona ranks 23rd in the league in both goals scored per game and goals allowed per game. The Coyotes are just bad enough on defense and score just enough on offense to own a record of 27-18 to the Over.