With just over two weeks left in this 2022-23 NHL regular season, the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche are barreling through the competition. The two Stanley Cup favorites per the odds and NHL predictions have both won seven of their last eight games. Even if their outright odds remain similar to last week’s, these two are a tier above the rest.
Boston was one of four teams that went unbeaten this past seven days while Colorado’s only defeat was sandwiched by some dominant victories. But as excellent as the two have been, several other contenders have been just as good if not better in these last few weeks.
Top Five
1. Bruins
They did not dominate quite as impressively as last week, but the Boston Bruins still went a perfect 4-0. Edging Tampa Bay and Carolina felt like Boston won some playoff games as the Bruins could meet either or both later in the postseason.
The Bruins are also getting some friendly competition between their netminders as both Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have been alternating stellar starts. The pair have combined to post a 92.8 percent save percentage this month. It’s why Boston remains profitable when betting online despite its consistently chalky lines.
- Championship odds: +350
This is the Sway. 🥰
Cc: @JeremySwayman & Linus Ullmark (@Icebeardude) pic.twitter.com/Dm3cuB3vz9
— NHL (@NHL) March 24, 2023
2. Knights
Surprise? Vegas inserts itself between Boston and Colorado because the Golden Knights beat a more formidable lineup than the latter. We’ll take road wins over Edmonton, Calgary and resurgent Vancouver over the Connor Bedard-hopefuls that Colorado ran through.
Vegas also cashed as an underdog in the Edmonton and Calgary wins. In fact, the Knights have won four straight games as one and are trending as one of the best NHL teams to bet on online. Trading for Jonathan Quick, who helped hold the fort amidst Vegas’ goalie injuries, proved to be a shrewd deadline move.
- Championship odds: +1400
3. Avalanche
As its namesake suggests, Colorado can be nigh-impossible to stop when it builds momentum. The team has won eight of its last nine games and is 23-9 (23-6-3) since going through that late-‘22, early-‘23 slump that culminated in a loss to Chicago (Jan. 14). But there is some cause for concern.
These nine losses mostly came against the NHL’s elite: A pair to Tampa Bay, one to the Stars, to the Kings and to the Devils and Penguins. Colorado is favored to win both its division (+135) and to come out of the West in the playoffs (+250). Its final games against the West’s best could be a litmus test of Colorado’s status.
- Championship odds: +700
4. Kings
Speaking of the Kings, Los Angeles may be a sharp NHL pick to go on a deep playoff run. This team has shades of the 2011-12 team that went all the way as an eighth seed thanks to a late-season surge. The Kings are on fire offensively and averaged a whopping 6.33 goals per game in three wins this week.
Since the NHL trade deadline, the Kings have gone 9-0-2 with a +24 goal differential. If the Knights did great in acquiring Quick, the Kings also benefited from adding Joonas Korpisalo to bolster itstheir goaltending. The former Blue Jacket is 4-0-1 as a King with a 92.9 save percentage.
- Championship odds: +2200
5. Canucks
Vancouver is not winning the Stanley Cup or the NHL Draft Lottery. This team will be picking in the middle after another disappointing season. But its backers can take solace in how profitable Vancouver has been on the NHL betting lines. The Canucks are 10-3-0 since the trade deadline and are getting it done with defense.
This team is giving up just a hair above two goals per game and its once-abysmal penalty kill is top three during this span at 89.7 percent. Most notably, Vancouver was 6-1 as an underdog. Shoutout to goalie Thatcher Demko, who has returned from injury with a vengeance.
- Championship odds: +100000
Bottom Five
28. Lightning
While Boston, Colorado and Vegas flourish at the top, Tampa continues to take losses. The Lightning haven’t been good in a while now. The team lost four straight games and is only 10-16 (10-11-5) since the All-Star break. Its offense is laboring and scoring just 2.92 goals in this span (24th in the NHL). And Andrei Vasilevskiy has been on-and-off in net.
Per recent NHL news, Tampa Bay is healthy. Star forward Nikita Kucherov has 102 points. Brayden Point has a career-best 45 goals. But Tampa needs more out of its bottom-six forwards.
- Championship odds: +1400
29. Blackhawks
Chicago is making a good run for the top spot in the Bedard sweepstakes. The team lost its last five games and scored a total of six goals in these losses. Since the All-Star break, only San Jose and Washington have had worse point percentages than the Blackhawks. This team can pull off a crazy upset (as it did against Boston) from time to time. But overall, bettors fade this team gleefully.
- Championship odds: OTB
Blackhawks really want Bedard pic.twitter.com/mWIJAeECSl
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) March 23, 2023
30. Sharks
While Erik Karlsson continues his hunt for a third Norris Trophy, the Sharks keep losing. This team has a 27.3-point percentage since the All-Star break: that’s a 4-14-4 (4-18) record. Its power play is second worst at 12.3 percent and its allowed the third-most goals on average at 4.05.
- Championship odds: OTB
31. Red Wings
Detroit has been tied as the NHL’s worst team in the past two weeks with a 1-7 (1-5-2) record. The team has also managed to score just nine goals during this span, which is by far the fewest. Also, after going on a run post-All-Star break, Detroit has gone 3-12 (3-11-1) with an upset over Boston as its only victory over a playoff team in this span.
- Championship odds: +50000
32. Ducks
The Ducks are the worst NHL team. It might not be the case in the standings, but this team routinely gets blown out against not-so-good teams. It got crushed by the Blues 6-3 and by Calgary 5-1. With four straight losses, Anaheim’s only win since March 12 is against Columbus.
The Blue Jackets, on the other hand, are actually 3-4-0 in its last seven games and thus move out of this week’s Bottom 5.
- Championship odds: +OTB
