Monday Hockey Picks: Phoenix Coyotes @ San Jose Sharks
Added on Dec 28, 2009 by Jack Thurman in
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Serious sports betting specialists like to bet on hockey, and specifically they like betting on NHL totals. The relatively low scores of NHL hockey games are more predictable than other sports and while this may not appeal as much to the casual player a professional who makes the right decisions and looks for value can use that predictability to his advantage. We’ve got a nice looking NHL hockey position on tonight’s game between the Phoenix Coyotes and San Jose Sharks:
Phoenix Coyotes at San Jose Sharks
December 28, 7:35 PM Pacific
After being one of the most dependable ‘under’ teams in the NHL, the Phoenix Coyotes have actually failed to go ‘under’ in 5 of their last seven games. They’ve had three ‘overs’ and 2 pushes in that time frame but they look to be back to their low scoring ways tonight as they head to San Jose for a game against the Sharks. San Jose leads Phoenix in the Pacific Division by 3 points, so obviously this is an important game between divisional rivals. While Phoenix has gone ‘under’ in 26 of 39 games this year, San Jose has split their over/under verdicts at 19-19.
The Sharks may not be the ‘under’ team in the online sportsbook that the Coyotes are, but they have demonstrated a tendency to play their divisional rivalry games close to the vest this year with 7 ‘unders’ in 11 contests. Phoenix has only one way to win consistently as they lack playmakers on offense: they have to play a ‘grind ‘em out’ contest, minimizing opponents shots and getting good goaltending. They Coyotes have gone ‘under’ in 12 of 17 on the road this and more significantly in 11 of 14 against teams with winning records. That’s the sign of a team that knows how to ‘play within themselves’, as they simply can’t hang with the NHL’s elite in a goal scoring contest.
These two teams have already played twice this season, with both games staying ‘under’ the total. The scores of the previous two meetings (won by Phoenix 1-0 and 2-1) suggest what we can expect here and are typical of this matchup historically: 10 of the last 15 meetings between the Sharks and Coyotes have gone ‘under’ including 7 straight at San Jose.
Bet San Jose/Phoenix Under 5′ -140
