There are some seriously hot teams in the NHL this season. Most important of all, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers have been consistently reliable all year long. But the team that was touted as the best on the NHL betting board was the Colorado Avalanche. For the first three months of the season, the Avs were off and on. Now Colorado is just on. The Avalanche remain a popular team on the futures market for the Stanley Cup. However, the big question remains goaltending. Most hockey experts say the Avs must trade for a true #1 netminder.
Hot and Cold NHL Teams This Week
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Hot Teams
Colorado Avalanche
It’s been an Avalanche of profits by Colorado in recent days. To show, the Avs have visited the offshore bookmaker payout window in nine of their most recent ten games. Also, Colorado’s last five games failed to clear the total. The Avalanche are the top goal-scoring team in the NHL. However, the Avs rank 20th in the league for goals allowed and 27th for penalty killing. Those marks on the back end are not what Stanley Cups are made out of. Colorado is 28-8-3 on the season.
Colorado ranks 13th for shots allowed. While not a dominant stat, it’s in the upper half of the NHL. This points to the flawed goaltending on the Avalanche. Namely, Darcy Kuemper is the #1 netminder and has a save percentage of .913. Kuemper’s goals-against average is 2.63, with a record of 19-5-1. On the whole, Kuemper’s numbers are not bad. But his inconsistency and lack of dominance keep coach Jared Bednar tossing and turning each night. Worst of all, there is not a realistic alternative on the roster. Thus, the desire for a trade.
Florida Panthers
Late on, the Panthers have visited the cashier’s cage in eight of their last ten games. So too, have the Panthers cleared the total in seven of their most recent ten outings. Florida stands at 28-8-5 as the top team in the Eastern Conference. To summarize, the Panthers rank 2nd in the NHL for goal scoring and 13th for goals against.
Fashion the remarkable resurgence of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. The past two years were underwhelming performances by the former Columbus Blue Jacket. However, for 2021-22 Bobrovsky has a .925 save percentage and 2.38 goals-against average. His record is 20-3-3 and includes one shutout. In comparison, Bobrovsky had a .906 save percentage last season and was at .900 in 2019-20.
Center Aleksander Barkov, left-wing Anthony Duclair, and center Sam Bennett have 17 goals each. Meanwhile, defenseman Aaron Ekblad has ten goals, 25 assists, and a whopping +25. Ekblad missed the 2021 NHL Playoffs because of injury. He could prove to be the difference-maker in this year’s postseason.
Cold Teams
Philadelphia Flyers
It has been a stunning collapse for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2020-21. At the onset of the season, the Flyers were a hot pick on the NHL betting futures market to make the 2022 NHL Playoffs. Philadelphia has not seen the payout window in 11 consecutive games. Now the Flyers bring a record of 13-20-8, which puts them in the Metropolitan Division basement. The Flyers rank 28th in the NHL for goal scoring and 24th for goals against.