Hockey betting on Thursday has the Ottawa Senators hosting the Vancouver Canucks. The NHL is taking an Olympic break in a couple of weeks and because of that, some teams are playing a lot of games in a short period of time. Another side effect of the break in NHL betting is that a team like Vancouver is going to have to go on the road for 14 straight games.
Hockey betting has this as the second game of the 14-game trip for Vancouver. Technically it is not a 14-game trip according to the NHL since the Canucks will play eight games on the road and then have the Olympic break. They then have another six game road trip after the break. Because the Olympics are in Vancouver the Canucks have to suffer.
Hockey betting in one respect does favor the Canucks in this game against Ottawa since the Senators are in a back-to-back having played last night in Buffalo. What also helps the Canucks is that they are 6-4 in the last 10 games against Ottawa. The teams have not played since February of last year when the Canucks won 5-2 in Ottawa. The Canucks have won the last three games at Ottawa in hockey betting.
Vancouver is right around the .500 mark on the road this season in hockey betting and that will get the job done if you are good at home and Vancouver is. The Canucks have the third best offense in the league and they are fifth best on defense. Those types of numbers are going to win a lot of games in hockey betting.
Ottawa has been excellent at home this season in hockey betting. The Senators have stayed in the playoff picture because they have been so tough at home. They have 20 wins at home this season so they are a force in NHL betting. It is unclear sometimes how Ottawa wins games with a 12th ranked offense and a 16th ranked defense but they somehow get the job done.
A big NHL betting trend surrounds the total in this game. Five of the last six between the two teams have gone under the total. The Canucks have been a team that is going over the total on the road so that would be the only concern if you are taking this game under in NHL betting.