posted November 30, 2007 at 15:15 in NHL Articles

The Phoenix Coyotes’ 2007/08 campaign looked like it was going to be a write-off yet again a couple weeks ago, but those doing any NHL betting since then have found Wayne Gretzky’s squad to be a lucrative pick. And that’s thanks to their new goaltender.

The Coyotes claimed Ilya Bryzgalov off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks on November 17, and he was promptly tossed between the pipes for their contest against the Los Angeles Kings that day. The result was a 1-0 shutout and the start of a four-game winning streak for the team. Bryzgalov allowed just five goals in those consecutive victories over the Kings, Kings again, Ducks, and Maple Leafs as he grabbed hold of the starting gig.

Bryzgalov did suffer his first lost as a Coyote on Wednesday night, allowing three goals on 28 shots versus the Minnesota Wild. However, the Russian looks like he will bring stability to a team that had rotated the likes of Mikael Tellqvist, Alex Auld, and David Aebischer in and out of their crease this season. And that will only help the Coyotes’ playoff chances; they sit with an 11-11-0 record and 22 points in 22 games at this point.

Phoenix will get a chance to go back over the .500 mark when they play a road game in Chicago against the Blackhawks on Friday night. The Hawks now have Martin Havlat back in the lineup to complement young scorers Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Chicago is 6-2-2 in their past 10 games, and they also play a road game against St. Louis on Saturday. The Coyotes continue their trip with a game in Detroit on Saturday.

Other Friday night contests around the NHL betting this week include Montreal at New Jersey, Washington at Carolina, Dallas at Pittsburgh, St. Louis at Minnesota, Anaheim at Edmonton, and Colorado at San Jose. The Avalanche will then stay on the west coast Saturday, when they’ll head south to Los Angeles for a game against the sliding Kings.

A busy Saturday night in the league also has the New York Rangers at Ottawa, Carolina at Buffalo, Pittsburgh at Toronto, Nashville at Montreal, Atlanta at the New York Islanders, Dallas at Philadelphia, Washington at Florida, Phoenix at Detroit, Boston at Tampa Bay, and Columbus at Calgary. Sunday then has just three games this week, with Atlanta at New Jersey, Vancouver at Minnesota, and finally Edmonton at Anaheim.

Check the BetUS odds section for all the latest hockey lines for this weekend’s contests.

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