Posted on 10/16/2007 7:59:50 PM

NHL Betting: Hot Starts / Cold Starts

By BetUS Staff

Not everything went exactly as predicted over the first couple weeks of the NHL season, and those doing any hockey betting recently had to really pick their spots. Here’s a look at some of the teams that have come roaring out of the gates, and some that have not:

Hot Starts

The Ottawa Senators are looking to get back to the Stanley Cup final again this season – but this time they want to win it all. Ottawa has played seven games so far this year, and they’ve managed to come out on top in six of them, scoring 22 goals while allowing 14. The Sens’ only loss was against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second of back-to-back games last week. Last year’s starting goaltender, Ray Emery, is ready to return from his wrist injury, and he’ll push current starter Martin Gerber for more playing time.

The Hurricanes are 4-1-1 in their six games so far this year, and they’ve given up just 11 goals (while scoring 21) over those half-dozen contests. Carolina lost to the Washington Capitals in regulation time, and to the Montreal Canadiens in overtime. Canes netminder Cam Ward is 4-0-1 to start the season with a 1.79 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage. Eric Staal and Justin Williams both have eight points.

Like Carolina, the Philadelphia Flyers didn’t make the playoffs last season, but they’re looking like a contender in the early going. The Flyers won three of their first four games of the year (they were also in action on Tuesday night), and the addition of starting netminder Martin Biron seems to have really helped – they gave up just 10 goals in those four games. Free-agent acquisition Daniel Briere is leading the team in scoring.

The St. Louis Blues finished 15 points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference last year, but they’ve won three of their first four games so far this season (allowing only eight goals while scoring 15). Paul Kariya has injected a little more life into the Blues’ forward ranks – he’s chipped in with six assists and leads the team in scoring this year.

Finally, the Minnesota Wild have never really been considered a serious Stanley Cup threat, but Brian Rolston and company were gunning for their sixth straight win to start the season on Tuesday night. Even more impressive – the Wild only allowed four goals over their first five games, and starting netminder Niklas Backstrom had a sparkling 1.00 GAA. If Minnesota can finally develop a scoring punch they’ll be a contender this spring.

Cold Starts

The Atlanta Thrashers won the Southeast last year, but after two weeks of this season they find themselves mired in last place in that division. Heading into play on Tuesday night the Thrashers were winless at 0-5 – and they’d scored just nine goals while allowing 23. Atlanta starting goalie Kari Lehtonen was a bust over the first part of the schedule, going just 0-4 with a 4.72 GAA, and posting a terrible .870 save percentage.

The Los Angeles Kings began their season over in London, England, so they’ve been struggling to win in several time zones already this year. The Kings had allowed 27 goals over six games heading into play on Tuesday night, and their experiment with rookie goalie Jonathan Bernier was deemed a failure (he posted a 4.03 GAA in four games and was sent back to junior). At least Mike Cammalleri has been scoring goals.

The Toronto Maple Leafs might have six points in seven games this season, but they’ve won just twice and they’ve been on the receiving end of some very ugly losses. Toronto lost back-to-back to the Senators to open the season, gave up seven goals and six goals in losses to Carolina and Pittsburgh, and completely blew their game against the Sabres on Monday night. Overall, Toronto has allowed 29 goals in seven contests.

Check the BetUS odds section for all the latest NHL lines and prop bets for this season.

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