Detroit's Alex Lyon has impressive late-season numbers with a goals against average of 2.68 and a save percentage of .915 in his career during April
The playoff race is flaming hot right now with many teams vying for the last few chairs at the table. The East is in an all out war with eight teams battling for the last two Wild Card spots occupied by the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Philadelphia Flyers. The race getting so hot should create holes that we will look to exploit or at least have some real estate in for hopes of turning a profit.
As we approach the last stretch of the season, we look at bets we can take that are at a great value as of today. Whether it's a team to win Lord Stanley or someone to bring home a trophy, there is a ton of value out on the sportsbooks that people should be taking advantage of before the odds change. Here are our current best value picks that you should take before time runs out. We will look at futures to invest in.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Bet: Red Wings to make playoffs (-110)
Detroit has been one of the worst teams in the league over the past month and have turned an easy trip to the playoffs into a dogfight that they are currently losing. A lot of people have lost hope in this team when they have the build to get the job done. They shouldn’t be listed as a surprise contender but if this team gets hot, which seems likely as they can’t get much worse, then they will be an easy in for the playoffs. The Red Wings will have the 16th-hardest schedule to end the season which isn’t bad as the teams in their way
The key difference between the Red Wings and the Flyers is that despite their similarities in average age, Detroit has more valuable key pieces that can speak volumes to their team and know how to turn it on at the right time.
They call him ‘Showtime' for a reason as Patrick Kane is one of the most clutch players in the league’s history and showed he still has the gene as he contributed with a goal in the Wings massive win on Monday Night over Tampa Bay. He's been playing at an elite level this season with 17 goals and 41 points in 42 games this season. They also have netminder Alex Lyon, who has been lacklustre in his recent starts but turns his play on at the right time with most of his career best numbers coming in the month of April with nine starts that saw a goals against average of 2.68 and a save percentage of .915 that only improves in May.
His recent numbers are brutal with no wins and a goals against average of 4.04 over his last ten starts but going into April of last season he looked very much the same. He had a 3.61 goals against average in just nine starts on the season but in his following six starts, he dropped his average to 1.83 and became the Panthers reliable backup that helped them reach the Stanley Cup final.
He has a history of correcting struggles at this point of the season and proved it with his 36-save performance in the Red Wings big win over the Lightning Monday Night. He should prove to be a key piece to the Red Wings securing their playoff spot.