If you’re following NHL scores, you’ll be happy to see the second half of the regular season get underway on Tuesday, and there is a tasty matchup coming out of the Eastern conference as Ottawa heads to Boston.

Senators Bruins Odds – Tuesday, 7:00 PM ET

The Senators got off to a horrible start, and more than a few BetOnline players probably gave up on them. But now the Senators are in sixth place in the East and are in prime position to move up the standings as they’re only six points behind first-place New York (the Rangers, not the Islanders, obviously). The break couldn’t have come soon enough for Ottawa, who dropped three straight before the All-Star game, but now you have to wonder how the team’s All-Stars, captain Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek will fare coming back to the team. Superbowl betting players could compare this to Tom Brady, Wes Welker and company coming back from the Pro Bowl to play this weekend; they probably didn’t do a whole lot on the ice (or on the field, for football players), but they were still there and it was a busy weekend, especially with it being held in Ottawa. Pay attention to Alfredsson, who was one of the team captains.

The other captain was Zdeno Chara of the Bruins, and he was busy shattering his record in the hardest-shot competition (108 mph? Wow!). The Bruins are second only to the Rangers in the East, but most of the talk going into the break surrounded goalie Tim Thomas and his refusal to go to the White House with his teammates because he doesn’t agree with the way government is running things. There were rumors that the Bruins are shopping their Vezina winner around, and you can bet that would affect lines and picks among those that work with price per head software.

The Bruins should be the favorites at home in this contest, and they’ve won six in a row against the Senators in Boston, so the line could be very staggered towards the home team. It’ll be interesting to see if Thomas is in goal for the Bruins; if he isn’t (and he wasn’t in the Bruins’ final game before the break), that will only add fuel to the fire, which is another distraction that the defending Stanley Cup champions need. This helps the Senators, who are basically playing with house money as no one expected them to challenge with a first-year head coach in Paul MacLean, but he is quickly earning consideration as the Coach of the Year. Go for the upset and take Ottawa in your sports betting picks.

The biggest turnaround in an NHL season that has been highlighted by several surprises has to be the play of the St. Louis Blues, which have transitioned from a team that appeared destined to miss the playoffs once again to a team seemingly destined to be among the top contenders in the Western conference. St. Louis struggled out of the gate with just two wins through its first six games, but has since turned things around, and become even stronger with the addition of head coach Ken Hitchcock behind the bench. The Blue have a ton of talent throughout their lineup but their biggest strength was also their biggest weakness as they were young and inexperienced. Hitchcock coming in helped stabilize that aspect of the team, and since then they have flourished among the most complete teams in the NHL.

It has to be noted that while Hitchcock’s presence has been among the biggest keys to the turnaround, it is not the only reason. St. Louis has allowed a league-low 1.9 average goals against per game, and the goaltending tandem of Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott has everything to do with that as well. Hitchcock’s system has his defenders collapse down low and clear out the rebounds in front of his goalies, but it is on them to make the first save. While both the forwards and defenseman have been responsible in their own end, Halak and Elliott have a combined save percentage of .928, and nine shutouts between them. Blues’ fans have been waiting on Halak to deliver for quite some time, and perhaps all it took was a little healthy competition with the addition of Elliott in the offseason. Both netminders have exceeded expectations, and having two capable goalies has been among the keys to St. Louis’ success, something the pay head bookies have taken notice of.

General manager Doug Armstrong has told the media that he will not break up that tandem before the trade deadline in order to acquire players at other positions, and it is a good thing that he isn’t. St. Louis has some solid depth on the blue line and some capable forwards up front, and the more experience they get the better they will be able to handle pressure situations. David Backes leads all scorers with 37 points on the year, however the Blues could be in the market to add another scorer before the deadline if the price is right, since after Backes there is only one other player on the roster with more than 30 points. There is no shortage of options available with several teams looking to make a move to sell, and it might not be long until St. Louis makes a move to increase their odds of emerging from the conference on Betonline.

The Blues have a solid blend of youth and experience now thanks to Hitchcock, and as long as they continue to buy in to his system and execute they should be fine. St. Louis has been one of the biggest surprises this season as they currently sit fourth in the Western conference, and look for them to continue to execute down the stretch as legitimate sports betting contenders.

This season, there has been much debate within the NHL regarding the safety of goalies. Comparable to the NFL, the goalie like the quarterback is the most important player on the ice. Essentially, your season depends not necessarily on who scores the most points on your team, but rather which goalie plays hard enough night in and night out, that it allows your team the best opportunity to win the Stanley Cup. Earlier this season, Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic body checked Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, giving the latter a concussion. As a result, Miller and his team have struggled, as he is still experiencing signs of the concussion. Thus leaving the question, is it time that the NHL adopted rules to protect goalies?

As we noted above, the goalie position in the NHL is just as important as the quarterback position in the NFL. While the quarterback is responsible for calling everything on offense, and dictating who does what, the goalie is responsible for stopping the puck and on many nights making the key saves which can keep their team in a game. When an opposing teams player strikes a goalie, the automatic response, in our opinion should be not only for a penalty to be administered similar to roughing the quarterback, but a fight to breakout. The goalie may have more equipment on then the average skater, but 90 percent of goalies are much skinnier then the bruising players crashing into them.

In other words, regardless of the equipment, the goalie needs to be protected, as they are the most important assets on your team. With this in mind, the NHL needs to make stiffer punishments for players that attack goalies, because it can affect the outcome of the game. If the goalie isn’t protected, then teams such as the Boston Bruins, will always have their sports betting lines skewed because they can injure who ever they please.

The Vancouver Canucks have surged to second place in the Western Conference after a slow start, and the defending conference champions will host Los Angeles on Tuesday night in a matchup of two teams that are coming off a loss on Sunday night.

Kings Canucks Odds – Tuesday, 10:00 PM

Los Angeles (22-15-9) has had some issues putting the puck in the net, which raised its ugly head once again in a 2-1 overtime loss in Edmonton. Some sportsbook reviews would point out that the Kings were outshot 33-21 and they got another solid performance from goaltender Jonathan Quick, who stopped 31 shots, while Justin Williams notched his eighth goal of the season for the Kings. Some players that are familiar with price per head bookie software had the Kings as a darkhorse for the Stanley Cup, but no one foresaw their goal-scoring problems, especially it being this poor. Quick has been playing at an All-Star caliber and if he keeps this up, he’ll definitely earn consideration for the Vezina, but at the end of the day, the Kings have to find a way to give their goalie some protection in regards to scoring or they won’t even make the postseason.

Vancouver (28-15-3) were outshot 34-23 in a 4-2 loss at home to Anaheim, and it may have been worse if not for a 30-save effort from goaltender Roberto Luongo. The Canucks were outshot 10-3 in the first period, but managed to go into the locker room tied at one apiece and the score could have easily been worse if not for Luongo, who the Canucks need to be at his best to stay in the good graces of players that use price per head services. Cody Hodgson and Mason Raymond got on the scoresheet for Vancouver, who were playing at home for the first time after a four-game road trip on which they went 3-1.

The Canucks should be the favorites at home against the Kings, who are 2-3 SU in their last five trips to Vancouver, and three of those games went under the posted total. Los Angeles has to figure out a way to generate goals, or at the very least, shots on goal because Quick can’t carry them in the ultra-tough Western Conference. Early in the season, it was chocked up to new players getting used to their teammates, but now, it’s starting to get scary as the Kings are 30th in goals scored and if you look at the talent on the team, they should be scoring more. However, the Canucks rarely lose two in a row at home and they’ll come out with some fire on Tuesday night, so take Vancouver when you bet on sports.

As the NHL world draws closer to the annual All Star game in the coming days, the playoff picture in the Eastern conference is already much clearer than it was just a couple of months ago. While the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, and Philadelphia Flyers appear to be the three locks to make the postseason out east, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, and New York Islanders will not have a chance at this year’s dance. As far as the nine teams in between go, there is still a lot of hockey to be played as we try and separate the true contenders from pretenders.

Many sports betting enthusiasts figured that the Montreal Canadiens would take another step forward this season after adding veteran winger Eric Cole and developing much of its young core. But the Canadiens haven’t responded as expected, and after the firing of head coach Jacques Martin and subsequent anointment of Randy Cunneyworth as interim coach, the pot has really been stirred in Montreal. Seven points back of eighth place in the Eastern conference exactly at the halfway mark of the season, the Canadiens have the time and talent to turn things around, but they will have to play with a greater sense of urgency and get on a roll over these next couple of weeks.

The Buffalo Sabres are in the same boat as the Canadiens having spent a ton of money in the offseason, but the play of netminder Ryan Miller has been a concern ever since he returned from concussion, and the offense hasn’t scored at the pace it was expected to. The Washington Capitals have been Southeast division favorites on Betonline ever since Alex Ovechkin’s second year, but are also on the outside looking in at this point. New head coach Dale Hunter appears to be turning things around, but results are needed soon before they fall too far back. The Winnipeg Jets have played excellent hockey in their new home but have been awful on the road, and will need to play better there to have a chance.

While the Canadiens, Capitals, and Jets all appear to have a chance at turning things around over the second half and making a push, qualifying for a playoff spot would mean one of the teams from fourth through eighth slipping, and there are several candidates. The Florida Panthers have several stars that are playing over their heads, and could be coming down to earth with a .500 record over their past 10 games. The Ottawa Senators are a young team with goaltending issues, and the same can be said about the Toronto Maple Leafs. The New Jersey Devils appear poised to make a run in the Eastern conference as long as Martin Brodeur can stay healthy, while the Pittsburgh Penguins should be able to clinch a spot in the elite eight as long as they can get some healthy bodies back soon.

There is still a ton of hockey left to be played and a lot to be determined, but based on what we have seen so far, it should be an exciting year. The pay head bookies did not have the Panthers listed as favorites over the Capitals in the Southeast division, and it is hard to imagine the Penguins holding on with all of their injuries, so the door is open for change as the contenders look to separate from the pretenders over the second half.

Since the NHL lockout in 2004 – 2005 the role of the enforcer has diminished significantly. In the first few years after the lockout, a fourth line designated to fight the toughest players of the opposing team became necessary, in order to protect star players. However, over the last couple of seasons, sports betting enthusiasts have seen the world’s biggest hockey league change to a speed game rather then a fighting game. Thus, making us wonder, is the role of the enforcer extinct?

As the speed of the NHL has increased, so too has the amount of injuries to star players. Concussions are on the rise, as players skating at high speeds crush each other either into the end boards or open ice. Theoretically, an enforcer would then be called upon to take on the person applying the concussion based hit, to show that they can’t do that to their star player. Yet, the majority of enforcers are good with their hands, but not good at skating. In other words, the enforcer is becoming extinct, because all they can do is enforce, rather than contribute in other ways.

Personally, we feel, that while the true examples of enforcers have been removed from the NHL, bookie software tough guys are still in the game. For example, players such as Milan Lucic and Jamie Benn, power forwards, who steam roll their way to the net in order to score, provide more to their teams then the typical enforcer. That is to say, a player such as Lucic can drop the gloves with dirty players after cheap shots, but also score 60 to 75 points, because they have enough skill to play in all situations. On the other side of things, a player such as Scott Thornton is witnessing his ice time decrease, because aside from fighting he can’t do very much.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have fallen out of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference, and while it’s still too early to jump off the bandwagon, they’ve dropped three in a row and need to get back on track on Tuesday when they host a streaking Tampa Bay team.

Lightning Maple Leafs Odds – Tuesday, 7:00 PM ET

The Lightning have won three straight after a 5-2 win at home over Carolina on New Year’s Eve, and a Wagerweb review of their season would show that the team has been playing much better with Mathieu Garon in goal. This game was his 11th consecutive start and he stopped 24 shots to earn the victory, while Steven Stamkos notched a hat trick for the Lightning, who outshot the Hurricanes 32-26 and pulled away with three goals in the first 6:51 of the third period. The Lightning were one of the biggest surprises in last year’s postseason, but a slow start took them down a peg in the eyes of some players that use price per head services. They’re improving, but the Lightning are a poor 6-12-3 on the road this season.

The Maple Leafs were edged 3-2 in Winnipeg, also on New Year’s Eve and a familiar problem reared its head as Toronto gave the Jets six power plays, which Winnipeg scored on twice. Phil Kessel and Clarke MacArthur lit the lamp for the Maple Leafs, but they continue to take poor penalties, which is a massive problem when you’re 30th in the league in penalty killing. The Maple Leafs got off to a great start, but eventually their old problems crept into the game and at this point, it has to be coaching because Toronto has had one of the worst penalty-killing percentages since the lockout and that is something experienced players that purchase price per head software will consider when making picks.

Toronto should be the favorites at home, where they are 1-4 SU in their last five against the Lightning, with three games going over the posted total. The Maple Leafs are 8-5-4 at Air Canada Center this season, and this will begin a four-game homestand that Toronto desperately needs to be successful on after dropping three of four on the road to close out 2011, and they’ve lost eight of their last 11 overall. These are the type of runs that tend to take the Maple Leafs out of the playoff hunt every season, and they’re a bit fortunate to get a team that has struggled badly away from home so far, even though they are dangerous. This will also be a matchup of two of the best snipers in the league as Stamkos leads the NHL in goals, while Kessel isn’t far behind. Take Toronto to the bank in your online sports book.