NHL Tuesday Preview

The NCAA Tournament doesn't start back up until Thursday, leaving sports bettors wandering the gambling landscape in search of value.  NHL betting  is just what the doctor ordered. Tuesday has a busy schedule on the ice including a few hockey powers stumbling down the home stretch of the season.

San Jose Sharks at Minnesota Wild

The Sharks' recent six-game skid has sent them from the top of the Western Conference all the way to fourth heading into Tuesday's game with the Wild. San Jose has lost the first five games of its current six-game road swing, which concludes in Minnesota. The Sharks have allowed 4.5 goals per game in those six losses, scoring a total of just 12 goals in that span.

Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov is suffering from a horrible Olympic hangover. He's been between the pipes in all five road losses, facing almost 25 shots a night. In the most recent defeat, Nabokov watched five goals find the back of the net on 25 shots against the lowly Edmonton Oilers. San Jose played OVER the NHL betting totals in all but one of those five contests.

The Sharks have won both meetings with the Wild this season, outscoring Minnesota 9-2 in those games – both played at HP Pavilion. The Wild come into this game as winners of four of their last six games. Minnesota's most recent victory was a 4-3 win against the Calgary Flames.

Philadelphia Flyers at Ottawa Senators

Another club struggling to find its stride since the two-week Olympic hiatus are the Ottawa Senators. Heading into Monday's game against the Montreal Canadiens the Sens were battling through a five-game skid, losing eight of their last 10 to fall to sixth in the Eastern Conference standings. Ottawa will be back from a three-game road trip Tuesday, taking the ice at Scotiabank Place where it is 23-10-4 this season.

As of Monday's game, the Sens are having serious troubles keeping the puck out of the net. Goaltender Brian Elliot, who was a budding star in the first half of the season, had started in goal for three of those last five defeats. He allowed a total of 11 goals on 81 shots in those three games. Backup Pascal Leclaire hasn't been any better, giving up 10 goals in his last two starts and failing to register a win since January 3 – which just so happened to be against the Flyers.

Philadelphia is dealing with the loss of leading scorer Jeff Carter, who broke his foot in the Flyers' 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers on Sunday. Carter, who has 60 points on the year, is expected to sit out three to four weeks. That's a tough pill to swallow for a team that is averaging just 2.2 goals over their last 10 games and hasn't scored more than three goals in one game since March 3. The Flyers are 3-7 over/under in this span.