Handicapping NHL Teams After Overtime Games

Key Points

– Roughly one-fourth of NHL games in a season go to overtime.

– Handicapping NHL teams after an overtime game requires a certain strategy.

Handicapping NHL Teams After Overtime Games

Roughly 20 to 25 percent of all NHL games in a given season will go to overtime. Playing an overtime game can have an effect on a team when it plays its next game.

There are times when an NHL team plays an overtime game and then plays the next night. An overtime game means a team will have played more than the typical 60 minutes of a regular season game. That can take a lot out of players.

With possibly one in every four games going to overtime, it means that an NHL team could play as many as 20 overtime games in a season. That also means a team could play 20 games after having played an overtime game.

When handicapping NHL teams, it’s important to determine what impact playing an overtime game will have on the next game. Here are some things to consider when doing so.

MOST RECENT: NBA BETTING TRENDS TO WATCH

Team Collective Age

Age is an important factor, but not in the way you might expect. In a situation like this, the general betting public will assume that a younger team will have an advantage over an older one.

If the age difference between the teams is noticeable, they will bet accordingly. That is not the way to do it when handicapping NHL teams after an overtime game. It’s almost like betting on All-Star games.

Older players may feel the pressure of the game more intensely, but they have probably experienced it before and are more likely to know how to handle it. Because things don’t come as naturally to them anymore, older players also tend to work harder on their nutrition and fitness. That puts them in a better position to handle the strain of playing an overtime game and then coming back to play another soon after.

This doesn’t always mean that the older team has the upper hand. It just means that these situations aren’t always as cut and dried as they might appear. The betting public will usually make mistakes in situations like these.

Overall Team Health & Handicapping NHL Teams

The health of a team is a much more crucial factor than its average age. A team that has some injuries and is tired will find it more difficult to recover from the abuse of a lengthy game. A healthier team has an easier time recuperating after an overtime game.

Pay attention to injury reports. It’s also worth noting which goalie will play. Oftentimes, NHL teams will sit their starting goalie after a long overtime game. This is especially true when a team plays on back-to-back days.

If you like betting on hockey, try betting NHL futures.

Game Location

In some cases, the game’s location could have a significant impact on how teams handle playing after an overtime game.

It’s also worth noting if the overtime game was against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver. Teams struggle as it is to play in Denver because of the elevation. Playing an overtime game takes even more out of a team that just played in Denver. Colorado, of course, is used to it because they play all their home games in the Mile High City.

Make it a point to see if a team travels after playing an overtime game. Traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast or vice versa can be rough on a team. Handicapping NHL teams should always involve a look at a team’s recent schedule.

A Team’s Mental State

The mental state is where you’ll need to exercise your amateur psychologist skills. It goes without saying that a winning team will feel better than a losing team.

It can be difficult at times to determine the impact of an overtime game. Will the winning team lose its edge after the victory and perform poorly the following time? A team that lost in overtime might not be motivated to come back and play the next night.

Motivation after an overtime game is something to consider when handicapping NHL teams that have just played an overtime game.

Handicapping NHL Teams in Similar Situations

This can be challenging because it’s unlikely that a team has recently played a lot of overtime games. Instead, consider how they performed in similar situations.

Look at their schedule for back-to-back games and times where they played three games in four nights. Look for long road trips and take a look at how they performed in those games. Playing several games over the course of just a few days can be tiring for any NHL team. Seeing how they handled situations like that can give you an idea of how they may handle playing after an overtime game.

For more help with your hockey betting, you can turn to a professional sports handicapper. You can buy sports picks for better results in handicapping NHL teams.

Goaltending

The first thing to consider when handicapping NHL teams in any situation is the starting goalies. When it’s a game after an overtime game, the choice of goalie is even more important.

As mentioned earlier, some teams will sit their starting goalie after an overtime game or on the second night of a back-to-back. It pays to know if a coach has done that previously during the season.

Bettors can look for situations where a goalie faced a large number of shots and then returned the next night or night after and played again. How did he fare in a situation like that? That can give bettors some insight when handicapping NHL teams after an overtime game.