Trusted Since 1992

NHL Playoffs: Regular Season Man Games Lost Should Be Taken In Consideration

As the NHL Playoffs are set to start Saturday, one of the biggest factors for me in the opening round has always been which teams have been the healthiest, and which team has experienced the most man-games lost. Which team has dealt with the most adversity, and which team is still battling injuries.Many teams struggle to rekindle chemistry from the first half of the season, when they gathered enough points to get them in playoff position, but struggled down the stretch and are still dealing with injuries.For instance, everyone has been fascinated by the Washington Capitals earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but this is a team that has the 10th highest Cap Hit of Injured Players (CHIP). That includes their star goaltender, Logan Thompson, who has been dealing with concussion issues since the 4 Nation's Face-Off break. Altogether, the Caps have 190 man-games lost this season and CHIP of $10.31 million.Per NHLInjuryViz.com, CHIP represents the per-game cap charge of a player missing a game through injury/illness, i.e., annual cap charge divided by 82.Seven of the 11 teams with the highest CHIP are headed to the postseason, including Central Division teams Colorado, St. Louis and Dallas.The Tampa Bay Lightning (3.37) and Winnipeg Jets had the two lowest CHIP this season, and it's a projected Stanley Cup Final that many experts are predicting.Interestingly, after the Bolts and Jets, the next closest playoff team is Montreal, with the NHL's eighth-lowest CHIP.Here are the 16 playoff teams, from lowest to highest CHIP: Tampa Bay 3.37 Winnipeg 4.12 Montreal 5.77 Florida 6.85 New Jersey 7.87 Carolina 8.40 Ottawa 8.43 Vegas 9.22 Los Angeles 9.40 Toronto 9.97 Washington 10.31 Edmonton 11.31 Minnesota 13.19 Dallas 13.50 St. Louis 14.28 Colorado 16.09

Big Al's Daily Angle: NHL and MLB Previews and Odds - 04/17/2025

The Thursday sports card features NHL and MLB action.The National Hockey League has seven games on its slate for the final day of the regular season. Six NHL games drop the puck at 7:07 p.m. ET. The Pittsburgh Penguins host the Washington Capitals on ESPN with both teams priced as a -110 money-line favorite with the total set at 5.5 (all odds from DraftKings). The Buffalo Sabres play at home against the Philadelphia Flyers as a -142 money-line favorite with an over/under of 6.5. The New York Rangers are home against the Tampa Bay Lightning as a -135 money-line favorite with a total of 5.5. The Columbus Blue Jackets host the New York Islanders as a -130 money-line favorite with an over/under of 5.5. The Toronto Maple Leafs play at home against the Detroit Red Wings as a -142 money-line favorite with a total of 5.5. The Ottawa Senators are home against the Carolina Hurricanes as a -120 money-line favorite with an over/under of 5.5. The Los Angeles Kings host the Calgary Flames on ESPN at 9:37 p.m. ET as a -155 money-line favorite with a total of 5.5.Major League Baseball has 10 games on its schedule. The Arizona Diamondbacks travel to Miami to play the Marlins at 12:10 p.m. ET. The Diamondbacks tap Eduardo Rodriguez to pitch against the Marlins Edward Cabrera. Arizona is a -162 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 8.5. The Pittsburgh Pirates play at home against the Washington Nationals at 12:35 p.m. ET. Andrew Heaney gets the ball for the Pirates to take on Trevor Williams for the Nationals. Pittsburgh is a -125 money-line favorite with a total of 7.5. The Seattle Mariners play in Cincinnati against the Reds at 12:40 p.m. ET. The Mariners send out Bryan Woo to challenge the Reds’ Bryan Singer. Seattle is a -118 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 8. The Athletics are in Chicago to battle the White Sox at 2:10 p.m. ET. J.P. Sears takes the hill for the Athletics to face Davis Martin for the White Sox. The Athletics are a -162 money-line road favorite with a total of 8. The Philadelphia Phillies are home against the San Francisco Giants at 4:05 p.m. ET. The Phillies turn to Cristopher Sanchez to go against the Giants Jordan Hicks. Philadelphia is a -175 money-line favorite with an over/under of 7.5. The Cleveland Guardians visit Baltimore to take on the Orioles at 6:35 p.m. ET. Tanner Bibee takes the mound for the Guardians to pitch against Tomoyuki Sugano for the Orioles. Cleveland is a -122 money-line road favorite with a total of 9. The Detroit Tigers host the Kansas City Royals at 6:40 p.m.  ET. The Tigers tap Reese Olson to battle against the Royals’ Michael Lorenzen. Detroit is a -148 money-line favorite with an over/under of 8. The Tampa Bay Rays play at home against the New York Yankees at 7:05 p.m. ET. Taj Bradley takes the hill for the Rays to pitch against Willie Warren for the Yankees. Tampa Bay is a -122 money-line favorite with a total of 9. The New York Mets are home against the St. Louis Cardinals at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Mets turn to Griffin Canning to challenge the Cardinals' Andrew Pallante. New York is a -142 money-line favorite with an over/under of 7.5. The Texas Rangers host the Los Angeles Angels at 8:05 p.m. ET. Kumar Rocker gets the ball for the Rangers to take on Josh Kochanowicz for the Angels. Texas is a -148 money-line favorite with a total of 9.5.

How to Play the Play-In Tourney

The NBA's Play-In Tournament is ongoing.  Golden State and Orlando have punched their tickets to the post-season, and will each be seeded #7 in their respective conference.  Still to be decided are the #8 seeds.  This Friday, Miami will visit Atlanta, while Dallas will travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies.As of this writing, on Thursday morning, Atlanta has been installed as a 1-point favorite, with an Over/Under line of 220.  And the Grizzlies are favored by 6.5 points, with an Over/Under line of 223.This is the 5th season of the Play-In Tournament, so we're beginning to get some data under our belt.One thing which has emerged is that the favorites have excelled in these games that decide the #8 seed, with a 7-1 ATS record.  Here, Memphis is a clear favorite, while it's unclear which team will close as the favorite in the Atlanta/Miami game.The other thing is that these games that decide the #8 seed tend to be relatively low-scoring, and have gone 6-2 under the total.  I would expect that trend to continue, as NBA Playoff (or Play-In) games where BOTH teams stand to be eliminated with a loss have gone under the total 56.5% since 1990.  Consider playing the unders in the Hawks/Heat and Grizzlies/Mavericks games.Good luck, as always,Al McMordie

San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Angels Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/18/2025

Colorado Avalanche vs Dallas Stars Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/19/2025

St Louis Blues vs Winnipeg Jets Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/19/2025

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Texas Rangers Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/18/2025

Miami Heat vs Atlanta Hawks Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/18/2025

Dallas Mavericks vs Memphis Grizzlies Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/18/2025