The Vancouver Canucks will be looking to pick up a third straight win when they wrap up a two-game series with the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night as -150 road favourites on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Vancouver opened the series with a 3-2 overtime win on Monday, and has claimed victory in six of its past eight games going into Wednesday night's matchup at Canadian Tire Centre.
Vancouver's resurgence has lifted them to within three points of the Montreal Canadiens in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division. The Canucks looked bound for a lost season while losing 16 of their first 24 contests, but a tighter defence has been key to the team's return to contention as they limited opponents to two or fewer goals in each of their six recent wins.
Listed as +130 home underdogs for Wednesday night, the Senators have earned just three wins in their past 10 outings. Ottawa has also dropped eight of its last nine against the Canucks, and scored just five total goals while losing all four meetings with Vancouver this season. But even with Monday's loss, the Senators have been steady on home ice. The team has gone 5-1-1 in its past seven while potting an average of four goals per game, fueling a 4-2-1 run for the OVER on the totals at online betting sites.
Elsewhere on the Wednesday NHL betting lines, the Calgary Flames try to stay undefeated under recently hired head coach Darryl Sutter as they wrap up a two-game set with the Edmonton Oilers as slender -115 home chalk. As well, the Montreal Canadiens will try to maintain their dwindling lead over Calgary and Vancouver in the division standings as they close out a six-game road trip in Winnipeg as -120 favourites.
The Flames escaped with a 4-3 win over Edmonton in Monday's series opener to extend their current win streak to three games. Overall, Calgary has picked up at least a point in eight of its last 11 outings, and now sits just two points back of Montreal. Listed as -105 underdogs, the Oilers are coming off their first back-to-back road losses this season, and have posted wins in just three of their last nine road dates with Calgary according to the OddsShark NHL Database.
Winners over Winnipeg by a 4-2 margin on Monday, the Canadiens have not recorded back-to-back wins on the road since the second week of the season. The Jets have allowed four goals per game while losing three of five, and look to Wednesday set as +100 underdogs.
