Hot - Phoenix Coyotes - The Phoenix Coyotes are off to a great start this season and if this team did not play in the Pacific Division with the Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks, I would have them in the playoffs. The Coyotes made a brilliant acquisition this offseason bringing in center Olli Jokinen via trade to go along with the young core of Peter Mueller, Kyle Turris, Mikkel Boedker and Viktor Tikhonov on offense. In goal, the Coyotes have one of the brightest young goaltenders in the game in Ilya Bryzgalov, who put up dynamite numbers in Phoenix after the trade from Anaheim. Bryzgalov finished the season with a 2.42. goals against average and a save percentage of .921. The Coyotes will have some significant value this season, especially in those back-to-back situations against their Pacific Division opponents.

Hot - New York Rangers - The Rangers are off to their best start in 25 years at 4-0 SU and have shown that they can win in a variety of ways. New York was able to hold down a potent Tampa Bay offense in Prague as the Lightning could only manage two goals in two games. The Rangers offense seems to be improved with the acquisitions of forwards Markus Naslund and Nikolai Zherdev. Both players have put up four points in four games. Naslund has a goal and three assists and Zherdev has two goals and two assists. With Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in net, who is already 3-0 with a 1.33 GAA and a save percentage of .944, the Rangers are going to have a shot to win every game they play. Look for the winning to continue with this team.

Cold - Tampa Bay Lightning - The Tampa Bay Lightning have been one of the most talked about teams this offseason because of a slew of moves via free agency, but none of it so far has translated into a win. The Lightning are 0-3 SU on the season despite signing Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, Vaclav Prospal, and Radim Vrbata on offense while acquiring Matt Carle and Andre Meszaros on defense. Goalie Olaf Kolzig was signed to provide leadership to young goaltenders Mike Smith and Kari Ramo. It’s going to take this team a while to gel and get use to Barry Melrose’s offensive and defensive systems. Until I see some improvement, I’m staying away.

Cold - St. Louis Blues - Yes the Blues are 1-1 on the season heading into this week with a win in their home opener against Nashville, but they were blasted in their first road game by one of the worst teams in the league in the New York Islanders, 5-2. The injury bug has already started to hit this team as forward Lee Stempniak tweaked his left knee in their opener and will miss a few games and defensemen Barret Jackman is day-to-day with a groin injury. This is a team that is already without their best young defensemen, Erik Johnson, who injured himself getting out of a golf cart over the summer. Stay away from the Blues.

For more NHL betting analysis by Jared Klein, go to www.sportsmemo.com.