NHL Back on the Ice After Break – December 27

The NHL is back on the ice after a nice holiday break. Today’s schedule includes 14 games, 28 teams, and one big TNT matchup in Buffalo. The Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins will try and break a four-game losing streak with a win over the Sabres. That will be much easier said than done. Buffalo beat the Bruins in Boston 3-1 back on Dec. 7. Boston has been leading – or at least near the leaders – the NHL in the President’s Cup race until just recently.

Boston has lost four in a row and five of their last six. Their lead in the NHL President’s Cup race is gone. They lead their division with 44 points. Toronto and Florida have been able to gain ground and trail the Bruines by just four points. Surprising Vancouver now leads the NHL in the President’s Cup race with 49 points. The New York Rangers are the top team in the Eastern Conference with 47 points. 

NHL Enjoys Christmas Holiday

The NHL hasn’t played any games since Saturday. The entire NHL was off on Dec. 24, 25, and 26. That’s because it is written into the league’s collective bargaining agreement. Each season, the NHL is obligated to take these three days off. They include Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day in Canada. 

After the three-day break, the NHL is back and will be on full throttle once again until the All-Star break in February. Boston and Vegas were the two best teams in the NHL for most of the first part of the 2023-24 season. That has changed over the past two weeks. The NHL looks different now. 

The Rangers have put together one of the more impressive streaks in the NHL. They have won four of their last five games to give them an NHL-leading 23 wins. The Rangers are tied with Vancouver (23-9-3) for most wins. The Canucks have been a huge surprise. Vancouver is 7-1-2 in its last ten games. The Canucks are the top scoring team in the NHL averaging 3.86 goals per game.

Sports Hub Cappers Enjoying the Holidays

It’s a nice way to spend the holidays. Sports Hub handicappers are doing what they always do – win! Yesterday was no different. Dan Jones was the top dog with a perfect day and $400 in winnings. The top-5 was once again made up of our own SportsHub experts. None of our top cappers hit a parlay bet.

Here’s how it looked.

• Dan the Man: Dan went 4-0 yesterday and took home $400. He hit three NBA picks and one soccer pick. Dan has struggled a bit recently. It was nice to get back to the top.
• Sports Central: These guys went 5-1 and won $393 to grab second place yesterday. SC hit on four NBA picks and the only miss was the Under in the Quick Lane Bowl. Minnesota beat Bowling Green 30-24 (yes our own Coach Rick was at the game).
• Gambling911.com: Our friends put together a nice day. They went 3-0 and won $300 with two NBA picks and one CFB bowl win. Over the past three days, Gambling911.com is up $490.
• Tie for 4th: Three Sports Hub experts tied for fourth place yesterday. Evan Lewis, Bill Blatt, and Kyle Buchman all went 2-0 and won $200 yesterday. Bill has been on a roll. For the month, he’s up $2024. That puts him second on the 30-day leaderboard just behind another Sports Hub expert, Seth Cohen ($2262).

Pistons Set Record

The Detroit Pistons have been and continue to trend because of their inability to win games. After losing to Brooklyn on Saturday, the Pistons played the Nets again last night. Read on to learn more about the Pistons futility.

The NHL is trending only because the league is finally back on the ice after a nice three-day rest. The NFL playoff race is still a wild one and Kansas – yes, Kansas – won a bowl game.

• Pistons set record: Detroit lost to Brooklyn last night 118-112. That’s nothing new. The Pistons have now lost 27 straight games. The loss did set an NBA record for the most consecutive losses in a single season. The league record for most consecutive losses is held by Philadelphia, which lost 28 in a row over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

• NFC North Division: Speaking of Detroit, while the city’s NBA team is awful, the Lions are the NFC North champions. That’s the first division title for the franchise since 1993. The Lions currently own the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoff race right now. Detroit plays Dallas on Saturday.
• Kansas wins bowl game: Historically, Kansas has been one of the worst FBS programs. Under head coach Lance Leipold, that is changing. The Jayhawks put on a show last night beating UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, 49-36. QB Jason Bean threw for six touchdowns. Kansas finishes the season with a 9-4 record. 

NHL Is Back on Today’s Schedule

It was a nice three-day break, especially since it was the holidays. Tonight, the NHL gets back to business with a full slate of games. They won’t have another break like that until the NHL All-Star game in February.

Here’s a look at today’s sports schedule.

1. Back on the ice: Yes, the NHL is back. There are 14 games tonight. Boston and Buffalo play in the TNT game. Vancouver, which leads the NHL in points with 49, is off tonight and will play Philadelphia tomorrow night.

2. On the hardwood: There are six NBA games tonight. The NBATV game pits Toronto at Washington. The Pistons won’t be able to lose tonight. They are off.
3. CFB Bowl games: There are four more bowl games today. It all starts with Virginia Tech and Tulane in the Miltary Bowl at 2:00 p.m. ET. North Carolina plays West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. No. 15 Louisville faces USC in the Holiday Bowl and Texas A&M plays No. 20 Oklahoma in the Texas Bowl. Stay on top of the action with our college football bowl picks.
4. NCAAB: There are three college basketball games tonight. Only one features a team that most sports bettors have heard of. Virginia is at home against Morgan State.
5. Soccer: It’s a lighter soccer schedule than yesterday. There are three English Premier League matches today among a dozen or so matches around the world. 

That’s it for today. There’s enough on tonight’s schedule to give us some solid variety. The NHL back on the ice helps. Remember, Sports Hub is here to help you find success betting on sports. Our world-class handicappers are very good at winning. You can see that everyday here. We’ve got several dozen picks in our database for games today and many more to come throughout the day. Check it often and win! Come back tomorrow happy. See you then!