Wagering is where it is at! If you hockey guys don't mess with this (even a little bit) I think you are missing the boat! These +$$$ lines are very, very lucrative and hit way more than "conventional wisdom" would believe.
My favorite and most profitable wager this year has been the team UP BY TWO GOALS in the THIRD PERIOD right at the 5:00 mark. It is very, very common to see +200 or more odds for both teams and often times higher.
Why have these bets been so profitable? One man! Mr. Patrick Roy. Why? Because Patrick Roy has brought a refreshingly new outlook on the topic of pulling his goalie when trailing by two (and sometimes more). In the past it was quite rare to ever see a goalie pulled when down by two goals unless you were watching a playoff game. Heck, it was rare to see a goalie pulled outside of the 1:30 mark when down by one. Nowadays, though, we are seeing goalies pulled as early as the 3:30 mark when their team is down by two (and sometimes three) on a REGULAR basis.
There were two games that fell under this criteria and they both "won":
San Jose vs. Vancouver
San Jose was up by two goals (4 - 2) going into the 5:00 mark. Since I knew the empty-net was coming within the next minute (or so) I placed 200.00 on San Jose to SCORE NEXT GOAL (+157). Vancouver pulled their goalie with 3:42 to go. San Jose scored seconds later. At 5-2 Vancouver pulled their goalie again. Shortly after San Jose scored again. +314.00
Anaheim vs. Arizona
Arizona was up 3-1 against Arizona. Arizona pulls their goalie at the 3:21 mark. Anaheim scores forty seconds later. I did not play this because it was not offered by my book.
Obviously these things don't come in all the ttime. For example, I tried to capitalize on an empty-netter in the Toronto game which was a one-goal game but it didn't come through. I placed 100.00 on Toronto (+191) to SCORE NEXT. The goalie was pulled right at the 1:25 mark. This smaller window drastically reduces our chances (obviously). -100.00 At these numbers you can afford to lose more than you win provided you are moderately conservative with your wagers.
As I said above, my posted record is 33 - 34 but I'm up 2800.98. If I could attribute any one thing to the bulk of that increase it would be any/all teams UP by TWO GOALS just before the 5:00 mark in the third period.
I hope some of you guys try this out in the future because the money is "VERY NICE"!