NHL Predictions
Colorado Avalanche -½ -123
The Blue Jackets didn’t get rid of Rick Nash at the trade deadline, but they did announce that he approached them for a trade. Things aren’t looking too good for the Blue Jackets who have lost 3 straight games and 5 of their last 6. Amongst those losses was a 5-0 loss to Colorado at home. With Curtis Sanford losing two straight starts, we will see the same goalie match up in tonight’s game as the 5-0 Colorado win on February 24th. Columbus is just 18-38-7 on the season and they have an awful 7-20-4 road record. The Avalanche have been playing great, winning 4 straight and 5 of their last 6. Their latest was a 4-1 home win on Monday vs Anaheim which came after a big 4-3 road win in Detroit on Saturday night. The Avalanche are 33-27-4 on the season and 18-13-1 on home ice. These two teams have met twice this season, both in Columbus, with Colorado winning both. Over past years the Blue Jackets are just 3-17 in their last 20 meetings in Colorado. Steve Mason is just 8-22-3 on the season with a 3.49 GAA and awful .886 SV%. In his last 4 starts Mason has allowed 5, 3, 3, and 4 goals against. Semyon Varlamov is 18-18-2 on the season with a 2.78 GAA and .906 SV%. In his last 6 starts he has allowed just 9 goals against and in 5 of those starts he allowed 1 goal against or less. Colorado continues to make a playoff push with a win tonight, and we will take them in regulation time so we aren’t laying as much chalk.
Phoenix Coyotes -165
At first glance this might look like a lot of chalk to lay on the Coyotes, but they’ve been playing really solid hockey lately. Phoenix has won 6 straight games and 11 of their last 12 to move into 3rd place in the Western Conference. Their most recent victory was a 2-1 shootout win against the Canucks on Tuesday, while other wins during the 6 winning streak include Edmonton, Calgary, Los Angeles twice and Dallas. Goalie Mike Smith has won 11 straight starts and he has been lights out, allowing 1 goal or less in 8 of his last 10 starts. On the season he is 29-14-7 with a 2.24 GAA and .927 SV%. Overall the Coyotes are 33-21-9 on the year and 17-10-4 at home. The Flames are going to have a very tough time making the playoffs as they’ve lost four straight games (all at home). Losses include a 6-1 loss to Edmonton, a 3-1 loss to St Louis, and shootout losses to both Philadelphia and Phoenix. The Flames are 28-24-11 on the season and just 12-14-7 on the road. Overall the Flames are scoring just 2.35 goals per game, but that is down to just 2.00 over their last 5 while they allowing 3.20 against per game during that span. Calgary is just 4-13 in their last 17 games as a road underdog. The Coyotes have won 7 straight home games. Phoenix has won both meetings this season (which were both in February) and have won 6 straight vs the Flames. Calgary is 0-5 in their last 5 meetings in Phoenix. The Coyotes are on a high right now playing great hockey and have had exceptional play from Mike Smith in net. I like the Coyotes to win tonight.