Hockey Today
Dallas at Detroit (7 p.m., EDT). The Red Wings scored three power-play goals in a 4-1 win over the Stars in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday night.
Sunday, May 11
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh (7:30 p.m. EDT). Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist to lead the Penguins to a 4-2 win over the Flyers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night.
STAR
-Evgeni Malkin, Penguins, scored twice 5 minutes apart to lead Pittsburgh to a 4-2 win over Philadelphia.
CAN DO AT THE IGLOO
Pittsburgh won for the ninth in 10 playoff games and improved to 6-0 at home this postseason after defeating Philadelphia 4-2 in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night. This year's Penguins are the first team in franchise history to begin the playoffs with that many successive home-ice wins. Pittsburgh has also won 14 in a row at home, dating to the regular season.
ROCKY END
Joel Quenneville and the Avalanche mutually decided to end their relationship Friday, a week after Colorado was swept out of the playoffs by Detroit. Quenneville was 131-92-23 in three seasons with Colorado, but just 2-2 in playoff series after inheriting a team that was on the slide after a decade of dominance in the NHL.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Mike Richards scored both Philadelphia goals in a 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
On the same night Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals, the Penguins' Wilkes-Barre team beat the Flyers' Phantoms farm club Friday night to win that AHL playoff series in five games.
OLLIE OUT
Olie Kolzig confirmed Friday he won't return to Washington next season. He was drafted by the Capitals in the first round in 1989, helped them reach the 1998 Stanley Cup finals, won the Vezina Trophy in 2000, and owns most team goaltending records. He went 25-21-6 with a 2.91 goals-against average this season, but was relegated to being a backup down the stretch and in the playoffs after the Capitals traded for Montreal netminder Cristobal Huet.
SPEAKING
``We'll still be able to say 'Hi' to each other.'' - Joel Quenneville after stepping down as coach of Colorado on Friday.
NHL LONG SHEET
DALLAS (53-34-0-8, 114 pts.) at DETROIT (63-23-0-7, 133 pts.) - 5/10/2008, 7:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 32-9 ATS (+16.9 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more this season.
DETROIT is 33-7 ATS (+15.6 Units) in home games after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game over the last 2 seasons.
DETROIT is 33-10 ATS (+10.1 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 21-15 ATS (+39.0 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5 or less this season.
DALLAS is 37-18 ATS (+13.2 Units) on Saturday games over the last 3 seasons.
DALLAS is 26-14 ATS (+9.2 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent this season.
DALLAS is 118-66 ATS (+29.2 Units) after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game since 1996.
DALLAS is 133-77 ATS (+25.9 Units) after scoring 1 goal or less in their previous game since 1996.
DALLAS is 26-19 ATS (+46.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
DALLAS is 18-11 ATS (+30.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 9-4 (+4.2 Units) against the spread versus DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 9-4-0 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
7 of 11 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+3.0 Units)
NHL SHORT SHEET
Western Conference Playoffs
Conference Finals
Game One
Detroit Leads, 1-0
Dallas at Detroit, 7:35 ET
Dallas:
21-11 Under playing with double revenge
9-16 SU at Detroit
Detroit:
24-5 SU off BB Overs
47-15 SU off a win
Trend Sheet
7:00 PM DALLAS vs. DETROIT
Dallas is 4-12-5 SU in its last 21 games when playing Detroit
Dallas is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Detroit
Detroit is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Dallas
Detroit is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Dallas
Dallas Stars vs. Detroit Red Wings
The fans at Joe Louis Arena will be treated to a game between the Dallas Stars and the Detroit Red Wings when they take their seats on Saturday.
The Red Wings scored three power play goals to defeat the Stars 4-1 in the opener of the Western Conference Final on Thursday, as -210 favorites. The five goals went as a PUSH against the posted over/under (5).
Brian Rafalski, Johan Franzen, Tomas Holmstrom and Valtteri Filppula tallied for the Red Wings.
Brenden Morrow scored the lone Stars goal, while Marty Turco made 27 saves in a losing effort.
Oddsmakers had the Stars as +180 underdogs in Game 1.
Team records:
Dallas: 45-30-7
Detroit: 54-21-7
Dallas most recently:
When playing on Saturday are 5-5
Before playing Los Angeles are 5-5
After playing Detroit are 5-5
After a loss are 6-4
Detroit most recently:
When playing on Saturday are 5-5
Before playing Edmonton are 5-5
After playing Dallas are 8-2
After a win are 9-1
A few trends to consider:
Dallas is 4-12-5 SU in its last 21 games when playing Detroit
Dallas is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Detroit
Detroit is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Detroit is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Detroit is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Dallas
Detroit is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Dallas
Next up:
Detroit at Dallas, Monday, May 12
Saturday's best NHL bet
COVERS.com
Dallas at Detroit -215, 5
It’s tough to swallow this much chalk when we’re so deep into the playoffs, but as we saw on Thursday night, Detroit is just too good for Dallas. Some people might want to make excuses for the Stars, claiming their quadruple-overtime Game 6 against San Jose was to blame, but even Dallas captain Brenden Morrow isn’t buying that one.
“We’ve had three days to recharge,” Morrow told reporters after the Game 1 loss, “I don’t think we can use that quadruple overtime as an excuse. Maybe mentally there was [some residual hangover], but physically, I think we all felt pretty good.”
The blame should more rightly be placed on the Dallas defensemen, who were unwilling or unable to remove Johan Franzen and other Detroit forwards from in front of Marty Turco. The Stars won their previous series mainly because of their grit, but judging by their performance against the Red Wings so far, that won’t be a viable strategy in this series.
Essentially, the Game 1 result was a combination of Dallas coming out flat, Detroit playing extremely tough and sharp, and maybe a few favorable calls for the home team. In order for Dallas to reverse that in Game 2, as Brad Richards put it, “We have to be better in everything.”
That’s a pretty tall order for a team that is 2-8 against Detroit over the last two seasons.
Pick: Red Wings