Friday's best NHL bets
Colorado Avalanche at Columbus Blue Jackets
Injuries are demolishing the Colorado Avalanche for the second year in a row.
After being ravaged by emerging young talent getting unlucky breaks a year ago, the team is suffering through the same hardships as it fights to stay among the top teams of the Northwest Division. In the second period of a 4-2 loss to Calgary in which the team blew a late lead, both top-line left wing TJ Galiardi (broken wrist) and fourth-line winger David Van Der Gulik (torn MCL) were lost to injuries.
But they will have plenty of company on injured reserve. Craig Anderson (knee), Kyle Cumiskey (concussion), David Koci (broken jaw), Peter Mueller (concussion), Adam Foote (concussion) and Kyle Quincey (concussion) all are out indefinitely with a host of ailments. Overall the team has 10 injured players.
The lack of cohesion from the depleted roster is a big reason the squad ranks 27th in defense (3.3 goals per game) and 29th in penalty killing (71.9 percent).
And don’t look for it to get easier against the Blue Jackets.
Columbus is led by the stellar play of goalie Mathieu Garcon, who has a 1.28 goals-against average and a sparkling .951 save percentage. He should be just as stingy against the Avs.
Pick: Blue Jackets
Minnesota Wild at Florida Panthers
This one has snoozefest written all over it.
The Wild are among the stingiest teams in the game, giving up a mere 2.2 goals per game, the fourth-lowest mark in the league. But don’t expect the Panthers to make things easy on the visitors. Florida gives up just 2.5 goals per game, the 10th-best mark in the league. Both teams also excel at killing penalties, with the Panthers fighting off man advantages at a 90.2 percent clip and the Wild at an 86.4 percent pace.
Overall the teams have a combined 10-16 mark against the total this year, with the Wild seeing the under hit in six straight and the Panthers in three of their past five.
History also says to play the under. The under has hit in six of the Wild’s past eight games, while the under is a perfect, 8-0 in the Panthers’ past eight against the Northwest Division.
"Our margin for error in games is really, really small," Minnesota coach Todd Richards said. "We have to be on top of our game. We aren't a team that's going to go out and explode for six goals in a period or five goals in a period."
Pick: Under
NHL betting finds Flames at hard-luck Coyotes
By: Michael Robinson
The hard-luck Phoenix Coyotes will be hoping to avoid overtime when they host the Calgary Flames at Jobing.com Arena on Friday night.
The Coyotes (5-5-5) have played five overtime games and lost them all. That’s limited their point total to 15, fourth place in the Pacific Division. They finished second in the Pacific last year with 107 points, losing in seven games to Detroit in the opening playoff round.
Phoenix isn’t providing itself much room for error. Its 2.47 goals per game scored ranks 23rd in the NHL. Goals allowed (3.00) ranks 22nd (much higher than 2.39 last year).
Coach Dave Tippett needs his team to start winning close games, like last season. A 2-1 Wednesday win in Chicago was a good start. Backup goalie Jason LaBarbera made 35 saves for his first win in four appearances. Ilya Bryzgalov is the starting goalie and should be back in net on Friday.
The three total goals scored in Chicago went ‘under’ the 5 ½-goal NHL betting total. The ‘over’ was 7-1-1 in Phoenix’ prior nine games, with most of the totals at 5 ½.
Phoenix has a 2-2-3 home record and badly needs a spark on offense. Putting right winger Shane Doan on injured reserved (lower body) has hurt. The 34-year-old captain already missed three games with a suspension and the Coyotes could use their perennial scoring leader.
The Flames (7-7) are in fourth place in the Northwest Division with 14 points. They’re in the middle of a four-game road trip that started with a 2-1 loss at Minnesota last Friday and continued with a 4-2 win at Colorado on Tuesday.
The win in Colorado broke a four-game losing streak and improved the road record to 3-3. Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff made his fourth straight start and has a 2.59 GAA (ranked 16th among listed goalies). Kiprusoff was seventh in the NHL last year (2.31).
Calgary’s offense has improved to 2.71 goals per game (ranked 19th), up from 2.45 last year (ranked 29th). That’s vital as it tries to make the playoffs after finishing tied for ninth in the conference last year (90 points).
Star right winger Jarome Iginla has just two goals and six assists in 14 games. The 33-year-old has seen his point total dip (98 to 89 to 68) the last three years. This year could be an even more precipitous decline.
Right winger Rene Bourque leads the team in scoring with 12 points in 12 games. Center Olli Jokinen and left wing Alex Tanguay rejoined the team as highly publicized free agent acquisitions by GM Darryl Sutter. Both have contributed with Tanguay with nine points and Jokinen seven.
Sutter is reportedly on the hot seat as is coach Brent Sutter (his brother). That’s a situation to watch if the team struggles over the next few weeks.
Calgary has had more than its share of injuries. Five players are currently on injured reserve including center Daymond Langkow (neck) and defenseman Adam Pardy (shoulder).
These teams split four meetings last year with every game decided by one goal. The ‘under’ went 3-0-1, with all of them low scoring.
Calgary is 2-0 against the Pacific Division this year and 6-1 in the last seven.
These teams have had far different luck playing on Fridays. Calgary is 5-1 in its last six and Phoenix 0-4 in its last four.
The puck will drop at 6 p.m. (PT) and will be broadcast on TSN.