On the Ice - Friday
By Judd Hall
It’s that time of the season where we start to thin out the herd of playoff contenders and pretenders. A possible shift in on ice advantage is on the line in the Eastern Conference between the Habs and Sabres. Meanwhile, a Western Conference postseason hopeful heads East to give themselves a little confidence booster.
Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres – 7:30 p.m. EST
The Canadiens are starting to look less like a hockey club and more like a travelling group of the walking dead. Their second best scorer, Robert Lang, just had surgery on his Achilles’ tendon to render him useless for the rest of the regular season. Then you have Guy Latendresse, who just got knocked out for up to six weeks with a separated shoulder. That’s a loss of 57 points in just two players.
Despite those injuries, Montreal (29-16-6, 64 points) found a way to get past the Penguins 4-2 on Feb. 3 as a $1.55 home “chalk.“ Les Habitants didn’t convert on either of their two power play chances. However, they were able to change the course of the tilt against Pittsburgh when Christopher Higgins scored a shorthanded goal midway through the second to help the club take a 2-1 lead at the time. Carey Price had a suddenly rare good outing in stopping 23 of 25 shots fired his way.
Buffalo (27-20-5, 59 points) proved that cross country trips are no reason to fade them. Just one day after making a flight from Anaheim, the Sabres knocked down Toronto as heavy $2.00 home faves, 5-0, on Wednesday. Ryan Miller stopped all 16 shots on goal that he saw. Of course, it had to be a nice diversion from the average 34.7 SOG he had seen in the 12 games he started in January.
Thomas Vanek put on a clinic against the Maple Leafs’ defense, scoring a hat trick on just six SOG. We even had a Tim Connolly sighting in the match as he scored a goal as well. I should give him a bit more credit though as he has more goals this season (10) than he did last year (7) and he’s done it in half of the games (18 this season, 48 games in ’07-‘08).
The Habs are leading the season series, taking two of three. Bettors haven’t been able to get too much value out of Montreal on the puck line as they’ve failed in all three games as the “chalk.”
The Sabres have gone on a 4-0 run at home right now and have won four straight against Northwest Division squads.
Montreal has seen the ‘over’ go 4-0-1 in its last five road games this year.
Gamblers should take note of the Canadiens winning five of their last six meetings with Buffalo.
Most betting shops have made the Sabres $1.35 home favorites for this contest with a total of 5 ½. You’re getting great value with Buffalo on the puck line on a return of plus-220 (risk $100 to win $220).
Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins – 7:30 p.m. EST
Forgive the Blue Jackets if they’re a tad giddy right now because they’ve never been in a position to think about the playoffs before. Columbus (24-22-5, 53 points) currently is just one point out of eighth place right now. A major reason for Columbus’ success is rookie netminder Steve Mason, who is 19-12-2 with a goals against average of 2.09 this season. He has been battling mononucleosis over the last month, making his numbers all the more impressive.
As happy as the Jackets have been, they’re still on a two-game skid. Their most recent setback for Columbus was against the Blues as a $1.75 home favorite, 4-2. Mason stopped just 18 of 21 shots fired his way… St. Louis’ Brad Boyes found his way past him twice.
Pittsburgh (25-23-5, 55 points) is hovering right around eighth place in the East, but still can’t find its way in. But on Wednesday night, the Penguins had a flash of the club that was just two wins shy of taking on home the Stanley Cup last season. The Pens found themselves down 3-0 after two periods against Tampa Bay, which certainly made a few backers sweat since they were $2.20 home favorites. But the Penguins fought back in the third period with three unanswered goals to force overtime. Evgeni Malkin sealed the deal with his 24th goal of the season against Mike McKenna to win 4-3. It was the fourth time the ‘over’ has cashed for them in their last five tilts.
Most sportsbooks have installed the Penguins as $2.10 home faves for this contest with a total of 5 ½. Bettors could back Pittsburgh on the puck line at plus-140 (risk $100 to win $140) to win by at least two goals.
That line might seem a bit high to some, but you have to consider that Mason will not be in the lineup for the Blue Jackets. That means Wade Dubielewicz will get the starting nod. It’s hard to tell if that is a good thing for Columbus since Dubielewicz gave up four lamp lighters in his lone appearance, a 49 minute relief effort against the Stars on Jan. 31.
Columbus is 8-1 in its last nine games against teams out of the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh is 1-4 against the West.
The Jackets have seen the ‘over’ go 4-1 in their past five fixtures against clubs with losing records. The ‘over’ is on a 4-0-1 roll for the Pens right now as well. Plus, the previous six meetings between these teams on Interstate 70 have soared ‘over’ the closing total.
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Hockey Today
SCOREBOARD
Friday, Feb. 6
New Jersey at Atlanta (7:30 p.m. EST). After having their season-high eight-game winning streak snapped by Washington, the Devils look to start fresh against the Thrashers. Atlanta beat the New York Rangers 2-1 in a shootout in its last game.
STARS
Thursday
— Anze Kopitar, Kings, had two goals and an assist in Los Angeles’ 5-4 victory in Washington.
— Tim Thomas and P.J. Axelsson, Bruins. Thomas made 19 saves and stopped all five Ottawa shootout attempts, and Axelson scored in the fifth round to give Boston a 4-3 road victory.
— Michael Leighton and Sergei Samsonov, Hurricanes. Leighton made 37 saves in his first start since Christmas, and Samsonov scored the shootout winner and also had a regulation goal in Carolina’s 4-3 victory in San Jose.
— Nikolai Khabibulin and Adam Burish, Blackhawks. Khabibulin made 29 saves to improve to 16-4-5 this season, and Burish broke a tie midway through the second period in Chicago’s 5-2 victory at Calgary.
— Cody McLeod, Avalanche, broke a tie with 7 minutes left to help Colorado beat Dallas 3-2.
SCORING
Alex Ovechkin scored his 200th NHL goal Thursday night in Washington’s 5-4 loss to Los Angeles. Ovechkin, the NHL leader with 37 goals, joined Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux as the only players to reach 200 goals in their first four seasons. Ovechkin has played 296 regular-season games.
STATUS
Columbus activated center Nikita Filatov from injured reserve Thursday and assigned him to Syracuse of the AHL. The 18-year-old Filatov has four goals in eight games this season. He had been sidelined by a lower-body injury.
SIDELINED
Washington goalie Brent Johnson will have hip surgery next week and is expected to miss up to two months. Johnson is 12-6-2 this season with a 2.81 goals-against average. … Edmonton placed defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky (right shoulder) on the injured list.
SPEAKING
“The first period wasn’t pretty, but the second period was downright ugly. They’ve beaten us twice and we’re a better team than them.”—Washington coach Bruce Boudreau after the Capitals’ 5-4 home loss to Los Angeles on Thursday night.
New Jersey Devils vs. Atlanta Thrashers
Jamie Langenbrunner and Brian Rolston found the back of the net for New Jersey in its 5-2 loss to Washington on Tuesday night.
Washington won as +110 road underdogs as the game played over the 5.5-goal total posted by sportsbooks.
Slava Kozlov scored the deciding goal in the shootout to lift the Thrashers past the Rangers 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Atlanta cashed as +190 road underdogs as the teams played under the 5.5-goal totak posted by oddsmakers.
Team records:
New Jersey: 32-16-3
Atlanta: 18-29-5
New Jersey most recently:
When playing on Friday are 7-3
Before playing Buffalo are 8-2
After playing Washington are 7-3
After a loss are 7-3
Atlanta most recently:
When playing on Friday are 6-4
Before playing NY Rangers are 2-8
After playing NY Rangers are 2-8
After a win are 2-8
A few trends to consider:
New Jersey is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
New Jersey is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of New Jersey's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New Jersey's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 7 games when playing at home against New Jersey
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Atlanta's last 12 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Atlanta's last 6 games when playing New Jersey
Atlanta is 5-10-2 SU in its last 17 games when playing at home against New Jersey
Next up:
New Jersey home to Los Angeles, Saturday, February 7
Atlanta home to Philadelphia, Sunday, February 8
Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres
Roman Hamrlik had a goal and an assist to lead the Canadiens past the Penguins 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Montreal won as -165 home favorites as the teams pushed the 6-goal total listed by oddsmakers.
Thomas Vanek had a hat trick and the Sabres held the Maple Leafs to just 16 shots in a 5-0 win on Wednesday, as -200 favorites at home. The five goals went UNDER the posted over/under (6).
Drew Stafford and Tim Connolly pocketed a goal and an assist in that win.
Team records:
Montreal: 29-16-6
Buffalo: 27-20-5
Montreal most recently:
When playing on Friday are 3-7
Before playing Toronto are 5-5
After playing Pittsburgh are 5-5
After a win are 6-4
Buffalo most recently:
When playing on Friday are 7-3
Before playing Colorado are 7-3
After playing Toronto are 3-7
After a win are 5-5
A few trends to consider:
Montreal is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Buffalo
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Montreal's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Montreal's last 7 games when playing on the road against Buffalo
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Montreal's last 6 games
Buffalo is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Buffalo's last 7 games when playing at home against Montreal
Buffalo is 14-6 SU in its last 20 games when playing at home against Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Buffalo's last 12 games
Next up:
Montreal home to Toronto, Saturday, February 7
Buffalo at Ottawa, Saturday, February 7
Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Fedor Tyutin recorded a goal and an assist for Columbus in its 4-2 loss to St. Louis on Tuesday night.
St. Louis won as +155 road underdogs as the game played over the 5.5-goal total listed by oddsmakers.
Evgeni Malkin had two goals, including the OT winner as the Penguins rallied from three goals down to defeat the Lightning 4-3 on Wednesday. The Penguins won that game as -230 favorites, while the seven goals made it OVER the posted over/under (6).
Mark Eaton and Petr Sykora scored the other goals in that win.
Current streak:
Columbus has lost 2 straight games.
Team records:
Columbus: 24-22-5
Pittsburgh: 25-23-5
Columbus most recently:
When playing on Friday are 0-10
Before playing San Jose are 7-3
After playing St. Louis are 4-6
After a loss are 5-5
Pittsburgh most recently:
When playing on Friday are 6-4
Before playing Ottawa are 6-4
After playing Tampa Bay are 3-7
After a win are 1-9
A few trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Columbus's last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Columbus's last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Columbus's last 7 games
Columbus is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games when playing Columbus
Pittsburgh is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games
Pittsburgh is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
Next up:
Columbus home to San Jose, Saturday, February 7
Pittsburgh home to Detroit, Sunday, February 8
Nashville Predators vs. Minnesota Wild
The Predators got two goals in the second period and went on to defeat the Ducks 4-2 last time out, as -130 favorites. The six goals made it OVER the posted over/under (5.5).
Ryan Jones, Jason Arnott, Martin Erat, and Vernon Fiddler into an empty net scored in that win.
Niklas Backstrom stopped all 34 shots as the Wild blanked the Ducks 3-0 on Wednesday, as -140 favorites. The team's played UNDER the posted over/under (5).
Mikko Koivu and Pierre-Marc Bouchard both had a goal and an assist, and Andrew Brunette potted the other goal in that win.
Current streak:
Nashville has won 3 straight games.
Minnesota has won 2 straight games.
Team records:
Nashville: 24-24-3
Minnesota: 26-21-3
Nashville most recently:
When playing on Friday are 3-7
Before playing Minnesota are 7-3
After playing Anaheim are 5-5
After a win are 3-7
Minnesota most recently:
When playing on Friday are 4-6
Before playing Florida are 4-4-2
After playing Anaheim are 5-5
After a win are 3-7
A few trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Nashville's last 8 games when playing on the road against Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Nashville's last 6 games on the road
Nashville is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Nashville's last 12 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Minnesota's last 8 games when playing at home against Nashville
Minnesota is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Nashville
Minnesota is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing Nashville
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Minnesota's last 12 games when playing Nashville
Next up:
Nashville at Dallas, Sunday, February 8
Minnesota home to Edmonton, Sunday, February 8
New York Rangers vs. Dallas Stars
Markus Naslund's goal in the dying seconds of the third period put the game into overtime for the Rangers in their 2-1 shootout loss to the Thrashers on Tuesday night.
Atlanta cashed as +190 road underdogs as the teams played under the 5.5-goal totak posted by oddsmakers.
The Stars fell 3-2 to the Avalanche last time out, as -130 favorites on the road. The five goals went UNDER the posted over/under (5.5).
Steve Ott and Loui Eriksson replied for the Stars, while Marty Turco made 18 saves in the loss.
Current streak:
New York has lost 3 straight games.
Team records:
New York: 29-18-5
Dallas: 24-19-7
New York most recently:
When playing on Friday are 4-6
Before playing Florida are 6-4
After playing Atlanta are 5-5
After a loss are 5-5
Dallas most recently:
When playing on Friday are 7-3
Before playing Los Angeles are 3-7
After playing Colorado are 7-3
After a loss are 9-1
A few trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of the NY Rangers last 5 games when playing on the road against Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of the NY Rangers last 11 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of the NY Rangers last 10 games
NY Rangers are 3-6 SU in their last 9 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games when playing at home against NY Rangers
Dallas is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Dallas is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Dallas is 4-1-1 SU in their last 6 games when playing at home against NY Rangers
Next up:
NY Rangers at New Jersey, Monday, February 9
Dallas home to Nashville, Sunday, February 8
COLUMBUS vs. PITTSBURGH
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Columbus's last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh
Columbus is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
Pittsburgh is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games
MONTREAL vs. BUFFALO
Montreal is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Buffalo
Montreal is 6-14 SU in its last 20 games when playing on the road against Buffalo
Buffalo is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Buffalo is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games
NEW JERSEY vs. ATLANTA
New Jersey is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New Jersey's last 5 games
Atlanta is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing New Jersey
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Atlanta's last 6 games when playing New Jersey
NASHVILLE vs. MINNESOTA
Nashville is 3-9 SU in its last 12 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Nashville's last 6 games on the road
Minnesota is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing Nashville
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Minnesota's last 12 games when playing Nashville
NY RANGERS vs. DALLAS
NY Rangers are 3-9-3 SU in their last 15 games when playing Dallas
NY Rangers are 1-4-2 SU in their last 7 games when playing on the road against Dallas
Dallas is 8-3-1 SU in their last 12 games when playing NY Rangers
Dallas is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Hot teams
-- Sabres won six of their last nine games.
-- Devils won eight of their last nine games.
-- Minnesota won three of its last four games. Predators won four of last five games.
-- Stars won five of their last six games.
Cold teams
-- Canadiens lost five of their last seven games.
-- Thrashers lost four of their last five games.
-- Blue Jackets lost four of last six road games. Penguins lost three of last four games.
-- Rangers lost last three games, outscored 9-3.
Totals
-- Last three Buffalo games stayed under the total; over is 4-1-1 in last six Montreal games.
-- Three of last four Atlanta games stayed under the total.
-- Five of last seven Columbus games went over the total.
-- Three of last four Nashville games stayed under the total.
-- Under is 4-1-1 in last six Dallas games.
Back-to-Back
-- Sabres are 4-6 if they play again the next night.
-- Columbus is 9-3 if they play again the next night.
-- Nashville is 3-4 if they played the night before.
-- Dallas Stars are 2-6 if they played the night before.
Series Records
-- Canadiens won five of last six games vs Buffalo.
-- Devils won five of their last seven against Atlanta.
-- Minnesota won six of last eight against the Predators.
-- Visitor won last three Dallas-Ranger games.