Hockey Today
SCOREBOARD
Monday, March 16
Washington at Atlanta (7 p.m. EDT). Alex Ovechkin is a goal away from becoming Washington’s first three-time 50-goal scorer. Ovechkin had 52 goals as a rookie in 2005-06, and scored 65 last season.
STARS
Sunday
— Sean Avery, Rangers, scored two power-play goals and drew a pair of penalties in his most effective game of the season, leading New York to a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia. Avery has four goals in seven games since rejoining New York, topping the three he had in 27 games this season for Dallas.
— Evgeni Nabokov and Travis Moen, Sharks. Nabokov made 34 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, and Moen scored in his return to Anaheim in San Jose’s 1-0 victory. Moen was acquired from Anaheim at the trade deadline.
— Chris Osgood, Red Wings, made 23 saves for his second shutout of the season and 49th of his career in Detroit’s 4-0 victory in Columbus.
— Peter Mannino and Mark Streit, Islanders. Mannino made 40 saves in his first NHL start, and Streit had two power-play goals and an assist in New York’s 4-2 win in Chicago.
— Chris Kunitz, Penguins, had two goals and an assist in Pittsburgh’s 6-4 win over Boston.
STATS
Detroit beat Columbus 4-0 on Sunday to become the first team in NHL history to top 100 points in nine straight seasons. The Stanley Cup champion Red Wings, the NHL leader with 101 points, broke a tie with Montreal (1974-75 through 1981-82). … Pittsburgh has earned at least a point in 10 consecutive games, going 8-0-2 during the run that began with a seven-game winning streak.
SWINGS
Vancouver beat Colorado 4-2 on Sunday night for its ninth straight home victory, matching the franchise record set in 1992. The Canucks lost nine straight home games through Jan. 31, but haven’t lost at GM Place since. They are 14-3-1 overall since snapping that skid, moving up to fifth place in the tight Western Conference.
SCOUTING
Brian Kilrea pushed his Canadian major junior hockey coaching victory record to 1,193 in his final regular-season game for the Ottawa 67’s, a 5-3 victory over Kingston on Sunday. Logan Couture had three goals to help the 67’s give the retiring coach his 12th 40-win season in 32 years. The 67’s will face Niagara in the first round of the playoffs. Kilrea will remain the general manager next season, with assistant Chris Byrne taking over as head coach.
SPEAKING
“The first couple of games I was just so nervous, kind of playing a little too hard. I’m just trying to slow it down, think about the plays and where they’re going to end up. I feel good as far as just being happy that I’m out playing, and trying to play hard and help the team win. I’ve gotten some good bounces and I’ve gotten some good passes. It’s tough to explain. Obviously, the team playing better is something that helps a lot.”—Sean Avery after scoring two power-play goals and drawing a pair of penalties in the New York Rangers’ 4-1 win over Philadelphia on Sunday.
“He gets the puck, and five guys on their team want to kill him.”— Rangers linemate Scott Gomez about Sean Avery.
Washington Capitals vs. Atlanta Thrashers
Leave it to Alex Ovechkin to push the Capitals past the Hurricanes, scoring the deciding goal in a 4-3 shootout victory at the Verizon Center.
Washington won as a -155 home favorite while the final score played over the 6-goal total.
The Thrashers scored two goals in the third period and completed the comeback with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Sabres at HSBC Arena Saturday.
Atlanta won as a +183 road underdog while the final score played over the 6-goal total.
Current streak:
Washington has won 3 straight games.
Atlanta has won 5 straight games.
Team records:
Washington: 43-21-6
Atlanta: 28-35-6
Washington most recently:
When playing on Monday are 7-3
Before playing Calgary are 4-6
After playing Carolina are 7-3
After a win are 5-5
Atlanta most recently:
When playing on Monday are 5-5
Before playing NY Rangers are 2-8
After playing Buffalo are 4-6
After a win are 5-5
A few trends to consider:
Washington is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing Atlanta
Washington is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Washington's last 8 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
Atlanta is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games at home
Atlanta is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games when playing Washington
Next up:
Washington at Florida, Tuesday, March 17
Atlanta at Pittsburgh, Tuesday, March 17
Nashville Predators vs. Los Angeles Kings
Pekka Rinne needed to make just 18 saves for a shutout on Saturday, as the Predators defeated the Coyotes 2-0. The Predators won that game as a -135 favorite, while the team's played UNDER the posted over/under (5.5).
J.P. Dumont and David Legwand scored in the win.
The Kings were defeated 3-2 by the Sharks in a shootout last time out, as +250 road underdogs. That game's combined score fell UNDER the posted over/under (5.5).
Wayne Simmonds scored the lone marker, and Erik Ersberg made 38 saves in a losing cause.
Current streak:
Los Angeles has lost 2 straight games.
Team records:
Nashville: 34-30-5
Los Angeles: 29-29-10
Nashville most recently:
When playing on Monday are 5-4-1
Before playing Minnesota are 8-2
After playing Phoenix are 6-4
After a win are 7-3
Los Angeles most recently:
When playing on Monday are 2-8
Before playing Dallas are 5-5
After playing San Jose are 4-6
After a loss are 3-7
A few trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Nashville's last 8 games on the road
Nashville is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
Nashville is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Los Angeles
Nashville is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 7 games
Los Angeles is 5-11 SU in its last 16 games
Los Angeles is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Nashville
Next up:
Nashville at Anaheim, Wednesday, March 18
Los Angeles at Boston, Thursday, March 19
WASHINGTON (43-21-0-6, 92 pts.) at ATLANTA (28-35-0-6, 62 pts.)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
WASHINGTON is 9-10 (+0.3 Units) against the spread versus ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA is 10-9-0 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
10 of 19 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.7 Units)
NASHVILLE (34-30-0-5, 73 pts.) at LOS ANGELES (29-29-0-10, 68 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
LOS ANGELES is 85-109 ATS (+201.4 Units) in a home game where where the total is 5.5 since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
NASHVILLE is 7-3 (+1.2 Units) against the spread versus LOS ANGELES over the last 3 seasons
NASHVILLE is 7-3-0 straight up against LOS ANGELES over the last 3 seasons
5 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.0 Units)
WASHINGTON vs. ATLANTA
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Washington's last 9 games
Washington is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Atlanta is 10-5 SU in its last 15 games when playing at home against Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Atlanta's last 8 games when playing at home against Washington
NASHVILLE vs. LOS ANGELES
Nashville is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games
Nashville is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Los Angeles
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 5 games at home
Los Angeles is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Nashville
Hot teams
-- Thrashers won their last five games, allowing eight goals. Washington won its last three games, allowing six goals.
Cold teams
-- Kings lost two in row, 11 of last 16 games. Predators lost three of last four games.
Totals
-- Over is 10-3 in last thirteen Atlanta games.
-- Five of last seven Los Angeles games went over the total.
Back-to-Back
-- Atlanta is 4-2 at home if it plays again the next night.
Series Records
-- Washington won four of last five against the Thrashers.
-- Nashville won nine of last thirteen against Los Angeles.
On the Ice - Monday
By Judd Hall
I know that it’s hard to believe, but there are more games going on out there outside of college basketball. We’ve got two games in the NHL on Monday…one of which showcases one of the league’s better teams.
Washington Capitals at Atlanta Thrashers
The Capitals raised a few eyebrows at the trade deadline by not making any moves despite having plenty of room under the salary cap. While some squads might take that as a note that they’re good enough “as is” to make a run, but Washington (43-21-6, 92 points) appears to have taken it the other way.
Bruce Boudreau’s club ended starting the month with a four-game skid…the first time that’s ever happened during his tenure. Luckily they found the Caps found their form quickly with three straight victories. Even more important is the power play has scored four times on six chances in their last two matches.
Washington now embarks on a five-game road trek. This stretch is important for the Capitals as they’re going to face three teams that don’t have a chance at making the playoffs, starting with the Thrashers.
While Atlanta (28-35-6, 62 points) has no shot at making it to the playoffs, they’ve been one of the hotter teams in the league with five consecutive wins. And these aren’t coming against cream puffs either as the wins were versus Montreal, Calgary, at Colorado, at Edmonton and at Buffalo.
Special teams play has been the biggest reasons for the Thrashers’ success, killing 16 of the 17 power plays they faced in those contests. While their defense is to be commended, Kari Lehtonen should be crowned for his play. The Finnish netminder is on a 4-0 run with a goals against average of 1.23.
This has been a one-sided series in the recent past with the Capitals going 4-1 in the last five head-to-head meetings. The ‘over’ is on a 4-0 run as well.
That high scoring trend should continue since Washington has seen the ‘over’ post a 9-2-1 mark when following up a win and 14-5-2 in its last 21 contests. Atlanta has seen the ‘over’ go 7-2 in its last nine fixtures.
You can catch this game on Versus at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
Nashville Predators at Los Angeles Kings
You know just a few weeks ago Nashville (34-30-5, 73 points) was the hottest team on the ice, winning 13 of 19 games from the end of January to the start of this month. Now the Predators find themselves in that logjam for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Preds’ started a four-game road trip in Phoenix with a big 2-0 win as $1.30 road favorites last Saturday. It’s fair to say that Barry Trotz’s club finishes this trip with at least five points to keep dreaming of April hockey. So far they’ve got two points.
Los Angeles (29-29-10, 68) has shown streaks of brilliance during this season, but have also shown that they’re just a young team and not ready to make that step. Currently, the Kings are showing their youth with two straight losses.
The odds are pretty good that the Kings will drop another one in this spot since they’ve not beaten Nashville at the Staples Center since October 2007.
The ‘over’ is 4-2-1 in the last seven battles between these clubs. But the ‘under’ is 7-1 in the Predators last eight road matches.
You’ll need NHL Center Ice to catch this game at 10:35 p.m. EDT.
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