Hockey Today
SCOREBOARD
Monday, April 27
San Jose at Anaheim (10:30 p.m. EDT). San Jose beat Anaheim 3-2 on Patrick Marleau’s overtime goal Saturday night to avoid elimination and cut the Ducks’ series lead to 3-2.
STARS
Sunday
— Eric Staal, Hurricanes, scored two goals less than 3 minutes apart and Carolina forced a decisive Game 7 with a 4-0 rout of New Jersey.
— Tom Poti, Capitals, had a goal and two assists in Washington’s 5-3 win over the New York Rangers that sends the heated series back to D.C. for a winner-take-all Game 7.
YES WE CAM
Cam Ward made 28 saves in his third career playoff shutout, helping the Hurricanes avoid elimination by routing the Devils 4-0 on Sunday night. Ward finished with his first shutout in the postseason since beating Edmonton 5-0 in Game 2 of the 2006 Stanley Cup finals.
TOUGH TO WATCH
John Tortorella’s view from a suite was no better than the one from the bench, and the suspended coach watched helplessly as Washington dominated his Rangers for the second straight game and put them on the brink of elimination, too, with a 5-3 win Sunday. Tortorella served a one-game suspension following a confrontation with a fan Friday during New York’s 4-0 loss in Game 5 that sent the series back to Madison Square Garden. Tortorella squirted water into the crowd and threw a water bottle into the stands.
SPEAKING
“I guess when you have nothing really to lose, other than being gone, you can play a little bit more relaxed.”—Carolina forward Ray Whitney after the Hurricanes beat New Jersey 4-0 Sunday to force a Game 7.
What bettors need to know: Monday's NHL playoff action
By DUSTIN NIELSON
Chicago Blackhawks at Calgary Flames (-140, 5.5)
Home-ice advantage
All five games in this series have gone to the home team and the Flames will need to keep that streak going if they want to remain in the hunt for Lord Stanley’s mug.
Calgary’s offense has been night and day on the road and at home. In three games at the United Center the Flames have found the back of the net just five times but at home they’ve lit the lamp 10 times in two outings.
Jarome Iginla, who has one assist and is a minus 3 in away games, will have to step up in Games 6 and 7 for Calgary to move on.
"We just weren't ready. I wasn't nearly good enough," Iginla said following the Game 5 loss. "I was terrible tonight. There's no excuse for that. We'll be ready for the next game."
Hurricane connection
Two former Lethbridge Hurricanes have been difference makers in the series for Chicago. Brent Seabrook is showing the rest of the NHL why more people outside of the Windy City should know about him. Seabrook opened the scoring in Game 5 and also chipped in with two assists. He’s done a great job containing Iginla and Olli Jokinen.
Kris Vertseeg, who played with Seabrook for one year in Lethbridge, is quickly finding playoff confidence in his rookie season. After being held pointless in the first three games of the series, Versteeg has two goals and three assists in the past two.
Burying in bunches
When the Hawks score, they score in bunches. Chicago managed to rattle Miikka Kiprusoff on Saturday night by scoring three goals in 1:49. The Hawks have managed to score at least two goals in 10 minutes or less in four of the five games.
Calgary bench boss Mike Keenan was willing to take the blame for the slow start in the last contest.
"The team wasn't prepared to play at all for a number of reasons. The bottom line when the team doesn't respond or isn't prepared, that's the coach's responsibility," said Keenan, "We weren't prepared for the push from them and that's my job."
San Jose Sharks at Anaheim Ducks (+110, 5)
Top line back together
Sharks Head Coach Todd McLellan put all of his eggs in one basket on Saturday night and it worked. McLellan reunited the top line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Devon Setoguchi and all three players found the back of the net with Thornton and Setoguchi assisted on Marleau’s overtime winner.
"It felt great to be in that group again, definitely," Marleau said. "We played with desperation, and we have to have it. We lose one more, and we're gone."
Not there yet
The Sharks staved off elimination but they know they still have their work cut out to advance to the next round.
"Everything is fine and dandy right now, but we've still got a noose around our neck," McLellan said. "We've got to be prepared to play even better back in their building."
The Sharks walked into Anaheim and took Game 3 in convincing fashion and will have to do the same again. Marleau, whose overtime winner was nothing more than a glorified garbage goal, says the team will have to score more dirty goals if they want to get back in the series.
The Ducklings
It was a scary moment for the Ducks when star rookie Bobby Ryan was forced to leave last game with an undisclosed injury. Ryan missed about 10 minutes before returning late in the third period. He was immediately reunited with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.
Head coach Randy Carlyle tried a number of players on his top line during the brief absence of Ryan but no one clicked with the dynamic duo. Ryan has four goals through the first five games.
Sophomore puck stopper Jonas Hiller was brilliant once again making 45 saves and couldn’t be blamed for the overtime winner.
"The reason the puck went in the net was their player pushed our goalie's pad," Carlyle said. "The puck was loose, their player pushed, and as he pushed, the goalie's pad, in my view, they are not allowed to push the goaltender and the puck into the net."
A heated-up Carlyle will have his Ducks ready for a chance to take one last bite out of the Sharks.
CHICAGO (49-27-0-11, 109 pts.) at CALGARY (48-32-0-7, 103 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
CALGARY is 26-19 ATS (+45.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 104-108 ATS (+246.0 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5.5 since 1996.
CHICAGO is 14-6 ATS (+21.0 Units) in April games over the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 23-11 ATS (+7.8 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more this season.
CHICAGO is 24-10 ATS (+9.9 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.
CHICAGO is 44-39 ATS (+97.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
CHICAGO is 11-6 (+7.7 Units) against the spread versus CALGARY over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 11-6-0 straight up against CALGARY over the last 3 seasons
8 of 15 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.2 Units)
SAN JOSE (55-21-0-11, 121 pts.) at ANAHEIM (45-34-0-8, 98 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
SAN JOSE is 2-7 ATS (-8.5 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5 or less this season.
SAN JOSE is 11-14 ATS (-11.5 Units) in April games over the last 2 seasons.
SAN JOSE is 27-23 ATS (-21.7 Units) second half of the season this season.
SAN JOSE is 33-32 ATS (-26.0 Units) after a division game over the last 2 seasons.
SAN JOSE is 7-12 ATS (-12.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
ANAHEIM is 22-9 ATS (+33.2 Units) when leading in a playoff series since 1996.
ANAHEIM is 154-145 ATS (+340.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
ANAHEIM is 15-12 (+4.8 Units) against the spread versus SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
ANAHEIM is 15-12-0 straight up against SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
16 of 23 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+7.6 Units)
CHICAGO vs. CALGARY
Chicago is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Chicago is 8-11-5 SU in its last 24 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Calgary's last 12 games
SAN JOSE vs. ANAHEIM
San Jose is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games
San Jose is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Anaheim is 13-5 SU in its last 18 games
The total has gone UNDER in 15 of Anaheim's last 23 games when playing San Jose
NHL Playoffs
Home side won all five Chicago-Calgary games, with the last three games going over total. Blackhawks are 5-19 on power play in series, but gave up ten goals in 4-2/6-4 losses here (Hawks outshot Calgary 53-34 in the last two periods of games in Calgary). Flames are 2-15 on power play in series (22:13)-- they got outshot 15-3 in first period of Game 1, need a full 60-minute effort here to force series back to United Center.
Top-seeded San Jose is 3-20 on power play in series; they need win to stay alive here, vs Anaheim team that is now 13-5 in its last 18 games. Ducks forced OT Saturday with two third period goals, but lost on goal scored in scramble in front of net. Sharks outshot Anaheim in all five games-- they had 47-25 edge in Game 5, still needed overtime to win.
Chicago at Calgary
Chicago:
14-6 SU in April
18-6 SU after 2+ consecutive overs
Calgary:
8-12 SU revenging a loss by 2+ goals
7-11 SU in the first round of the playoffs
San Jose at Anaheim
San Jose:
2-7 SU AWAY when the total is 5 or less
1-10 SU in the 6th game of a playoff series
Anaheim:
22-9 SU when leading in a playoff series
12-3 SU after losing their previous game in overtime