Saturday's Best NHL Bets
Chicago Blackhawks at Atlanta Thrashers
It will be a reunion of sorts when the Blackhawks and the Thrashers go head-to-head for the first time this season. In one of the offseason's blockbuster trades, of course, the defending Stanley Cup champions sent Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Ben Eager, and Brent Sopel to Atlanta.
"It will be different to see them dressed up in their uniforms," Chicago forward Patrick Sharp said of his former teammates. "I've watched a lot of their games this year. They seem to be doing well and playing a lot of minutes and being effective."
The Thrashers as a whole are doing OK, but they have gone eight straight games giving up at least three goals.
That could be the recipe Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Toews (just three goals this season) needs to get back on track. "I feel like I'm one of those guys who is getting a lot of chances," he said. "It's always a good sign. But I'm just wondering when it's going to go in. I'm trying not to put any added pressure on myself."
Pick: Blackhawks
Minnesota Wild at Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets are off to an impressive 8-4 start, tied for first with Detroit in the Central Division and tied for second in the entire Western Conference. They have won two in a row, five of their last six, and seven of their last nine.
Team play on the offensive end and stellar work in the net attribute to the hot streak. "We were really fresh, still moving and doing the right things (in the third period)," coach Scott Arniel said after a 3-0 road shutout of Atlanta on Thursday. "We played together as a group. It was little things: blocking shots, getting pucks out, knowing when to get them in. That was a solid 60 minutes."
Speaking of solid, Mathieu Garon has wrested the goalie job--at least for the moment--from Steve Mason. Garon is 4-0 this season, has two straight shutouts, has allowed only three goals in four games, and boasts a .966 save percentage.
One can only assume that Garon will be back in the net on Saturday. Mason certainly thinks so. "You don't want to sit on the bench," Mason explained. "But Matty deserves it. He's played great. He's given us a chance to win every night, and I'm happy for him."
Pick: Blue Jackets
Hockey Night in Canada: NHL Betting Preview
Ottawa Senators at Montreal Canadiens (-116, 5.5)
These Northeast Division rivals collide in Montreal Saturday night. The Habs, who lead the division heading into Friday’s game in Buffalo, have won the last two meetings with the Sens but are just 3-7 in their last 10 contests with Ottawa.
Starting to make Sens
After a troubling start to the season, things are beginning to shape up in Canada’s capital. Ottawa has won back-to-back games and is 4-1 in its last five games. The Senators picked up win No. 6 on the year with a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders at home Thursday night.
Star forward Jason Spezza, who missed time with a groin injury last week, collected four points against the Isles – scoring once and assisting on three other goals. Spezza has nine points in eight games and is sparking the Senators with his playmaking.
"It's nice to get on the board a little bit and tonight's the first night I felt really good skating-wise," Spezza told the CBC following Thursday’s win. "Usually when I skate well it's the strength of my game so I felt good tonight."
Spezza connected with defensemen David Hale and Sergei Gonchar for goals versus New York. Those talented two-way blueliners along with defenseman Erik Karlsson have also given Ottawa a scoring pop from the point this season. The Senators' defensive corps has totaled seven goals on the year, which is 21 percent of the team’s total scoring.
"We recognized we’re not shooting the puck enough," Gonchar, who is tied for second on the team in points, told reporters. "So having two guys shooting one-timers, it gives you more chances and more opportunities. It worked out well, so now we just have to make sure we’re doing it again and again."
Offense in need of re-Habs
Dropping back-to-back outings was enough for Canadiens coach Jacques Martin to shuffle his forward lines heading into Friday’s date with the Sabres.
Montreal has moved top scorer Andrei Kostitsyn on the wing with second-line forwards Scott Gomez and captain Brian Gionta, while placing Lars Eller with top-line forwards Tomas Plekanec and Michael Cammalleri.
The Habs are hoping these changes can jump start the offense, which has scored just once in the last two outings. Their most recent loss was a 3-0 shutout to the Columbus Blue Jackets in Ohio Tuesday.
“We made that change at the end of the last game and started to have some chances,” Gionta told the Montreal Gazette. “Obviously, losing two in a row and then being shut out ... you’re looking for a different spark and (Martin) did it by shuffling lines today.”
Detroit Red Wings at Vancouver Canucks (-145, 5.5)
The Canucks could be the hottest club in hockey, winning five straight games heading into this home stand with the Red Wings. Detroit is no slouch either, winning five of its last six games heading into Friday’s contest with the Edmonton Oilers.
Vancouver was 1-3 versus Detroit last season and owns a 4-6 mark against the Red Wings in their last 10 meetings.
Puck stops here
Canucks backers are learning to love backup goaltender Cory Schneider. With No. 1 Roberto Luongo on the bench, Schneider has stepped up his game.
He was stellar in Vancouver’s 3-1 road win against the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night, stopping 33 shots and just missing out on his first career shutout by less than four minutes. Even more impressive was the fact that this was Schneider’s first start in almost two weeks.
“At first you're a little rusty, but you feel the puck and you make that big save early and that helps boost your confidence,” he told the media about the long layoff. “But I've been working hard in practice and keeping my conditioning up.”
Goaltending has played a huge hand in the Canucks’ recent success. They have given up one or fewer goals in three of those five wins while getting solid work from Luongo and Schneider, who have helped make Vancouver the fourth-best defensive club in the NHL, allowing just 2.2 goals per game.
The Canucks have also got great production on special teams, ranking first on the power play (28.3 percent efficiency) and ninth on the penalty kill (86.4). They haven’t allowed a power-play goal during this winning run, blanking opposing special teams on 20 total chances.
“I don’t think we’ve changed anything specific in our penalty killing but I think our guys are making better reads and that permits them to be a little more assertive, whether on loose pucks or putting pressure,” head coach Alain Vigneault told reporters earlier this week. “Obviously, when you get the timely save at the right time you’re in good shape.”
Be like Mike
Many hockey fans cringed when long-time Dallas Stars forward Mike Modano pushed retirement off for another year and joined the Red Wings this summer.
Modano is still proving effective, scoring the tying goal in Detroit’s 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames Wednesday night. It was just his second of the season but it gave new life to the Red Wings’ third line, which also got a goal from Justin Abdelkader in the win.
"Overdue," Modano told the media when asked about his line's production. "We've been playing better as a line, doing better things. We've been around the puck a little more and been more patient."
Detroit is struggling to get goals from all four lines this season. It is averaging 3.2 goals a night (third in the NHL) with most of the scoring coming from Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, who have netted a collective 15 of the team’s 32 total goals (47 percent).
"It was a good win, we had four lines playing," coach Mike Babcock told the Detroit News following the win over the Flames. "Worked out well. We had the puck tonight, came in here with a plan to have the puck, and played hard. We were prepared for them."