What bettors need to know: Stanley Cup finals Game 1
By DUSTIN NIELSON
Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit Red Wings (-160, 5.5)
In the Nick of time
The league’s most dominant defenseman will be in the lineup for Game 1. On Thursday, Nicklas Lidstrom told Red Wings GM Ken Holland that he plans on playing Saturday. Lidstrom skated on his own both Wednesday and Thursday.
Injured veterans Pavel Datsyuk and Kris Draper were back on the ice for the Red Wings. Datsyuk, who missed the last three games of the Western Conference final with a foot injury, was not skating hard.
Rookie defenseman Jonathan Ericsson could possibly be back for Game 1. He had an appendectomy on Tuesday and is recovering but didn’t skate on Friday.
No rest for the weary
For the first time since 1954 there will be a back-to-back meeting in the Stanley Cup finals. Expert opinions are mixed on consecutive games with Mike Milbury from NBC saying the Penguins clearly have the advantage while TSN’s Pierre McGuire says neither team will benefit.
Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik says it’s a huge advantage for his club.
"You want to catch them when they're beat up. I think the Anaheim series took a big toll on them. They have guys out of the lineup, and I'm sure a lot of guys that are in the lineup, probably, if it was the regular season, wouldn't be playing."
The Red Wings were 8-7 in the second half of back-to-back sets this year. The Penguins were 5-6 in the same situation.
Playing the line
The Red Wings open as a -160 favorite against the Penguins. The Wings were much larger faves in opener of their last three playoff series and won Game 1 all three times by a combined score of 12-5. Detroit has won eight of nine on home ice in the playoffs with the one loss coming in overtime to the Ducks. The over is 4-2 in the Wings’ last six and 6-2 in the Penguins’ last eight. In the past 14 head-to-head meetings the under is 10-2-2.
Puckline on the Penguins may be a good way to go in Game 1. The Penguins have won eight of their last nine and their last three losses have all been by a single goal.
Ice to see you
We should get a good idea of how the Pens plan to play against former teammate Marian Hossa. The Slovakia native bolted to Detroit after losing to the Red Wings as a member of the Penguins in last year’s final. His new coach Mike Babcock doesn’t think the storyline will affect his star forward.
"If he's mentally tough, there'll be no distraction, he made a decision to come here and he's happy with his decision. I know we're happy,” said Babcock.
Inside the numbers
- Penguins scored just 10 goals in last year’s six game Cup final against Detroit.
- Penguins were shutout in Games 1 and 2 last year in Detroit.
- Marian Hossa was in on seven of the 10 goals Pittsburgh scored in last year’s final.
- Under is 8-2 in Detroit’s last 10 against Eastern Conference opponents.
- Under is 7-2 in Pittsburgh’s last 10 against the Western Conference opponents.
- Pittsburgh is 4-10 in its last 14 against Detroit.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings
The Penguins defeated the Hurricanes 4-1 on Tuesday night for a clean sweep of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final.
The Penguins won that game as -140 favorites, while the five goals fell UNDER the posted over/under (5.5).
Ruslan Fedotenko, Max Talbot, Bill Guerin, and Craig Adams scored for the Penguins in that victory. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 shots on the night.
The Red Wings defeated the Blackhawks 2-1 in OT in Game 5 of the Western Conference final last time out, as -270 favorites. The teams played UNDER the posted over/under (5.5).
Darren Helm scored the winner at 3:58 of overtime in that win, and Dan Cleary added his eighth of the playoffs.
Chris Osgood was named the game's first star after posting a 30-save performance in the series clincher.
Team records:
Pittsburgh: 45-28-9
Detroit: 51-21-10
Pittsburgh most recently:
When playing on Saturday are 5-5
Before playing Ottawa are 6-4
After playing Carolina are 6-4
After a win are 6-4
Detroit most recently:
When playing on Saturday are 7-3
Before playing Edmonton are 6-4
After playing Chicago are 8-2
After a win are 7-3
A few trends to consider:
Pittsburgh is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games on the road
Pittsburgh is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 8 games
Detroit is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Detroit is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Detroit is 10-4 SU in its last 14 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Detroit's last 9 games at home
Next up:
Detroit home to Pittsburgh, Sunday, May 31
Hockey Today
SCOREBOARD
Saturday, May 30
Pittsburgh at Detroit (8 p.m. EDT). The Red Wings and Penguins open the Stanley Cup finals. Detroit beat Pittsburgh in six games last year in the championship series.
ARENA UPDATE
Potential owner Jim Balsillie has unveiled his vision for a revamped Copps Coliseum, the arena he hopes will become the new home of the Phoenix Coyotes. Balsillie’s plan for the 24-year-old Hamilton, Ontario, arena would seat up to 18,000, includes an atrium-style entrance lobby, luxury boxes, lounges and restaurants, new seats and a state-of-the art video scoreboard. It’s unclear who will pay for the $150 million renovation to the aging facility.
STATS
In two years with Detroit, Darren Helm(notes) has scored five times in 34 playoff games, but doesn’t have a goal in 23 games in the regular season … Of the 20 players who dressed for Detroit in last year’s finals, 18 have returned … The Red Wings own home-ice advantage for the 20th consecutive series. Last time they didn’t have it was in the second round vs. Colorado in 2000 … The Penguins are the first Cup runner-up to return to the finals the following year since the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers, who captured the title … Penguins coach Dan Bylsma is trying to become 14th rookie coach to win the Cup and the fourth since 1956. Only Montreal’s Al MacNeil (1970-71) took over midseason.
STATUS
The Red Wings expect to have D Nicklas Lidstrom(notes), D Jonathan Ericsson(notes) and C Kris Draper(notes) back in lineup after injuries sidelined them during parts of conference finals. C Pavel Datsyuk(notes), the team’s regular-season points leader with 97, will be a game-time decision for the opener.
TUNING IN
The just-completed conference finals on Versus were the highest-rated third round on cable since 1998. The second round was the best on cable since 1997. For the first three rounds combined, Versus has posted a 27 percent increase in viewership over last year. In the conference finals, the rating rose to 1.5 over last year’s 1.2—a 25 percent increase. Total viewership in the round that featured Detroit’s five-game win over Chicago in the Western Conference and Pittsburgh’s sweep of Carolina in the East went up 30 percent.
SPEAKING
“To be able to get here for a fifth time is something I never would’ve dreamed of.”—Four-time Stanley Cup winner Kirk Maltby(notes) of the Red Wings on reaching the finals again.
“You dream your whole life about being in that position and you work so hard, and right at that moment you never know if you’re going to get another chance. We feel pretty fortunate to get a second chance here.”—Penguins star center Sidney Crosby(notes) on returning to the Stanley Cup finals after losing to the Red Wings in 2008.
Stanley Cup Finals
Pittsburgh at Detroit
Pittsburgh:
15-5 Under after allowing 1 goal or less last game
8-1 Under off BB wins by 2+ goals
Detroit:
13-0 SU at home off home division win
42-9 SU in the 2nd of BB home games
PITTSBURGH vs. DETROIT
Pittsburgh is 4-10 SU in its last 14 games when playing Detroit
Pittsburgh is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Detroit
Detroit is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Detroit's last 6 games
PITTSBURGH (57-32-0-10, 124 pts.) at DETROIT (63-23-0-12, 138 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 50-12 ATS (+20.0 Units) in home games after a division game over the last 3 seasons.
DETROIT is 16-3 ATS (+10.1 Units) in the Stanley Cup finals since 1996.
DETROIT is 54-18 ATS (+15.0 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 3 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 118-83 ATS (+15.0 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 79-47 ATS (+18.7 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 49-33 ATS (+12.3 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 65-50 ATS (+13.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 27-13 ATS (+11.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 6-3 (+0.1 Units) against the spread versus PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 6-3-0 straight up against PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
5 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+2.9 Units)