NHL News and Notes Sunday 4/19

Sunday's Playoff Slate
By Judd Hall

If you’re a “chalk eater” when it comes to betting the Stanley Cup Playoffs, then you’re walking around with a nice roll of cash. The favorites have gone 8-3 in the first few days of the postseason. And if you’ve played the puck line, you’re hitting just 5-6 at the moment.

Sunday’s slate of playoff hockey features a pair of intrastate rivalries, a series that is already deadlocked and another that looks like it’s out of hand.

Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers – 3:05 p.m. EDT

I’m willing to bet that the Flyers are wondering what they have to do just to get a W in this series. In Game 1, Philly was flat out owned by the Penguins as a $1.35 road ‘dog, 4-1. They were outshot 33-27 and were shorthanded nine times, but gave up a power play goal just once.

Last Friday night, Philadelphia played a much crisper match at Mellon Arena. They attacked the zone in the first period with 14 shots on goal at Marc-Andre Fleury to take a 1-0 lead. But the Penguins saw late-season acquisition Bill Guerin post a pair of goals, the second coming in overtime to win 2-1 as $1.70 home favorites.

Now the showdown heads east to the Wachovia Center. Most sportsbooks expect the Flyers to pull closer in the best-of-seven series as they’ve been tabbed as $1.30 home faves (risk $130 to win $100) with a total of 5 ½.

This game is really going to come down to whether Martin Biron can gather his bearings. He’s known for prolonged slumps, which is where we are here as Biron is 0-3 with a 3.35 goals against average in his last three starts.

It looks like the betting shops want you to play Philly in this spot with such a small play on the “chalk,” but don’t buy it. I say that because Biron has lost his last two home starts against the Penguins with a 4.58 GAA and stopped only 83 percent of the shots he saw.

Vancouver Canucks at St. Louis Blues – 7:05 p.m. EDT

Color me crazy, but I actually though that the Blue were going to be primed and ready to even up their Western Conference Quarterfinal at one win apiece last Friday. Or was it the plus-300 return that led me to think that St. Louis would win? Either way, they were outclassed by the Canucks as they won as $1.85 home favorites 3-0.

How is Vancouver taking control of this series? They’ve done it the same way the won the Northwest Division…by riding Roberto Luongo’s coattails. Luongo notched his first playoff shutout on Friday and his third in last four starts. He’s giving up just 1.85 goals per game in April and has stuffed 93.4 percent of the shots fired his way during that time.

Despite the strong performances by the Canucks, St. Louis has been tabbed as a $1.20 home favorite with a total coming in at five.

It’s hard to argue with taking the Blues here as they’ve won seven of their last eight games at the Scottrade Center. That includes a 4-2 victory over Vancouver on March 26 as even-money home pup.

Something else to consider is that Luongo is just 3-5 with a 3.34 GAA in eight career starts in St. Louis.

New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes – 7:35 p.m. EDT

You don’t always have to have talent to win during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Sometimes you just need a little luck to come away victorious. Carolina proved that by upending the Devils as a $1.25 road underdog in overtime, 2-1.

There’s no question that the Hurricanes were desperate to knot this series up at 1-1 as they came out on the warpath. Carolina put a hurting on the Devs last Friday, outhitting the No. 3 seed 32-24. That aggression kept New Jersey off its game a little. But they still found a way to force an extra period. That didn’t last long thanks to Tim Gleason finding the back of the net via a helpful bounce on the Devils’ Niklas Havelid.

The sportsbooks are expecting the Hurricanes to take the lead in the series after making them $1.45 home favorites with a total of five.

Backing the ‘Canes in this spot is not a hard thing to do. But you might want to consider getting more bang for your buck by backing Carolina on the puck line at plus-195. That’s because the Hurricanes have won by at least two goals in six of their last 10 home games by at least two goals.

Anaheim Ducks at San Jose Sharks – 10:05 p.m. EDT

The Sharks probably weren’t too worried about taking on Anaheim in the first round of the playoffs. But after the Ducks won the opener as $1.90 road ‘dogs, 2-0, San Jose might have taken them more seriously.

It appears that the betting shots don’t really care what happened in Game 1 of the series, having made San Jose a heavy $2.75 home “chalk” with a total of five.

I can understand the oddsmakers’ thinking here as the boys of the Silicon Valley were beat on the mental side of the game. What the Sharks must do is have Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau take ownership as they took one shot on goal apiece. If that duo isn’t shooting, then it’s easy to see why Jonas Hiller looked so good in goal for the Ducks.

The plus side for San Jose here is that they’ll have had two days off since that disappointing setback. The Sharks are 4-1 when taking two days off following a defeat. Anaheim, on the other hand, is 4-6 in games that they’ve had a couple days of rest after a win.

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