Hockey Today
SCOREBOARD
Thursday, Nov. 27
Toronto at Ottawa (7:30 p.m. EST). The Maple Leafs travel to play their Ontario neighbors in a matchup of the bottom two teams in the Northeast Division. Toronto (7-9-5) leads the Senators (7-9-4) by a point in the standings.
STARS
Tuesday
— Chris Mason, Blues, made 47 saves through overtime and was perfect in two shootout rounds in St. Louis’ 1-0 road victory over Nashville.
— Todd White, Thrashers, scored two goals to lift Atlanta past host Toronto 6-3.
— Rene Bourque, Flames, scored twice in Calgary’s 6-2 home win against Los Angeles.
BACK HOME
Chris Mason returned to Nashville and stopped 47 shots and turned aside two more in the shootout to give St. Louis a 1-0 victory over the Predators. Mason, who spent his first six NHL seasons with the Predators before being traded to the Blues in June, earned his first shutout of the season and 13th of his NHL career. He outdueled Nashville’s Dan Ellis, who also posted his first blanking with a 17-save effort. … Former Tampa Bay Lightning assistant Mike Sullivan returned to the team as part of interim coach Rick Tocchet’s staff. Sullivan was hired Tuesday as associate coach, the same title he held under former coach John Tortorella last season.
MOVING ON?
Brian Burke could be an NHL general manager again very soon. Just two weeks after leaving that post with the Anaheim Ducks, Burke appeared close Tuesday to joining the Toronto Maple Leafs as president and GM—a move that has been long-rumored.
“It’s certainly headed in the right direction, but it’s not done yet,” Burke told the Web site for Canadian sports network TSN. “I anticipate it will get done, but it’s not done.”
HIGH-FLYING TRIO
Looking more like the Calgary’s top line instead of the No. 3 trio, Rene Bourque, Curtis Glencross, and Craig Conroy combined for eight points in a 6-2 home rout of Los Angeles on Tuesday night. Bourque had two goals, Glencross added a goal and two assists, and Conroy set up three tallies as Calgary won its third in four games after dropping five of seven.
SHOWN UP AT HOME
Toronto, which has surrendered an NHL-worst 78 goals, lost 6-3 to the visiting Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday night. The Thrashers (8-10-2) came in with the fewest points in the Eastern Conference and had lost three in a row before soundly beating the Maple Leafs (7-9-5).
TURKEY DAY
Only two games are on the NHL’s Thanksgiving schedule, and both involve only Canadian teams. The Toronto Maple Leafs will head to Ottawa to take on the Northeast Division-rival Senators. The Calgary Flames will be in Vancouver to face the Canucks, who lead the Northwest. The other 26 teams—including Canadian clubs Montreal and Edmonton—have the holiday off.
SPEAKING
“It’s your effort and compete level, and it wasn’t there. It was a flat bench and just dead. That’s what disappoints me more than anything.”—Toronto coach Ron Wilson after the host Maple Leafs lost 6-3 on Tuesday night to the Atlanta Thrashers, who came in with the fewest points in the Eastern Conference.
TORONTO vs. OTTAWA
Toronto is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Ottawa
Toronto is 4-10 SU in its last 14 games when playing on the road against Ottawa
Ottawa is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Ottawa's last 11 games
CALGARY vs. VANCOUVER
Calgary is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games when playing Vancouver
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing Vancouver
Vancouver is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing Calgary
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Vancouver's last 5 games when playing Calgary
TORONTO (7-9-0-5, 19 pts.) at OTTAWA (7-9-0-4, 18 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
TORONTO is 32-47 ATS (-22.0 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 3 seasons.
TORONTO is 78-72 ATS (+163.1 Units) in road games after allowing 4 goals or more since 1996.
TORONTO is 66-60 ATS (+137.8 Units) in road games after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game since 1996.
OTTAWA is 7-13 ATS (+22.2 Units) in all games this season.
OTTAWA is 1-6 ATS (-6.4 Units) in a home game where where the total is 5.5 this season.
OTTAWA is 10-14 ATS (-17.5 Units) in November games over the last 2 seasons.
OTTAWA is 7-13 ATS (-8.6 Units) first half of the season this season.
OTTAWA is 9-14 ATS (-17.4 Units) in home games revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
OTTAWA is 109-85 ATS (-80.1 Units) in home games after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game since 1996.
OTTAWA is 1-8 ATS (-9.5 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record this season.
OTTAWA is 1-8 ATS (-10.4 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the first half of the season this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
TORONTO is 8-9 (+3.8 Units) against the spread versus OTTAWA over the last 3 seasons
OTTAWA is 9-8-0 straight up against TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
9 of 15 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+2.0 Units)
CALGARY (12-9-0-1, 25 pts.) at VANCOUVER (14-6-0-2, 30 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
CALGARY is 3-15 ATS (+23.4 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record in the first half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
VANCOUVER is 8-1 ATS (+6.9 Units) when playing with 2 days rest over the last 2 seasons.
VANCOUVER is 9-2 ATS (+6.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
VANCOUVER is 9-2 ATS (+11.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the first half of the season this season.
VANCOUVER is 65-86 ATS (-67.3 Units) in home games vs. division opponents since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
VANCOUVER is 11-7 (+5.7 Units) against the spread versus CALGARY over the last 3 seasons
VANCOUVER is 11-7-0 straight up against CALGARY over the last 3 seasons
9 of 13 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+5.0 Units)
TORONTO vs. OTTAWA
Toronto is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Ottawa
Toronto is 4-10 SU in its last 14 games when playing on the road against Ottawa
Ottawa is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Ottawa's last 11 games
CALGARY vs. VANCOUVER
Calgary is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games when playing Vancouver
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing Vancouver
Vancouver is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing Calgary
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Vancouver's last 5 games when playing Calgary
Thursday's best NHL bets
By Covers.com
Toronto Maple Leafs at Ottawa Senators (-158, 5.5)
The Ottawa Senators offense finally helped Alex Auld earn a win his last time out, but the goalie hasn't gotten much help recently against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After scoring two goals or fewer in each game during the skid, Ottawa (7-9-4) won 4-1 Saturday over the New York Rangers - its highest output since also defeating Philadelphia 4-1 on Nov. 6.
"We felt like we had been playing well enough to win," said Auld, who has made six straight starts. "It's a great feeling to finally get one. It's good for the morale, and now we can build on this and keep going."
The Senators will be looking to do that against the Leafs (7-9-5), who have gotten the better of Auld in his career. Auld has a 2.34 goals-against average in eight games - seven starts - against Toronto, but is just 2-3-2.
In his last five starts versus the Leafs, Auld's teammates have given him no more than two goals each time, including a 3-2 Senators loss on Oct. 25. Auld stands among the league leaders with a 2.04 GAA, but is only 6-5-3.
The Leafs are close to signing Brian Burke, architect of Anaheim's 2007 Stanley Cup-winning team, to replace interim Cliff Fletcher as their new general manager. If Burke does come aboard, his first order of business might be trying to shore up the defense.
The Leafs have scored 3.10 goals per game and converted 21.8 percent of their power-play opportunities. However, they have also given up 3.57 goals per contest and killed off 73.2 percent of their penalties.
After three straight losses for Vesa Toskala, Toronto went to backup Curtis Joseph in Tuesday's game. The results didn't change as the former Vezina Trophy finalist gave up a season-high six goals and dropped to 0-3-1.
Pick: Under
Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks (-120, 5.5)
The Canucks try to avoid their first regulation loss in more than three weeks on Thursday night as they open another home-and-home series with a Flames club looking for their fourth win in five games.
Curtis Sanford is a big reason why Vancouver (14-6-2) has stayed hot and remained atop the division, with the Flames (12-9-1) five points behind.
The Canucks have allowed more than two goals only once in their last 10 games, going 8-0-2 since a 3-2 loss to Detroit on Nov. 2. They avenged that defeat Monday behind Sanford, who made 32 saves as Vancouver beat the Red Wings 3-2 in overtime for its fourth win in a row.
It was Sanford's first start since Roberto Luongo strained his groin in the first period of a 3-1 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday. Sanford became just the third goaltender this season to hold high-scoring Detroit under three goals.
"We're rallying around each other," said Sanford, who is 1-3-0 with a 3.32 GAA in his career versus Calgary. "There's adversity right now and we're finding a way to deal with it. We have each other's back out there and we're going to find a way to get through all this."
Sanford will be facing a Calgary team coming off one of its best offensive efforts of the season. The Flames beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-2 on Tuesday night when two of their offseason acquisitions contributed a combined three goals and two assists.
Jarome Iginla notched his team-leading 12th goal and team-high 14th assist Tuesday, but is pointless versus Vancouver this season. That home-and-home set marks the only time this season he's failed to register a point in consecutive games.
Pick: Flames