Thursday's Best NHL Bets
New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are finding the form that carried them all the way to the Stanley Cup final last season, winning four straight games heading into Thursday’s home stand against the Rangers.
Philadelphia has done a good job maintaining their level of physical intensity, allowing just two goals per game during this streak. And even when the Flyers do get out of hand, the team’s penalty-kill unit is bailing them out.
"We're blocking shots when we need to, and the face-offs are something that's helping out as well," center Blair Betts told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "If we're winning face-offs, then more times than not, the first 15 or 20 seconds of the penalty kill the puck is getting iced down their end."
Philadelphia has held their last three opponents scoreless on the power play, killing 15 straight man advantages and improving the penalty kill to 88.7 percent – sixth best in the NHL. The Flyers have also cut down on their mistakes and were whistled for just three penalties in their 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday.
Philadelphia is 3-2 in its last five meetings with New York. Their most recent clash was a 2-1 Flyers win in a shootout, which eliminated the Rangers from playoff contention and sent Philly to the postseason in the final game of the 2009-10 regular season.
Pick: Philadelphia
Vancouver Canucks at Colorado Avalanche
Winning on the road is a huge part of the Canucks’ plans to top the Northwest Division. Vancouver, which went just 19-20-0-2 away from home last season, is trying to pick up steam in opposing barns with six of its next seven games on the road.
The Canucks took a step in the right direction with a 4-3 victory in Edmonton on Tuesday night. That win was the team’s first "W" away from General Motors Place this season, giving them a 1-3-0-1 road mark heading into Thursday.
“We were a little bit unfortunate so far on the road – I think we’ve played a little better than our record indicated,” head coach Alain Vigneault told the Vancouver Sun following Tuesday’s win.
Colorado is just behind Vancouver in the standings and is one of the best home-ice teams in the NHL. This season, the Avalanche are 2-2-0-0 at the Pepsi Center after posting a 24-14-2-1 home mark last year.
The Canucks already have a win over Colorado, 4-3 in overtime at home, last Thursday. In their past 10 meetings, Vancouver is 7-3 versus the Avs, with four of those victories coming in Denver.
Pick: Vancouver
Canucks battle high-scoring Avalanche
By: Barry Daniels
The Vancouver Canucks will attempt to extend their four-game winning streak Thursday night when they make a stop in Colorado to face the Avalanche for the second time this season. The Canucks sneaked out a 4-3 overtime victory in the first meeting (Oct. 26) as hefty 185 home favorites.
The combined seven goals catapulted above the NHL betting total, which enabled the ‘over’ to cash for the fifth straight time these Western Conference foes have met.
Vancouver won the game despite getting outshot, 39-31. Mason Raymond got the game-winner by poke-checking the puck off defenseman Jonas Holos’ stick and past goaltender Peter Budaj’s pads 28 seconds into the extra period.
Matt Duchene’s sixth-attacker goal with 1:33 left in regulation tied the game at 3-3, and Budaj forced the overtime when he stopped Manny Malhotra’s breakaway in the final five seconds of regulation.
Vancouver also received goals from Jeff Tambellini, Ryan Kesler and Peter Schaefer, who got his first NHL goal in more than two years. Colorado also got goals by David Jones and Daniel Winnik.
Colorado played without a backup to Budaj after starter Craig Anderson injured his knee in the pregame warmup. Anderson is 3-4-0-0 in seven starts with a 3.15 GAA and .907 save percentage. Budaj is 3-0-1-0 in four starts despite having a 3.43 GAA and .875 save percentage. His only loss this season was to these Canucks in overtime.
Vancouver got a solid effort by goalie Roberto Luongo, who returned after a two-game break and made 36 saves. Luongo is 4-3-0-2 in nine starts with a 2.61 GAA, .915 save percentage and one shutout.
The Canucks enter this rematch with the Avs riding a four-game winning streak thanks to Tuesday’s 4-3 victory at Edmonton as 140 road favorites. The combined seven goals skipped north of the 5 ½-goal closing total, leaving the ‘over’ 6-5 in Vancouver’s first 11 outings.
It also marked Vancouver’s first road win after the club had gone 0-3-1 in its first four away efforts.
Vancouver was 2-for-4 with the man advantage against the Oilers and did not allow a power play goal in three Edmonton opportunities. The Canucks now have capitalized on 23.8 percent of their power play opportunities, which ranks sixth in the league.
The Canucks are 17th in the league on offense (2.8 GPG) and fifth on defense (2.3 GPG). They are winning 56.6 percent of their faceoff attempts, which is tops in the league.
Colorado has won two straight outings after suffering through a three-game losing skid. The latest success occurred last Saturday during a 5-1 victory against Columbus as a 135 home favorite. The combined six goals slithered above the 5 ½-goal closing total, enabling the ‘over’ to cash in nine of the club’s first 11 encounters.
The Avs, 2-for-4 on the power play against Columbus, rank 20th in the league by connecting on 20 percent of their opportunities with the man advantage.
Colorado is not having any problem putting the puck in the net. The squad is averaging 3.5 GPG, which ranks second in the league. However, the club is having difficulty keeping the rubber disk out of its own net. The Avs are yielding an average of 3.5 goals against, which is dead last.
Quite a bit of Colorado’s defensive deficiency is because of a penalty kill that is ranked 28th at just 73.9 percent.
Avs defenseman Kyle Cumiskey is “questionable” for Thursday’s game because of a concussion. Vancouver blue-liners Dan Hamhuis (foot) and Ryan Parent (groin) are both listed as “doubtful.”
The Canucks will return to Vancouver for a Saturday contest against Detroit before embarking on a five-game road excursion that will take them to Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo and Pittsburgh.
Colorado will play the third game on its four-game homestand with Saturday’s outing against the Dallas Stars.
NHL Betting Preview: New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers
By Jeff Mattingly
New York is certainly out for revenge after Philadelphia outlasted them 2-1 on the final game of the season to claim the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. “I’d say revenge is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of this game,” said defensemen Michael Del Zotto. “The guys that are here from last year know how heartbreaking it was.” The Rangers enter tonight’s contest having defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2, on Monday night at Madison Square Garden and have won five of their last seven games. Following this game, New York will travel to New Jersey to face-off against the Devils, to close out the third of 18 back-to-back sets this season. The team is 4-2 when playing against teams with a winning record.
The Rangers are doing a good job of keeping their record above .500 in having lost 32 total man-games to injuries or illness this season. Chris Drury and Marian Gaborik have each missed eight games with a broken finger and shoulder injury respectively. Gaborik has stressed that there is still no timetable for his return to the lineup or to rejoin the club in practice. “I’ll take it day by day,” he stated. “I don’t want to say there’s a timetable or when I’ll play. My range is pretty good. I’ve just got to get it pain free.” Left winger Brandon Dubinsky has stepped up his play and scored twice in Monday’s 3-2 win over Chicago, giving him seven goals through 11 games.
Philadelphia picked up a 3-2 victory over Carolina on Monday and will be looking to win five straight games for the first time since March 2, 2010. “Everyone contributed and the biggest strength to me is that this team and everybody is playing for one another,” said coach John Tortorella. “That’s a good thing here early in the year.” The Flyers will be without Danny Briere in this contest due to still serving a three-game suspension and will miss his six goals in the first 10 games. The team still managed to win 40 of 66 faceoffs against the Hurricanes, which was the best performance as a team this season. “It’s an underrated part of the game,” said Claude Giroux. Philadelphia is 3-1 versus division opponents.
The Flyers received a two-goal contribution from Scott Hartnell on Monday night that softened the blow of the missing Briere. “We don’t change things up from line to line,” said Hartnell. “We try to play relentless Flyers hockey, get it in, cycle, change sides and get to the net.” Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has been a big part of the team’s recent surge, starting in all four games, posting a 2.00 goals-against-average and a .934 save percentage.
Bettors may back the Rangers due to their 5-0 mark as an underdog, while the Flyers are 19-7 versus the Eastern Conference.