Hockey Today
SCOREBOARD
Thursday, April 15
Anaheim at San Jose (10:30 p.m. EDT). Presidents’ Trophy champion San Jose faces Anaheim in the second all-California playoff series in NHL history. In 1969, Los Angeles beat the Oakland Seals in seven games in the first round.
STARS
Wednesday
— Brandon Dubinsky and Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers. Dubinsky scored the winning goal with 8:17 remaining, and Lundqvist made 32 saves in New York’s 4-3 victory in Washington in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference series.
— Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Penguins, each had a goal and an assist in Pittsburgh’s 4-1 win over Philadelphia.
— Martin Brodeur, Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner, Devils. Brodeur made 18 saves, and Parise and Langenbrunner had a goal and an assist each in New Jersey’s 4-1 victory over Carolina.
— Daniel Sedin and Roberto Luongo, Canucks. Sedin had a goal and an assist, and Luongo made 25 saves in Vancouver’s 2-1 win over St. Louis.
STATUS
Craig MacTavish was fired as coach of the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. MacTavish directed the team for eight seasons, leading the Oilers to the 2006 Stanley Cup finals against Carolina, but missing the playoffs the last three years.
SCOUTING
Ryan Ellis scored on a power play in overtime to give the Windsor Spitfires a 4-3 victory over the London Knights 4-3 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Ontario Hockey League’s Western Conference finals. Ellis had two goals, and Scott Timmins and Andrei Loktionov also scored. In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, Matt Kang scored twice in the Brampton Battalion’s 4-2 victory over the Belleville Bulls.
SPEAKING
“We need a new voice. We need a new start. We need new expectations. We need a new discipline and it’s time to look forward. … It’s the right thing for Craig and it’s the right thing for the Oilers at this point. This does not absolve the players from their performance or lack thereof.”—Edmonton general manager Steve Tambellini after firing coach Craig MacTavish on Wednesday.
MONTREAL (41-30-0-11, 93 pts.) at BOSTON (53-18-0-11, 117 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
MONTREAL is 41-41 ATS (-16.8 Units) in all games this season.
MONTREAL is 20-26 ATS (-13.2 Units) second half of the season this season.
MONTREAL is 10-14 ATS (-9.8 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
MONTREAL is 19-22 ATS (-11.7 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent this season.
BOSTON is 27-7 ATS (+27.0 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
MONTREAL is 18-11 (+3.2 Units) against the spread versus BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
MONTREAL is 18-11-0 straight up against BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
14 of 25 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+2.2 Units)
COLUMBUS (41-31-0-10, 92 pts.) at DETROIT (51-21-0-10, 112 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
COLUMBUS is 6-22 ATS (+42.3 Units) in road games vs. division opponents over the last 2 seasons.
COLUMBUS is 41-41 ATS (+86.2 Units) in all games this season.
COLUMBUS is 15-9 ATS (+25.8 Units) after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game this season.
COLUMBUS is 23-17 ATS (+46.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
COLUMBUS is 21-17 ATS (+48.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
COLUMBUS is 9-13 (+3.7 Units) against the spread versus DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 13-9-0 straight up against COLUMBUS over the last 3 seasons
13 of 20 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+5.5 Units)
CALGARY (46-30-0-6, 98 pts.) at CHICAGO (46-25-0-11, 103 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 11-4 ATS (+5.9 Units) in April games over the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 35-20 ATS (+56.5 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.
CALGARY is 24-16 ATS (+41.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
CHICAGO is 8-4 (+6.7 Units) against the spread versus CALGARY over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 8-4-0 straight up against CALGARY over the last 3 seasons
5 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.0 Units)
ANAHEIM (42-33-0-7, 91 pts.) at SAN JOSE (53-18-0-11, 117 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
ANAHEIM is 9-14 ATS (-11.4 Units) after a division game this season.
SAN JOSE is 78-50 ATS (-5.0 Units) in April games since 1996.
ANAHEIM is 20-13 ATS (+34.6 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5.5 this season.
ANAHEIM is 151-143 ATS (+309.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since 1996.
SAN JOSE is 25-20 ATS (-17.7 Units) second half of the season this season.
SAN JOSE is 24-23 ATS (-22.2 Units) in home games vs. division opponents over the last 3 seasons.
SAN JOSE is 31-29 ATS (-20.5 Units) after a division game over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
ANAHEIM is 12-10 (+1.5 Units) against the spread versus SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
ANAHEIM is 12-10-0 straight up against SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
14 of 20 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+6.5 Units)
Montreal at Boston
Montreal:
8-15 SU playing with revenge for road loss
2-9 SU Away after allowing 2+ goals 3rd period last game
Boston:
27-7 SU off win by 2+ goals
15-4 SU after scoring 6+ goals
Columbus at Detroit
Columbus:
6-22 SU Away vs. division
5-31 SU Away if 8+ goals were scored last game
Detroit:
22-3 SU at home off BB division games
18-2 SU off division loss by 3+ goals
Calgary at Chicago
Calgary:
10-2 Over playing with double revenge
4-8 SU vs. Chicago
Chicago:
17-5 SU off BB division games
23-11 SU off home win by 2+ goals
Anaheim at San Jose
Anaheim:
18-11 SU Away playing with same season revenge
7-4 SU at San Jose
San Jose:
5-10 SU off 1 goal division loss
16-7 Under vs. division
COLUMBUS vs. DETROIT
Columbus is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games when playing Detroit
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Columbus's last 5 games when playing Detroit
Detroit is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games
Detroit is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games when playing Columbus
MONTREAL vs. BOSTON
Montreal is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Boston
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Montreal's last 9 games when playing on the road against Boston
Boston is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
CALGARY vs. CHICAGO
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Calgary's last 7 games
Calgary is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago's last 7 games when playing at home against Calgary
Chicago is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Calgary
ANAHEIM vs. SAN JOSE
Anaheim is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Anaheim's last 6 games
San Jose is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games when playing at home against Anaheim
San Jose is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing Anaheim
NHL Playoffs
Boston has storied history of losing to Montreal in playoffs, but they're 7-2 in last nine games vs Montreal, winning last five, with two overtime wins. Habs lost last four visits to Boston, outscored 19-10. Bruins won eight of last ten games, with last three going over total. Montreal lost last four games, outscored 14-8, with three of four staying under total.
Columbus lost six of last eight games, but is in playoffs for the first time Blue Jackets won three of last four games vs Detroit-- seven of last nine series tilts stayed under the total. Red Wings lost three in row, six of last eight games, scoring only five goals in last three games. Four of last five Detroit home games went over the total.
Chicago was 4-0 against Calgary this season, winning last two games by 5-2 scores; four of last five series games went over the total. Teams split last eight series games in this building. Blackhawks won six of last seven games; under is 8-2-1 in their last eleven. Flames were just 4-6 in last ten games; under was 10-2-1 in their last 13 games.
San Jose won six of last eight games against Anaheim; under is 6-1-1 in last eight series games. Sharks went 2-3 in last five games, but still won Presidents' Cup-- four of their last five home games stayed under total. Ducks won 10 of their last 13 games, with five of the last six going over the total. Lot of pressure on top-seeded teams in first round.