Hockey Today
SCOREBOARD
Tuesday, April 21
San Jose at Anaheim (10:30 p.m. EDT). Anaheim beat San Jose 3-2 on the road Sunday night to take a 2-0 lead over the top-seeded Sharks in the Western Conference series.
STARS
Monday
— Simeon Varlamov, Capitals, made 33 saves as Washington beat the New York Rangers 4-0.
— David Moss, Flames, scored twice in Calgary’s 4-2 victory over Chicago.
— Michael Ryder, Bruins, scored the go-ahead goal against his former team to lead Boston over Montreal 4-2.
STEPPING IN
Simeon Varlamov helped lead the Washington Capitals to a 4-0 win over the New York Rangers on Monday night by making 33 saves. The 20-year-old goalie was the surprise replacement for struggling starter Jose Theodore, who stopped only 17 of 21 shots in the 4-3 series-opening loss. Varlamov started Game 2, and despite only six previous games of NHL experience, has allowed just one goal on 57 shots.
FINALLY
Calgary had lost its four regular-season meetings with Chicago and first two games in the playoffs before beating the Blackhawks 4-2 on Monday night.
RYDER’S REVENGE
Michael Ryder put his past behind him and the Boston Bruins one win from their first playoff series win in 10 years. Ryder scored late in the second period against his former team and Tim Thomas made 23 saves to lead Boston to a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night. Ryder was a healthy scratch for all but four of Montreal’s 12 playoffs games last season.
BREAKING THROUGH
Calgary topped Chicago 4-2 on Monday night, the first time the Flames scored four goals against Nikolai Khabibulin since Game 1 of the 2004 Stanley Cup final against Tampa Bay.
BIG, BAD BRUINS
The Boston Bruins, who haven’t won a playoff series since 1999, are a win away from beating the Montreal Canadiens for only the eighth time in 32 playoff matchups between the longtime rivals. Game 4 is Wednesday night at the Bell Centre, with the Bruins leading the series 3-0.
SIDELINED
Chicago forward Patrick Kane was scratched for the Blackhawks’ 4-2 win at Calgary on Monday night due to the flu. Colin Fraser replaced him in the lineup. When asked about Kane after the game, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said: “He should be fine.”
SCOUTING
Ryan Russell and Ryan White each had a goal and an assist for Hamilton as the Bulldogs won 5-4 on Monday to get back in their AHL North Division semifinal series with Grand Rapids. The Griffins still lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.
SPEAKING
“To create offense, you need to be sound defensively and we weren’t. We weren’t even close. It was just an old-fashioned spanking. So we need to take our medicine here and get back to work and try to figure some things out.”— Rangers coach John Tortorella after New York fell to Washington 4-0 in Game 3 on Monday night.
PITTSBURGH (47-29-0-9, 103 pts.) at PHILADELPHIA (45-28-0-12, 102 pts.)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
PITTSBURGH is 21-9 (+11.2 Units) against the spread versus PHILADELPHIA over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 21-9-0 straight up against PHILADELPHIA over the last 3 seasons
19 of 28 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+8.6 Units)
DETROIT (53-21-0-10, 116 pts.) at COLUMBUS (41-33-0-10, 92 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 70-69 ATS (-41.2 Units) on Tuesday nights since 1996.
DETROIT is 43-32 ATS (-32.4 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the second half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
COLUMBUS is 41-43 ATS (-62.4 Units) in all games this season.
COLUMBUS is 68-47 ATS (+121.2 Units) in home games after a division game since 1996.
COLUMBUS is 10-3 ATS (+6.1 Units) in home games after allowing 4 goals or more this season.
COLUMBUS is 15-11 ATS (+28.4 Units) after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game this season.
COLUMBUS is 94-95 ATS (+240.7 Units) after scoring 1 goal or less in their previous game since 1996.
COLUMBUS is 23-19 ATS (+52.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
COLUMBUS is 21-19 ATS (+50.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
DETROIT is 61-23 ATS (+13.9 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
COLUMBUS is 9-15 (+1.7 Units) against the spread versus DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 15-9-0 straight up against COLUMBUS over the last 3 seasons
15 of 22 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+7.5 Units)
NEW JERSEY (53-27-0-5, 111 pts.) at CAROLINA (46-31-0-8, 100 pts.)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
NEW JERSEY is 9-6 (+1.6 Units) against the spread versus CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
NEW JERSEY is 9-6-0 straight up against CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
8 of 12 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+3.6 Units)
VANCOUVER (48-27-0-10, 106 pts.) at ST LOUIS (41-34-0-10, 92 pts.)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
VANCOUVER is 11-4 (+4.4 Units) against the spread versus ST LOUIS over the last 3 seasons
VANCOUVER is 11-4-0 straight up against ST LOUIS over the last 3 seasons
6 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-0.4 Units, Under=-1.0 Units)
SAN JOSE (53-20-0-11, 117 pts.) at ANAHEIM (44-33-0-7, 95 pts.)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
ANAHEIM is 14-10 (+5.5 Units) against the spread versus SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
ANAHEIM is 14-10-0 straight up against SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
15 of 21 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+7.6 Units)
DETROIT vs. COLUMBUS
Detroit is 15-7-1 SU in its last 23 games when playing on the road against Columbus
Detroit is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Columbus
Columbus is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Columbus's last 6 games
PITTSBURGH vs. PHILADELPHIA
Pittsburgh is 13-5 SU in its last 18 games when playing Philadelphia
The total has gone OVER in 17 of Pittsburgh's last 25 games when playing Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Philadelphia's last 7 games
NEW JERSEY vs. CAROLINA
New Jersey is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of New Jersey's last 6 games on the road
Carolina is 10-4 SU in its last 14 games
Carolina is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
VANCOUVER vs. ST. LOUIS
Vancouver is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing St. Louis
Vancouver is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games on the road
St. Louis is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis's last 5 games
SAN JOSE vs. ANAHEIM
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of San Jose's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Jose's last 7 games when playing Anaheim
Anaheim is 12-3 SU in its last 15 games
Anaheim is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home
NHL Playoffs
Columbus lost eight of last ten games; they're 0-7 on power play in this series, have been outshot 59-33 in last five periods of series. Detroit had man edge for 14:11 in Game 2, scoring three times in ten chances with a man advantage. Question for Columbus is whether they are simply glad to be in playoffs? Nine of last eleven series games stayed under the total.
Home side is 3-0 in Pitt-Philly series; Penguins won eleven of last fifteen games overall, seven of last ten vs Flyers; they split last 14 games here. Pens are just 4-21 with man edge in series (23:38), while Flyers are 3-14 (17:58). After scoring three goals total in first two series games, Flyers scored two goals in all three periods in Game 3.
Devils, Hurricanes split pair of OT games the last two contests, with the road team winning both. Seven of last eight series games stayed under the total. Home team won seven of last ten games in series, with Devils losing three of last four visits to Raleigh. Devils is 6-2 in last eight games overall. Neither team scored in third period in the last two games.
Vancouver is 26-9 in last 35 games, winning last five games by combined score of 10-3- its last seven games stayed under total. Canucks are 4-3 in last seven visits to St Louis. Blues are 1-17 on the power play in series (27:07), while Canucks are 4-15 (22:48). St Louis still hasn't scored third period goal in series-- they're trying to avoid series sweep at home.
San Jose outshot Ducks 79-43 in first two series games, but hasn't put a puck in net in 24:00 with man advantage, so they head to Anaheim down 2-0. Ducks are 2-6 on power play (10:54) in series, and haven't given up a first period goal to Sharks. Anaheim is now 12-3 in its last 15 games, so they're hot at the right time. Under is 7-1-1 in last nine series games.
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia
Pittsburgh:
21-7 SU off a division loss
8-1 SU revenging a road loss of 2+ goals
Philadelphia:
4-11 SU off a home win by 2+ goals
9-21 SU against Pittsburgh
Detroit at Columbus
Detroit:
7-13 SU Away off BB division games
2-8 SU Away off BB home wins by 2+ goals
Columbus:
8-3 SU as home underdog
14-5 SU off a division loss by 4+ goals
New Jersey at Carolina
New Jersey:
10-2 SU after 3+ consecutive unders
13-8 SU as a road underdog of +100 to +150
Carolina:
0-2 SU at home when the total is 5 or less
33-40 SU in April
St. Louis at Vancouver
Vancouver:
2-5 SU in the 4th game of a playoff series
3-8 SU off a road win by 1 goal
St Louis:
7-2 SU at home after 2+ consecutive losses
9-3 SU after allowing 3+ goals in 2 straight
San Jose at Anaheim
San Jose:
16-6 SU AWAY playing with double revenge
37-26 SU AWAY after 2 consecutive division games
Anaheim:
2-7 SU at home off 2+ consecutive road wins
3-6 SU at home when the total is 5 or less