Wednesday's Best NHL Bets
Toronto Maple Leafs at Washington Capitals (-230, 6)
Alexander Ovechkin can only be held in check for so long and Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau knows just how to get his super sniper going.
Boudreau promoted Alex Semin to Washington’s top line to play with Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom on Saturday against the Calgary Flames and saw immediate dividends when Ovie scored twice in 12 seconds and the trio combined for 10 points in a 7-2 win.
"Every year he has about a six- or seven-game [goal] drought. Then when he comes out [of it], he goes about 15 games with 30 points and that's what's happening early on," Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said of Ovechkin on Hockey Night in Canada's After Hours segment.
Ovechkin had only a goal and two assists over Washington’s previous six games before Boudreau made the change, but didn’t need a lot of offense with Michal Neuvirth minding the net. He was named the league’s rookie of the month for October after posting a 2.15-goals against average and a .926 save percentage while starting 10 of Washington’s first 11 games.
Ovechkin had a goal and four assists when the Capitals faced Toronto last January.
Pick: Over
Pittsburgh Penguins at Dallas Stars (N/A)
Just when the Pittsburgh Penguins were set to welcome Jordan Staal back to the lineup, last year’s Selke Trophy finalist fractured his right hand in practice and will be out another six weeks.
Staal had been recovering since severing a tendon in his right foot in the playoffs against Montreal last season. The foot ended up becoming infected following surgery and he just started skating again over the past couple of weeks.
The Penguins have gotten by without him, but they are lacking depth up front and especially in the middle now that they’re trying to use Evgeni Malkin on the wing. Malkin sat out Saturday’s 3-0 win over Carolina with a bruised knee, but skated Tuesday and is expected to play against Dallas.
The Stars’ offense got back on track in a 4-0 win over Buffalo after they had potted only four goals over three previous losses. They got back to the basics firing 41 shots on goal while Brad Richards assisted on power play goals by Brenden Morrow and James Neal to pace the attack.
Dallas could be a handful for the Pens after enjoying a three-day layoff.
Pick: Stars
Sabres host Bruins in Wednesday hockey betting
By: Barry Daniels
The Boston Bruins eliminated the Buffalo Sabres during last season’s grueling seven-game Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. The Sabres will get a chance to avenge that setback Wednesday night when they host a Boston squad that boasts the league’s hottest goaltender.
Boston was favored in all seven of those playoff games, with four matchups decided by just one goal. In fact, three of last season’s four regular season meetings were also decided by one goal.
It’s always important to check the starting netminder before making a wager, but it will be of paramount importance in this spot. That’s especially true where the Bruins are concerned.
Boston’s Tim Thomas has been the league’s best goaltender by far through the first month of the season. The 36-year-old veteran is not only a perfect 6-0, but his miniscule 0.50 GAA, sparkling .984 save percentage and three shutouts are also tops in the league.
Thomas made 29 saves for his second straight shutout Saturday night en route to leading the Bruins past the Ottawa Senators, 4-0. The Bruins closed as 120 road favorites, with the combined four goals dipping ‘under’ the five-goal closing total.
The ‘under’ has now cashed in Boston’s last five games, and is 6-1-1 in the club’s first eight overall outings.
Thomas now has 20 career NHL shutouts, including five against the Senators. He has allowed just three goals in his six victories, and no more than one in any game.
David Krejci, Tyler Seguin, Milan Lucic and Jordan Caron scored to help the Bruins raise their record to 6-2-0.
The Bruins were 1-for-4 with the man advantage, and have now scored at least one power play goal in each of their last four games. Overall, Boston is capitalizing on 21.9 percent of its power play chances, which ranks eighth in the league.
Claude Julien’s squad is averaging 3.0 goals per game (ranked 10th) and 32.9 shots on goal per outing (ranked 6th). Defensively, the Bruins have used Thomas’ hot goaltending to rank first in goals-against (1.4 GPG) and in penalty killing (93.1 percent success rate).
Boston is allowing the opposition an average of 31.5 shots on goal, which ranks 19th.
Buffalo returns home after going 1-3 on its recently completed four-game road swing through New Jersey, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Dallas. Three of those matches skipped ‘over’ the closing total.
The Sabres began the excursion by clobbering New Jersey, 6-1, but then lost successive games to the Flyers (6-3), Thrashers (4-3, OT) and Stars.
The most recent meeting against the Stars last Saturday was Buffalo’s poorest offensive showing, as they were blanked 4-0 as 105 road favorites. The combined four goals ducked ‘under’ the NHL odds closing total, snapping Buffalo’s string of four straight ‘over’ games.
Buffalo lost the game despite out-shooting the Stars, 41-34. However, Buffalo continued its poor penalty killing by allowing two more power play goals. The Sabres have now yielded nine power play markers in their last five games spanning 26 chances.
As a result, Buffalo ranks 27th in the league on the penalty kill with a 74.5 percent success rate. Lindy Ruff’s troops are allowing an average of 3.2 goals per game, which ranks 23rd.
Buffalo is getting enough shots on goal, but is having difficulty converting those chances into scoring plays. The club is averaging 31.5 shots on goal, which is fifth most in the league. However, Buffalo’s 2.5 goals per game ranks 22nd.
Right winger Jason Pominville is listed as “probable” for Wednesday’s game despite suffering a concussion, while center Nathan Gerbe is “questionable” with a jaw injury.
The Sabres will conclude their brief two-game homestand with a Friday game against Montreal before hitting the road for three games against the Maple Leafs, Devils and Rangers.
Boston will play back-to-back games, with a Friday road contest in Washington and a Saturday home outing versus St. Louis.
NHL Betting Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins at Dallas Stars
By Jeff Mattingly
Pittsburgh take to the road and take on the Dallas Stars in the only 2010-11 seasonal meeting. The Penguins are coming off a confident 3-0 win over Carolina on Saturday behind the red-hot goaltending of backup Brent Johnson. “My confidence is feeling pretty good,” Johnson stated. “I’m feeling pretty good.” He has established a solid 5-0-1 record with a .960 save percentage and stopped 33 shots for his first shutout since April 2006 versus the Hurricanes. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury remains the starter, but its not written in stone with a 1-5-0 record and .863 save percentage. The team is 10-9 when playing with three or more days rest and 2-4 after shutting out their opponent.
The Penguins got some bad news in learning that center Jordan Staal could miss up to six weeks recovering from a fractured hand, but did learn that forward Evgeni Malkin and defensemen Kris Letang both skated on Tuesday and are expected to be in the lineup at Dallas. Captain Sidney Crosby has been doing his part by adding two assists in his last game to increase his team-leading point total to 15. Pittsburgh can only hope he can spurn a power play that is 0-for-22 in five games and 8-for-62 on the season. Tuesday night may be the night in facing a Stars team that is last in the NHL with just a 68.4-percent success rate on the penalty kill.
Dallas ended a three-game skid on Saturday with a 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. The Stars are now 1-3 on their six-game homestand, with the help of goalie Andrew Raycroft stopping 34 shots. “We had to stop the bleeding at home,” said winger Brenden Morrow. “It was good to nip this and get rolling in the right direction again.” Dallas had been 2-for-25 on the power play over the previous six games before James Neal and Morrow connected on two man-advantage goals. The squad is 5-1 in its last six games versus the Eastern Conference.
The Stars strength lies in the young, talented trio of James Neal, Loui Eriksson and Jamie Benn. They have combined for 11 goals and 24 points through the first 10 games, following 78 goals and 167 points combined last season, as each surpassed the 40-point plateau. Dallas will certainly be challenged in this contest due to their opponents’ success against them since 2003-04. Over that time, the two teams have played five games against one another and the Stars have been outscored by a 22-8 count.
Bettors are likely to back the Penguins blindly due to their 5-0 mark in the last five meetings, while the home team is 6-2 in the last eight contests.