On the Ice - Wednesday
By Judd Hall
The NHL is keeping the action light on the trade deadline with just two games on Wednesday. But the tilts we do have on tap are worth the attention.
Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres
The Canadiens were sucking wind just a couple weeks back with Carey Price in goal. Montreal (34-22-7, 75 points) appears to be back on track now after winning four straight games to put itself into a Top 5 spot in the Eastern Conference.
A few of the reasons for the Habs’ recent streak has been Alex Kovalev returning to form and Jaroslav Halak closing off the goal. Kovalev was told to stay home by General Manager Bob Gainey on a recent six-game road trip after going dead. Since that unplanned sabbatical, he’s gone on to score two goals and five assists during Montreal’s winning streak. Halak has been a brick wall for the Canadiens recently; stopping 95 percent of the shots fired his way and a goals against average of 1.97.
Something else that has been helping Montreal recently is its power play unit. The Canadiens have had a decent special teams attack in converting 18.5 percent of the time. But they’re nailing 41 percent of their power plays during this streak.
Things haven’t been so cheery in Buffalo (31-25-7, 69 points) right now. The Sabres have dropped three straight games to fall out of playoff contention for the time being.
Falling to ninth in the East also makes things a bit prickly on the trade front. Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov are both set to be unrestricted free agents this summer. Both could end up being out of town by Wednesday.
Part of that duo’s fate depends on if the Sabres can get a solid goaltender at the deadline. That’s because Patrick Lalime has shown no signs of being able to hold down the fort while Ryan Miller heals. Lalime has lost his last three starts in spite of a solid 1.97 GAA.
Buffalo does get the advantage of playing at home for this matchup; the home team is 7-3 in the last 10 head-to-head meetings.
The Sabres are 7-3 in their last 10 home dates this season. The ‘under’ went 7-3 during that time.
Montreal’s been a big ‘over’ team when on the road, seeing high scoring affairs in 10 of its last 13 games away from the Bell Centre.
You’ll be able to catch this game on the NHL Network at 7:30 p.m. EST.
Detroit Red Wings at Colorado Avalanche
Detroit (41-14-8, 90 points) is one of the league’s elite teams, but even the best teams have an off night…or is that an off period. The Red Wings gave up a very uncharacteristic five goals in six minutes during the first period in an 8-0 drubbing at Nashville on Feb. 28.
Colorado (28-35-1, 57 points) is pretty much playing out the string after getting shown up by the Islanders, 4-2, on Monday night as a $1.20 road favorite. It is the Avalanche’s fifth straight loss as they gear up to be a “seller” at the trade deadline for the first time since coming to Denver.
Normally you would expect the home team to have the advantage, but the road squad has won four of the last five head-to-head meetings of this rivalry. The ‘over’ is on a 4-1 run as well.
Despite the road dominance in this series, the Red Wings have lost three straight away games seven of their last nine this year.
Take a hard look at the ‘over’ for this matchup: Detroit has seen the ‘over’ go 4-0 in its last four games against Northwest Division foes and the Avs are on a 4-1 run for the ‘over’ when playing on a day off.
You’ll be able to see this game on Fox Sports Detroit, Altitude Sports or NHL Center Ice at 9:00 p.m. EST.
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SCOREBOARD
Wednesday, March 4
Detroit at Colorado (9 p.m. EST). The Red Wings, in a heated race against San Jose and Boston for the best record in the league, close out a three-game road trip.
STARS
Tuesday
— Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble, Flyers. Gagne had two goals and an assist and Knuble had a goal and two assists to lead Philadelphia to a 4-2 victory over Boston.
— Manny Malhotra, Blue Jackets, had two goals and an assist, scoring the winner midway through the third period to lead Columbus past Los Angeles 5-4.
— Michael Frolik and Stephen Weiss, Panthers. Frolik scored two goals and Weiss had three assists to help Florida hold off Atlanta 4-3.
— Cam Ward and Patrick Eaves, Hurricanes. Ward made 39 saves and Eaves scored twice in Carolina’s 5-2 victory at Washington.
— Martin Brodeur, Devils, remained unbeaten since returning to the New Jersey lineup, making 30 saves in a 3-2 overtime win at Toronto. He’s 4-0 after missing 50 games because of elbow surgery, and moved within four wins of breaking Patrick Roy’s NHL record of 551.
— David Moss, Flames, got his first career hat trick in Calgary’s 6-3 win over Ottawa.
— Chris Kunitz, Penguins, had two rebound goals to help Pittsburgh improve to 4-0 with star center Sidney Crosby sidelined with a groin injury in a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay.
— Chris Osgood, Red Wings, stopped 22 shots to earn his first shutout of the season and his 299th career victory with Detroit with a 5-0 win over St. Louis.
— Alex Burrows, Canucks, who agreed to a four-year, $8 million contract extension before the game, scored two goals in Vancouver’s 11th win in 13 games, 4-2 over Minnesota.
— James Neal, Stars, scored two goals as Dallas snapped a five-game losing streak in the NHL’s toughest arena for road teams, beating the Sharks 4-1 at San Jose.
STATS
Flyers forward Mike Knuble played in his 800th NHL game in a 4-2 win at Boston. … A three-goal barrage in 1:55 of the second period by the Kings marked the fastest ever against the Blue Jackets. … Alexander Semin scored his 100th career goal for the Capitals. … Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff improved to 5-0 in six career appearances against Ottawa with a 6-3 win. … In a 3-2 loss to New Jersey, the Maple Leafs tied the 2003-04 Edmonton Oilers’ NHL record with their seventh consecutive overtime game. … The Predators won their ninth overtime game, tying a franchise record, with a 6-5 win over Edmonton.
STREAKS
The Capitals’ first-period scoring streak ended at 16 games, two shy of the team record set in 1988-89. … The Flames kicked off a season-high seven-game trip with their fifth straight road win, 6-3 at Ottawa. … Nashville won its fifth consecutive game, the hottest streak in the league, 6-5 in overtime against Edmonton. … With a goal and assist in a 3-2 overtime victory against Anaheim, Martin Havlat took over the Blackhawks’ scoring lead with 57 points. He has a nine-game points streak, with four goals and 11 assists in that span. … Minnesota has lost its last four.
SCORING
Evgeni Malkin assisted on a goal in Pittsburgh’s 3-1 win at Tampa Bay for his NHL-leading 93rd point. Malkin has eight assists and 13 points during a nine-game point streak.
SIDELINED
Marian Hossa, the Red Wings’ leading scorer with 34 goals and 61 points in 62 games, was hospitalized for observation after slamming headfirst into the boards early in the first period following a check by the Blues’ Roman Polak. But Hossa was scheduled to make the team flight to Colorado. … Capitals goalie Jose Theodore was a late scratch against Carolina because of the flu and Capitals defenseman Tom Poti was a late scratch because of a groin injury. … The Sharks also lost big before their loss to Dallas when they acknowledged they’ll be without veteran forwards Miek Grier and Jeremy Roenick for perhaps the rest of the season due to injuries.
TURNAROUND
Three days after absorbing their worst loss of the season, an 8-0 rout by the Predators, the Red Wings romped past St. Louis 5-0.
WEAK AT HOME
Atlanta fell to 11-18-2 at Philips Arena for an NHL-low 24 points at home with a 4-3 loss to Florida. … Although the Southeast Division-leading Capitals own the Eastern Conference’s best home record, they have lost four of their last six games in Washington after a 5-2 loss to Carolina.
SPEAKING
“When I came back I was 100 percent healthy with my arm. It’s just a question of testing it right now. The last four games I’ve done everything I can in a lot of different situations and my arm has held up pretty good.”—Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, who missed 50 games after elbow surgery before rejoining the team last week, and is 4-0 since. He stopped 30 shots in a 3-2 overtime win at Toronto to move within four wins of breaking Patrick Roy’s NHL record of 551.
“I’m sure tomorrow will be a little bit of a tense day for some of us. This team has a chance to do something.”—Flyers forward Mike Knuble looking toward the trade deadline after a 4-2 win over the Bruins.
MONTREAL (34-22-0-7, 75 pts.) at BUFFALO (31-25-0-7, 69 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
BUFFALO is 150-103 ATS (-39.4 Units) after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game since 1996.
BUFFALO is 189-130 ATS (+15.0 Units) vs. division opponents since 1996.
BUFFALO is 70-75 ATS (-20.4 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
BUFFALO is 16-19 ATS (-11.8 Units) in a home game where where the total is 6 or more over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
MONTREAL is 11-9 (+2.4 Units) against the spread versus BUFFALO over the last 3 seasons
MONTREAL is 11-9-0 straight up against BUFFALO over the last 3 seasons
10 of 19 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.4 Units)
DETROIT (41-14-0-8, 90 pts.) at COLORADO (28-35-0-1, 57 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 34-27 ATS (-29.2 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the second half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
COLORADO is 12-8 ATS (+21.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
COLORADO is 71-71 ATS (-74.8 Units) in home games after allowing 4 goals or more since 1996.
COLORADO is 6-15 ATS (+22.4 Units) after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 10-5-0 straight up against COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
9 of 15 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+2.5 Units)
MONTREAL vs. BUFFALO
Montreal is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Buffalo
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Montreal's last 5 games when playing Buffalo
Buffalo is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Buffalo's last 14 games
DETROIT vs. COLORADO
Detroit is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games when playing on the road against Colorado
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Detroit's last 5 games when playing on the road against Colorado
Colorado is 5-16 SU in its last 21 games when playing Detroit
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Colorado's last 7 games when playing Detroit
Hot teams
-- Canadiens won last four games, allowing total of eight goals.
-- Red Wings won five of their last seven games.
Cold teams
-- Sabres lost three in row, seven of last ten games.
-- Avalanche lost last five games, outscored by total of 23-8.
Totals
-- Under is 11-3 in Buffalo's last fourteen games; over is 8-2-2 in last 12 Montreal contests.
-- Four of last five Colorado games went over the total.
Back-to-Back
-- Detroit is 4-3 on road if they played the night before.
Series Records
-- Home side won the last five Montreal-Buffalo games.
-- Colorado is 3-0 vs Detroit this season: 3-2/4-3so/6-5so.