16 posts tagged “nhl lines”
Detroit -260 vs. Dallas
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The second rematch of the season of last spring's Western Conference Final will take place in Joe Louis Arena Thursday night as the Detroit Red Wings look to avenge a loss earlier this season to the Dallas Stars.
The rematch is not what is seemed in May. While the Red Wings (27-7-5) are on their usual winning clip, the Stars (17-16-5) have sunk to the bottom of their division. The two rivals sit separated by twenty points in the conference standings.
Detroit is on pace for 124 points but have been winning games in much different ways than it was a year ago and in the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring. A year ago, the Wings have up the league's fewest goals, at 2.82 per game. But injuries and lackluster play from Chris Osgood has helped balloon that mark and pushed Detroit to the middle of the pack in GAA.
The bright spot in net for the Red Wings has been backup Ty Conklin who has gone 6-1-1 with a 1.86 GAA since December 18th. Conklin became the answer to the future trivia question of being a starting goalie in each of the first three regular-season outdoor hockey games. After beating Chicago 6-4 on New Years Day, the goaltender improved his record to 2-1 outdoors.
Currently the Stars are only one point above last place Los Angeles in the Pacific Division, but a big victory over a good team can turn around their season quite quickly. Despite their troubles this year, Dallas is only four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.
They have played well of late, going 6-2-1 in their last nine contests, including a shootout victory in Vancouver in their last game Sunday night.
Marty Turco is quite familiar to Joe Louis Arena. He played college hockey just up the road in Ann Arbor for the University of Michigan and regularly took part in CCHA games in Detroit's hockey venue. Turco has not fared well at Joe Louis Arena since becoming a pro, winning only once, in Game 5 of the conference final. Overall Turco has posted a 3-10-0 record and a 2.78 GAA in his career against Detroit, including a 3-1 home victory on December 12th.
Detroit won the first three games of the Western Conference Final last spring before taking the series in six. The Red Wings took three of the four regular season matchups last year.
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New Jersey Devils -150 vs. Ottawa Senators
Losers of four of their last five contests, the Ottawa Senators have underwent subtle changes. Earlier this season Ottawa's top scores Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza were put on one line together and the offense flowed. It flowed so well, in fact, that the line was affectionately dubbed the "Pizza Line" because fans were receiving free pizza on a regular basis due to the Senators' goal output, largely due to the actions of the three goal scores on the line.
But as old pizza tends to do, the line has become to grow stale. In the last four games, in which the team has gone 1-3-1, Ottawa (11-13-5) has scored four goals and coach Craig Hartsburg has decided to dole out the scorers to other lines to attempt to boost his teams offense. The new look Senators will travel to New Jersey to play the surging Devils (17-9-3), winners of 7 of their last ten.
During Ottawa's latest slump, team scoring leader Heatley and Spezza have failed to notch a point and Alfredsson has only contribute a goal. Ottawa scored one goal, while Martin Gerber allowed four against the Thrashers Tuesday night. Gerber has started three of the past four games, but will be replaced by Alex Auld in New Jersey.
Replacing goaltenders is not a luxury in New Jersey, rather a necessity. The Devils were predicted to drop like a rock in the standings upon Martin Brodeur's departure from the team due to a torn bicep early last month, but they have done just the opposite. Scott Clemmensen has filled his predessor's shoes-er skates-quite admirably. Clemmensen is 9-1-1 in his last 11 games and has won five of his last six starts. Kevin Weekes was initially going to be New Jersey's stop-gap solution, but Clemmensen's strong play has promoted him to number one while the team awaits the return of Brodeur.
Helping Clemmensen is an offense that has scored 21 times in the last five games. Wednesday night at Buffalo, the Devils won 5-3 behind Patrik Elias' two assists. Elias has nine goals and 23 points over his past 14 games.
New Jersey has won five of seven versus Ottawa at home. The teams split their four meeting a season ago.
Montreal -120 vs. Philadelphia
Last season the Montreal Canadiens were riding high and were the odds on favorite to win the Eastern Conference. That was until they ran headlong into the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. History somewhat repeated itself just over a month ago when the Canadiens, playing well, lost a home game to the struggling Flyers 2-1. Philadelphia then excelled on their longest winning streak of the season, six, while Montreal has not been the same since.
The Flyers (17-7-6) have quite an impressive record when you take into account that they were the last team in the NHL to record a victory when they started the season (0-3-3). Since that November 15 victory over Montreal, the Flyers lead the league with a 12-1-2 record.
Tuesday night they whipped the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 and claimed their fifth victory in a row. With a victory tonight against the Canadiens, the Flyers will match their longest streak. Mike Richards and Simon Gagne each recorded a goal and two assists. Philadelphia's Captain, Richards, has been the key factor in the Flyers rise from the ashes by recording seven goals and eight assists.
The Canadiens (16-9-5) lost their third in a row, 3-2, in Carolina. Montreal committed a season-high 11 penalties which led to all three of the Hurricane goals. If Montreal loses to Philadelphia, they will be saddled with their first four-game skid since February 2007.
Montreal is looking to change their luck by starting backup Jaroslav Halak in net, who has a 2.27 goals against average. Starter Carey Price has been out for four games with a lower body injury. He will face the Flyers backup goalie, Antero Niittymaki. Flyers starter Martin Biron will miss his second straight game as he recovers from the flu.
Montreal -120 vs. Philadelphia
Last season the Montreal Canadiens were riding high and were the odds on favorite to win the Eastern Conference. That was until they ran headlong into the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. History somewhat repeated itself just over a month ago when the Canadiens, playing well, lost a home game to the struggling Flyers 2-1. Philadelphia then excelled on their longest winning streak of the season, six, while Montreal has not been the same since.
The Flyers (17-7-6) have quite an impressive record when you take into account that they were the last team in the NHL to record a victory when they started the season (0-3-3). Since that November 15 victory over Montreal, the Flyers lead the league with a 12-1-2 record.
Tuesday night they whipped the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 and claimed their fifth victory in a row. With a victory tonight against the Canadiens, the Flyers will match their longest streak. Mike Richards and Simon Gagne each recorded a goal and two assists. Philadelphia's Captain, Richards, has been the key factor in the Flyers rise from the ashes by recording seven goals and eight assists.
The Canadiens (16-9-5) lost their third in a row, 3-2, in Carolina. Montreal committed a season-high 11 penalties which led to all three of the Hurricane goals. If Montreal loses to Philadelphia, they will be saddled with their first four-game skid since February 2007.
Montreal is looking to change their luck by starting backup Jaroslav Halak in net, who has a 2.27 goals against average. Starter Carey Price has been out for four games with a lower body injury. He will face the Flyers backup goalie, Antero Niittymaki. Flyers starter Martin Biron will miss his second straight game as he recovers from the flu.
Montreal -120 vs. Philadelphia
Last season the Montreal Canadiens were riding high and were the odds on favorite to win the Eastern Conference. That was until they ran headlong into the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. History somewhat repeated itself just over a month ago when the Canadiens, playing well, lost a home game to the struggling Flyers 2-1. Philadelphia then excelled on their longest winning streak of the season, six, while Montreal has not been the same since.
The Flyers (17-7-6) have quite an impressive record when you take into account that they were the last team in the NHL to record a victory when they started the season (0-3-3). Since that November 15 victory over Montreal, the Flyers lead the league with a 12-1-2 record.
Tuesday night they whipped the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 and claimed their fifth victory in a row. With a victory tonight against the Canadiens, the Flyers will match their longest streak. Mike Richards and Simon Gagne each recorded a goal and two assists. Philadelphia's Captain, Richards, has been the key factor in the Flyers rise from the ashes by recording seven goals and eight assists.
The Canadiens (16-9-5) lost their third in a row, 3-2, in Carolina. Montreal committed a season-high 11 penalties which led to all three of the Hurricane goals. If Montreal loses to Philadelphia, they will be saddled with their first four-game skid since February 2007.
Montreal is looking to change their luck by starting backup Jaroslav Halak in net, who has a 2.27 goals against average. Starter Carey Price has been out for four games with a lower body injury. He will face the Flyers backup goalie, Antero Niittymaki. Flyers starter Martin Biron will miss his second straight game as he recovers from the flu.
Montreal -120 vs. Philadelphia
Last season the Montreal Canadiens were riding high and were the odds on favorite to win the Eastern Conference. That was until they ran headlong into the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. History somewhat repeated itself just over a month ago when the Canadiens, playing well, lost a home game to the struggling Flyers 2-1. Philadelphia then excelled on their longest winning streak of the season, six, while Montreal has not been the same since.
The Flyers (17-7-6) have quite an impressive record when you take into account that they were the last team in the NHL to record a victory when they started the season (0-3-3). Since that November 15 victory over Montreal, the Flyers lead the league with a 12-1-2 record.
Tuesday night they whipped the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 and claimed their fifth victory in a row. With a victory tonight against the Canadiens, the Flyers will match their longest streak. Mike Richards and Simon Gagne each recorded a goal and two assists. Philadelphia's Captain, Richards, has been the key factor in the Flyers rise from the ashes by recording seven goals and eight assists.
The Canadiens (16-9-5) lost their third in a row, 3-2, in Carolina. Montreal committed a season-high 11 penalties which led to all three of the Hurricane goals. If Montreal loses to Philadelphia, they will be saddled with their first four-game skid since February 2007.
Montreal is looking to change their luck by starting backup Jaroslav Halak in net, who has a 2.27 goals against average. Starter Carey Price has been out for four games with a lower body injury. He will face the Flyers backup goalie, Antero Niittymaki. Flyers starter Martin Biron will miss his second straight game as he recovers from the flu.
New York -130 vs. Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh has not been able to duplicate their winning ways from earlier this season in recent weeks. Since beating Buffalo on November 15, the Penguins (14-6-3) have alternated losses and wins ever since. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, the team they have been chasing, the Rangers, have not been winning consistently either. The two top teams within the Atlantic Division will meet up at Madison Square Garden tonight.
New York (17-8-2) had its three game winning streak snapped Sunday with an inexcusable shutout loss to the hapless Florida Panthers in a very listless home effort. Prior to the Rangers modest three game upswing, they had lost two straight.
While Pittsburgh has been rather inconsistent lately, Sidney Crosby has sprung to life. He has shaken off a slow start to catch fire with six goals in the last three contests and earned his second career hat trick in Saturday's 4-1 home victory over New Jersey.
Even though Crosby was struggling, the Pens were flying high because of Evgeni Malkin. The NHL's best with 39 points, Malkin has been on the score sheet, through at least one goal or assist, in 21 of Pittsburgh's 23 games. However, the lethal duo has not excelled in Madison Square Garden. The Penguins have lost six straight there and are 2-7-3 in their last 12 in New York.
New York returned home to play the Panthers Saturday after a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Florida to play the Lightning in Tampa and the opening of a home-and-home set in Miami. In both games the Rangers needed to go to a shootout to claim victory, 3-2 over Tampa Bay and 4-3 over Florida.
The 4-0 loss to Florida forced Henrik Lundqvist from the net after the Panthers scored the third goal. Lundqvist has had an outstanding season by compiling 15 wins, best in the Eastern Conference. He has dominated Pittsburgh with a lifetime 9-4-2 record and 1.89 goals against average.
The Rangers won the first game over the Penguins this season on October 25 in Pittsburgh 3-2 in a shootout.
New York -145 vs. Vancouver
A battle of first place teams will take place in Madison Square Garden as the Eastern Conference points leader, Rangers welcome the Northwest leading Vancouver Canucks in a rematch of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final.
After a solid home stand, the Canucks hit the road and lost to the Islanders in overtime Monday night 2-1. Vancouver (10-6-2) has not lost in regulation since a 3-2 loss to Detroit on November 2, but the Canucks have lost their last two out of three games in overtime. Vancouver's MVP, and possibly the NHL, so far this season has been Roberto Luongo. The netminder set an NHL record with 242 minutes and 36 seconds of shutout hockey that spanned 18:52 remaining in the third period of the November 2 loss to the Red Wings until 88 seconds left in regulation in Colorado on November 12. During the streak, Luongo shutout Nashville, Phoenix and Minnesota between the Detroit and Colorado games. The goalie has a 2.16 goals against average and is 10-5-2 on the season.
The Rangers (14-5-2) have a pretty good goalie of their own who has been propelling them to victory all season long. Henrik Lundqvist is 12-4-2 with a miniscule 1.92 GAA on the season. New York has won three straight, the last two coming in a shootout over Boston and Ottawa.
The Rangers also have not lost in regulation in some time, since November 8 to Washington. With their three game winning streak, New York has now apparently put behind them their rough stretch of losing four out of five games from November 1 through November 10.
The Rangers have not beaten the Canucks since 2004. Vancouver is looking to win their third straight game over the Rangers and have beaten New York in eight of the last ten meetings.
Calgary -150 vs. Colorado
The Colorado Avalanche have been winning lately, while their division rival, the Calgary Flames have gone south lately. The two teams will begin a home-and-home series tonight as they first meet on in Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary.
Colorado (8-8-0) looks for their fourth straight victory tonight against a rival that has consistently beat them recently. The Flames (9-8-1) have won five of the last five of the last seven against the Avalanche, including the first two games played between the two this season, 5-4 and 3-0. Both games were played in the Pepsi Center in Denver.
The three game winning streak has done enough to make Colorado feel better about themselves, but has done nothing to lift them from the cellar of the Northwest Division. The three game winning streak has been offset by the five game losing streak which preceded it. Sweeping the home-and-home with Calgary would lift Colorado out of last place and would leapfrog the Flames as the teams are only separated by three points.
The last time out, on Saturday, the Avalanche's Darcy Tucker scored the tying goal with 10 seconds left in regulation and also netted the shootout winner in the fifth round to earn Colorado a 3-2 win.
The Flames will hope to bounce back against the Avalanche after they were humbled by the NHL's best team, San Jose last Thursday night. Calgary has had nearly a week to absorb the 6-1 loss, which gave the Flames their fifth loss in seven games. This is especially dispiriting for the Flames as they were coming off a six-game winning streak prior to their losing ways.
Aging veteran Joe Sakic's return is unclear as he has missed the last two games because of a strained back. Sakic has contributed 12 points to his team this season, putting him third on the Avalanche.
Anaheim Mighty -190 vs. Nashville
Oh what a difference a week makes. Last week the Anaheim Ducks were flying high, no pun intended, but after two straight losses to seemingly inferior opponents at home, the Ducks are scrambling for answers. That main answer they seek, a win, maybe right around the corner for them as they welcome in the Predators to the Honda Center tonight.
Even though Anaheim (9-7-1) has only two more wins than Nashville, history is clearly on the Ducks side, especially at home. Despite their 4-5-1 home record this year, they have dominated the Predators in Anaheim. The Ducks are 15-1-2 all-time in Orange County. The only time they lost in regulation was in January 2001. Jean-Sebastien Giguere has truly been a brick wall for the Nashville Predators in the past. His career stats are 10-2-0 with a 1.64 goals against average lifetime against Nashville and has recorded three shutouts against the club.
Anaheim's offense production which spurred them to an 8-0-1 record from October 21 to November 5 by scoring 35 goals has sputtered to a three goal trickle in their two losses in a row to Dallas and Florida.
The Ducks will take to the ice with a new head man in the organization. Brian Burke, who helped build Anaheim into a Stanley Cup Champion in 2007, resigned Wednesday and was replaced by Bob Murray as general manager. Murray comes from within the organization to assume his new duties.
It's same old, same old for the Predators (7-7-1). The Predators are in the middle of a brutal road trip which started off with three straight losses. Tuesday Nashville beat San Jose 4-3 in overtime on a Ville Koistinen winner. The hero of the evening was goalie Dan Ellis. The net minder made 54 saves to get the Predators a much needed victory. His performance was the exception as opposed to the rule this season. Ellis is 2-6-1 with a 3.27 goals against average in Nashville's nine road games this season.
