Review: Capitals vs. Rangers @ Verizon Center May 10th, 2012

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The Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers locked horns at the Verizon Center, Washington, District of Columbia in Game 6 of Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Capitals secured a 2-1 victory against the top-seeded Rangers. The best of seven game series is currently tied at 3-3 and the upcoming Game 7 will decide the winner of the series. The betting odds for the forthcoming match have the Rangers 13/8, while the Capitals 7/2.

The unflappable 22-year-old goaltender for the Capitals, Braden Holtby was fantastic once again after a loss. He made 30 saves Wednesday night and kept Washington’s season alive. In the playoffs, Holtby is now 2-0 when facing elimination and 9-0 after a loss this season. Capitals were able to extend this series to a decisive seventh game is because of his heroics. His calm demeanor is one of the characteristics that allow the rookie to bounce back so effortlessly after defeats. Game 7 will be held on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS).

The Capitals responded with an energetic first period following a crushing overtime defeat for the second time in this series. The Capitals scored the first goal early in Game 4 and went on to win, even though the Rangers won 2-1 in a triple overtime in Game 3.

In Game 6, as the Caps raced up ice 3-on-3, Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh was caught flat-footed in the neutral zone. A speeding Jason Chimera beat Anton Stralman and took advantage of the mix-up by sliding more toward the middle, down the left side to draw a tripping penalty. Alex Ovechkin buried a one-timer from the high slot to put the Caps ahead 1-0 at 1:28 for his third goal of the series, some seconds later. Marcus Johansson allowed it all to happen by deflecting a clearing attempt and keeping the puck in the offensive zone after the Rangers won the faceoff, although Nicklas Backstrom picked up the primary assist and Mike Green was credited with the secondary helper.

In Game 5, when Ward took a four-minute high-sticking penalty in the final minute of regulation, this series turned against the Capitals. the Rangers were allowed to score a pair of power-play goals and in the four-minute power play and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. In Game 6, it looked as if the same thing could happen again but history did not repeat itself. Early three shots were stopped by Holtby and swarming Capitals did not allow any others to reach their goaltender. The Capitals have killed 40 of 46 power plays (87 percent) in the playoffs.

In these playoffs Saturday, if the Capitals can win a second consecutive Game 7 on the road then they will advance to the conference finals for the first time since 1998. This will be the same year when they made their only trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Let us see if history repeats once again.

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Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins – Game 2 April 13th, 2012

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Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins clash in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals (Fri, Apr 13 7:30 PM ET). Philadelphia leads best-of-seven series by 1-0. In the overtime, the Flyers won the Game 1 after falling behind 3-0. Danny Briere rallied on two goals and a power-play goal from Brayden Schenn, and an overtime winner at 2:23 from Jakub Voracek. after jumping out to a big lead, the Penguins feel they did not play a complete game.

On Wednesday, the Comeback Kids were at it again. The Flyers fell behind early only to rally late for the win for the third time in the last month against the Penguins. They have trailed in eight of their last 13 games.

Briere showed up huge in Game 1 with two goals. He had missed the last three regular season games. The goals have him 98 points in 98 career playoff games. Philadelphia’s strong special teams play made the biggest difference, although Briere got the Flyers started.

Pittsburgh’s power play was stopped by the Flyers on all three of its chances. the Flyers kept up the pressure and never let the Penguins get an offensive opportunity in the short extra session. the Flyers still played with fire yet again Wednesday and it is something they want to do again.

The Penguins did not follow through with it in the second and third periods and paid dearly, although they used their speed to jump out to a lead in Game 1. the Penguins were burned by their power play. They could not make full use of their chances and failed to keep the pressure on the Flyers.

Briere made it 2-1 and then Pittsburgh coughed up two more power plays. Only five shots were managed by them, with the man-advantage. The Penguins worked on their power play by spending a good portion of practice. Steve Sullivan played for a good amount of time this season and this was the big change.

Schenn had a three points on a goal and two assists and it was a monster playoff debut. in the regular season finale against the Penguins in Pittsburgh, he also had a goal and an assist. Pascal Dupuis extended his point scoring streak to 18 games. Sidney Crosby also had a goal and an assist. Letang had two assists. He had a goal and an assist Wednesday. Letang had two assists, while Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist.

Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen (upper body) is likely out, while after injuring himself in Game 1, Flyers defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon (upper body) is questionable. Niskanen has missed the last three games.

The best betting odds for the Flyers are 9/5, while for the Penguins 1/2.

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NHL Preview – Lightning vs. Devils Contest – Game 4 March 29th, 2012

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The Tampa Bay Lightning and New Jersey Devils meet at 7:00 PM ET, March 29, 2012 Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey in the Game 4, with New Jersey leading by 2-1. The Tampa Bay has a 35-34-7, 77pts record and the New Jersey with 43-28-6, 92pts record. The betting odds for the Lightning (19/10), while for Devils (1/2).

On Nov. 19 and Dec. 12, the Devils won both games in Tampa Bay and the Lightning scored a 4-3 victory at Prudential Center on Feb. 26. Martin St. Louis registered a hat trick and assisted on the other goal to lead the Lightning. Only 16 shots were faced by Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.

The Lightning’s odds are slim to none of them qualifying for the second straight season with six games remaining and the club sitting nine points behind eighth-seeded Buffalo, although they are not officially out of the playoff race. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Devils scored a huge shootout victory over Chicago to move four points ahead of idle Ottawa with five games remaining.

On Tuesday, the Lightning suffered their 20th regulation loss on the road this season following a 5-2 setback to the Boston Bruins. With four of the final six games away from Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa Bay is 11-20-5 away from home this season. On Tuesday, Center Vincent Lecavalier skated for the third straight day and he is eyeing a return to the lineup against the Devils. With a fracture in his right hand, he has been sidelined since Feb. 18.

For the Lightning, Adam Hall (upper body), Nate Thompson (upper body) and Lecavalier (hand) are day-to-day. Dana Tyrell (knee), Mathieu Garon (lower body), Ryan Shannon (upper body), Marc-Andre Bergeron (back) and Dana Tyrell (knee) are out. Henrik Tallinder (blood clot) is out while defenseman Anton Volchenkov (lower body) is questionable for the Devils.

In Devils team history, Captain Zach Parise became just the second player to record five 30-goal seasons when he connected in a loss to the Penguins on Sunday. Over an eight-year span from 1986-87 through 1993-94, John MacLean posted five 30-goal campaigns. During five of the last six seasons, Parise reached the mark, including a career-high 45 goals in 2008-09.

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Chicago and Vancouver again Tops in NHL West Conference January 14th, 2012

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The Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks, the favourites, are back on top halfway through the NHL season in Western Conference. Leading their respective divisions the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks are surprisingly similar except the Canucks lead the NHL in points at the midway point.

Opening as 12-1 favourites to win the Stanley Cup the Blackhawks have been bet down to 6-1 co-favourites with the Washington Capitals. Despite Vancouver taking the President’s Trophy last season the Blackhawks have been the best team in the Western Conference for the last three years.

After falling short against the Boston Bruins last season, the Canucks are not suffering through the Stanley Cup hangover. Opening the season as a 6-1 favourite to win the Cup, their odds have gone up to 9-1 in spite of the team leading the NHL in points halfway in this season.

Finally returning as a contender in the West the Los Angeles Kings opened as a 12-1 shot to win it all as the books believed in the Kings, if no one else did but have been bet down to 10-1. After watching the Anaheim Ducks win a Stanley Cup Los Angeles is hungry for a winner and this is their best chance in years.

The Ducks opened the season at 25-1 but the Ducks odds are another curious anomaly as team is in the basement and their futures odds have actually been bet down and now sit at 20-1.

The Coyotes opened as a 30-1 shot but the Coyotes have been pummelled this season and their odds quickly tumbled to 80-1 as their season unravels.

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How 25 Most Overrated NHL Players may affect Hockey Futures Bets August 22nd, 2011

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When assessing which teams to pick for placing futures bets in the NHL, whether it’s for the Stanley Cup, the Conference Championship, or just the Division winners, you have to take into account the strength of division, but also how the betting public views certain players on each team. And some of those players can be very overrated by that same betting public, and therefore negatively impact your chance of winning your bet. That’s just how handicapping goes.

The Bleacher Report has come up with its Top 25 Most Overrated NHL players list. I’ll list these out, and have a look how this might change your view of a team, or how you might place a wager.

Starting from number one and going down to 25, here is the list:

  1. Rick Dipietro, New York Islanders;
  2. Dion Phaneuf, Toronto Maple Leafs;
  3. Chris Drury, New York Rangers and now retired;
  4. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks;
  5. Zach Bogosian, Winnipeg Jets
  6. Scott Gomez, Montreal Canadiens
  7. Mike Richards, Los Angeles Kings
  8. Ville Leino, Buffalo Sabres
  9. Brian Campbell, Florida Panthers
  10. Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks
  11. Trent Hunter, New York Islanders
  12. Sean Avery, New York Rangers
  13. Jay Bouwmeester, Calgary Flames
  14. Tim Connelly, Toronto Maple Leafs
  15. Ed Jovanovski, Florida Panthers
  16. Maxime Talbot, Philadelphia Flyers
  17. Joel Ward, Washington Capitals
  18. Dany Heatley, Minnesota Wild
  19. Scottie Upshall, Florida Panthers
  20. Ollie Jokinen, Calgary Flames
  21. Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton Oilers
  22. Wade Redden, New York Rangers
  23. Sergei Gonchar, Ottawa Senators
  24. RJ Umberger, Columbus Blue Jackets
  25. Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning

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San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks battle in Game 3 of West Final May 20th, 2011

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After hanging with the Vancouver Canucks for much of game two in the Western Conference Finals, the San Jose Sharks got badly outplayed in the third period en route to a Vancouver 7-3 victory.

The Sharks are a -130 moneyline favorite and the over/under is 5.5 in NHL Betting for Game 3 on Friday.

Untimely penalties and poor discipline led to San Jose’s demise in the third period, as Vancouver scored two power play goals to open up a 5-2 advantage in the first half of the period and never looked back, adding two more goals to put up seven total for the game.

While San Jose was badly outplayed in game one of this best of seven series, game two was a different story for the first two periods. San Jose actually took the early lead on a Logan Couture power play goal, but it was erased several minutes later when Daniel Sedin scored for the Canucks with the man advantage. Heading into the third period the Sharks only trailed Vancouver by one goal, but this was when the wheels would fall off for San Jose.

Now the series heads back to San Jose, who plays in one of the loudest arenas in the league, to see if the Sharks can protect home ice and even the series up. During the playoffs the Sharks are 4-3 at HP Pavilion. Undoubtedly, San Jose and their fans hope that record climbs to 6-3 after this weekend. However, if San Jose does not do a better job of controlling the Sedin twins, who combined to tally five points last night, the Sharks will more than likely be looking at a series sweep or being down three games to one heading back to Vancouver for game five.

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San Jose Sharks Vs. Vancouver Canucks – NHL Match Preview May 14th, 2011

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With Game 1 slated for Sunday, the San Jose Sharks finally dispatched the Detroit Red Wings to advance to the Western Conference Finals to take on the Vancouver Canucks, after a long seven-game series and VERSUS will broadcast this match at 8 pm ET.

In free sports picks, the Canucks are a -160 favorite and the over/under total is 5.5.

As the series ended up going the full seven games after San Jose jumped out to a three games to none lead over Detroit, the second round took a little longer to complete than San Jose, and their fans, would have liked. The Sharks hopes this year’s result is better than last year’s where the team were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup winners, the Chicago Blackhawks as they will be making their second consecutive appearance in the Western Conference Finals.

After beating the Nashville Predators in six games, the Vancouver Canucks have been patiently waiting to see who their next round opponent would be. The fans in Vancouver have high expectations for this year’s team as this year marks the first time the Canucks have been to the Conference finals since the 1993-94 season.

Even though the Canucks will be tested by the fast, physical San Jose Sharks, sporting the best offense and third best penalty kill in the regular season they are certainly one of the most talented teams in the league. The Canucks should win this series if Vancouver can get better production out of its star players.

As fans and team management will feel they let a chance to win the Stanley Cup slip through their fingers, if the Sedin twins continue their postseason struggles, there could be more angst in Vancouver this offseason though.

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Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks face off in Game 4 May 5th, 2011

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One of the more competitive second round matchups of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs is taking place between the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks.

With two of the three games having gone to overtime and all three having been a one-goal game, there has been little room for error in the playoff matchup.

For Game 4 of the series on Thursday, the Canucks are a -125 moneyline favorite and the total is 5 in NHL Betting Odds.

Game 3 ended with a little bit of a controversy as Vancouver scored its second power play goal of the night in overtime when Nashville’s captain Shea Webber was sent to the penalty box for hooking Vancouver’s forward Ryan Kessler. The fans inside Bridgestone Arena reacted angrily after the penalty was called and after the goal was scored, as they felt Kessler was holding Weber’s stick and should have received the penalty.

With the Game 3 victory Vancouver wrestles home ice advantage back from Nashville and takes a two games to one lead in the best of seven series.

Game 4 will be Thursday night at 8:30pm in Nashville, and figures to be another hard hitting, low scoring affair. As long as both goalies, Pekka Rinne and Roberto Luongo, continue to play the way that they have been during this round, this series between Nashville and Vancouver should continue to be one of the best in the second round.

It would not surprise anyone if both teams were playing a game seven next Wednesday night back in Vancouver.

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Friday Clash Between Detroit Red Wings And San Jose Sharks April 29th, 2011

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On Friday night, round two of the Western Conference playoffs will get under way when the Detroit Red Wings travel to San Jose to battle against the Sharks, with round one of the NHL playoffs in the books.

The over/under total at 5.5 as hockey odds has the Sharks as -125 favorites.

The Red Wings will look to avenge four games to one defeat at the hands of the San Jose Sharks in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference semifinals. Detroit appears to be better suited to face the Sharks this year, as the team is much more rested than a year ago by coming off of a four game sweep of Phoenix in round one. From star player Henrik Zetterberg who sat out all of round one with a knee injury, Detroit will look for additional scoring punch.

After defeating the Los Angeles Kings in six games in their opening round series San Jose has not had as much time off as the Red Wings. San Jose will look to capitalize on the momentum they captured after ousting the Kings in overtime with its star players Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski playing like all-stars this postseason. San Jose is hoping for another playoff series victory over Detroit and a return to the Western Conference Finals with its star players Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski playing like all-stars this postseason.

The play of the two net minders, Antti Niemi for San Jose and Jimmy Howard for Detroit could be the key to this series. While Niemi struggled in games two and five, Howard outshined his opposition in net during round one. The opposition could be looking at the end of their season if either goalie goes on a hot streak.

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Washington Capitals, New York Rangers face off in NHL Playoffs April 20th, 2011

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The Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers will play in game 4 of their first round series this Wednesday.

The game is a pick’em and the total is 5 in NHL Betting.

The series has been a tough one so far for both teams. To this point in the series the Capitals have managed to take control with a 2-1 series lead over the Rangers.

The first two games of the series were dominated by the Capitals as they managed to limit the scoring opportunities of the Rangers. The Rangers were held to just 1 goal in their first two games as the Capitals walked away with a 2-0 and a 2-1 victory over the Rangers.

Game 3 of the series brought more competition to the table as the Rangers found a way to put the puck in the net. The Rangers scored 3 goals over the course of the game and the Capitals were only able to put up 2 goals.

While the Capitals lead the series, they would like to get some more going offensively. The team has only scored 2 goals in each game and their defense may not be able to contain New York to less than 2 goals in every game. They have one of the premier players in the league in Alex Ovechkin and they will need to do whatever they can to feed off of him during the series.

The Rangers have a chance to even up the series in this game and they will need to bring everything they’ve got to prevent the Capitals from taking the 3-1 series lead.

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