NHL Betting Info. 3/25

[TheGame]

Preview: Capitals (52-15) at Devils (36-31)


Date: March 25, 2016 7:00 PM EDT


The Washington Capitals have a chance to clinch home-ice advantage through the playoffs and their second Presidents' Trophy this weekend. The New Jersey Devils, meanwhile, are just hoping to bolster their chances of reaching the postseason.


On the verge of getting defenseman John Carlson back, the Capitals are also hoping T.J. Oshie will be available Friday night for their road game against the New Jersey Devils.


Washington (52-15-5) can eliminate every team but Dallas for the No. 1 overall seed with a victory in Newark since the Stars, who have 97 points with seven games remaining, swept the season series. That means the clinching day could come as early as Saturday, and it might happen before Washington wraps up its home game against St. Louis depending on how Dallas fares that afternoon in San Jose.


The Capitals - seeking their first Presidents' Trophy since 2009-10 - have won three of four and snapped a three-game road losing streak with a 4-2 victory at Ottawa on Tuesday.


That game could mark Washington's final one without its top-scoring defenseman. Carlson, who has six goals and 25 assists, has been out since Feb. 24 with a lower-body injury and underwent a procedure for his ailment.


"I think Carly has the ability to be a game-breaker-type player," fellow defenseman Karl Alzner said. "Just having him in the lineup I think allows us to have a little but more freedom for all the guys to utilize their minutes more effectively. You don't have to pace yourself at all because Carly's in there playing between 20 and 26 minutes of hard minutes."


Oshie is dealing with an illness that could keep him from traveling to New Jersey, though Saturday's game against St. Louis would mark the first time he's played his former team. With Oshie likely out, the Capitals are seeking their seventh consecutive win over the Devils (36-31-7) and fourth this season.


Washington has used key third-period goals to keep that run going. The Capitals scored twice in the final 6:05 in a 4-3 home victory Feb. 20, and Paul Carey tallied the tying goal with 5:53 remaining in regulation in a 3-2 shootout win in New Jersey on Feb. 6.


Washington opened its season with a 5-3 win against the Devils, as Alex Ovechkin sparked a three-goal third period with a go-ahead tally. Ovechkin, who scored his league-best 43rd on Tuesday, has nine goals and four assists in his last 12 games in the series.


New Jersey, bidding to avoid a season sweep by the Capitals, also is attempting to reduce a six-point deficit to claim the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot. The two teams in front of the Devils - Philadelphia and Detroit - are both idle Friday.


The Devils held their ground Thursday with their fifth win in seven games, winning 3-0 at Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Kyle Palmieri scored twice and Scott Wedgewood made 39 saves in his second NHL start.


Wedgewood stopped 27 shots in his debut, a 2-1 win over Columbus on Sunday.


"I think our group is having a lot of fun trying to string some wins together in a playoff race," Palmieri said. "Some people have counted us out, but we haven't been eliminated yet."


A victory would give the Capitals a single-season franchise-record 25 road wins, bettering their 2009-10 mark. They've also won three straight in New Jersey.

[TheGame]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 3/25

Preview: Islanders (39-24) at Lightning (42-26)


Date: March 25, 2016 7:30 PM EDT


The Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders are assured two matchups in the next 11 days, and if things shake out properly, it could be as many as nine by the end of April.


A potential preview of a first-round playoff matchup comes Friday night at Tampa in the second game of a six-game homestand for the Lightning, who end the season with a four-game road trip that includes a stop in Brooklyn.


For the Lightning (42-26-5) and Islanders (39-24-9) to meet in the first round, Tampa Bay would need to win the Atlantic Division and New York would need to finish as the Eastern Conference's first wild card. That's right where the teams were after their latest games with the Lightning starting the homestand with Tuesday's 6-2 win over Detroit and the Islanders earning a 3-1 home victory over Ottawa on Wednesday.


The Lightning are used to the schedule working out as it will for them in the next few weeks, and coach Jon Cooper started by resting his players heading into the Red Wings game.


"Tampa, Florida, Anaheim, all the California teams, they play home for a long string and they go on the road for a long string," Cooper told the team's official website. "So that's something we have to deal with quite often. ... We rested and we talked about this a lot, 'We're going to give you this rest, but it's mental rest, it's physical rest.' A part of this too is we're 10 games out and it's way too bunched up and we're playing one of our rivals. If you can't pull yourself together for that one, we're in trouble."


It seems instead the Lightning are digging themselves out of trouble with back-to-back wins after a 1-4-1 span. Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat each had a goal and an assist against Detroit. Stamkos has five goals and three assists in his last five games, while Kucherov has scored in his last three with two assists.


The Lightning have split their last six games with an average of 35.7 shots in the wins and 22.0 in the losses, and those numbers aren't going unrecognized.


"Sometimes our team uses our skill a little too much," center Tyler Johnson said. "We just have to get back to the mentality of shooting the puck. We did that and we got rewarded."


The Islanders have won the last three meetings, including a 3-2 final in Tampa on Nov. 28 to begin the season series. John Tavares has scored in the past two matchups.


He also got the first in a three-goal second period against the Senators as the Islanders snapped an 0-3-1 span in which they'd managed four goals.


"It was a big second for us," defenseman Travis Hamonic told the team's official website. "It's nice to get a couple, they haven't been coming the easiest for us of late. Hopefully we can just keep riding it."


The Islanders had rookie Jean-Francois Berube in goal, so it's likely they'll be back to Thomas Greiss. He's gone 1-4-1 with a 2.64 goals-against average in seven games since replacing the injured Jaroslav Halak on March 8. Greiss has won both of his career starts against Tampa Bay, including the November victory.


Ben Bishop has posted a 1.51 GAA and .953 save percentage in a 3-1-0 span, including two shutouts. He's 3-1-1 with a 1.92 GAA against the Islanders since the start of 2013-14.


Tampa Bay, though, could elect to go with Andrei Vasilevskiy and save Bishop for Saturday night's Atlantic Division showdown with Florida.

[TheGame]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 3/25

Preview: Canucks (27-33) at Blues (43-22)


Date: March 25, 2016 8:00 PM EDT


With their top goaltender back, the St. Louis Blues have restored their defensive identity.


And with another matchup with the offensively challenged Vancouver Canucks on tap, Brian Elliott stands a reasonable chance of remaining perfect since his return.


As Elliott aims for a third consecutive shutout when the Blues return home Friday night, the floundering Canucks have something to build on after ending a streak of three straight games without a goal.


Elliott was sharp in his first outing since Feb. 22, recording 19 saves as the Blues dominated the Canucks 3-0 Saturday in Vancouver. He was better in his second back from a knee injury, stopping 37 shots as St. Louis (43-22-9) edged San Jose 1-0 on Tuesday for its eighth win in 10 games.


"We kept their chances to a minimum (Tuesday) again, just like Vancouver," Elliott said. 'We kind of just took away everything, and when they did have something they let me see it."


Elliott improved to 11-2-2 with a 1.57 goals-against average and .949 save percentage over his last 16 starts and helped the Blues remain two points behind Western Conference-leading Dallas. His return also stabilized a defense that surrendered 13 goals in consecutive road losses to the Stars and Edmonton prior to the Vancouver win.


The Blues bounced back by logging a season-high 50 shots against the Canucks and dealing Vancouver (27-33-13) the second of three straight shutout defeats, tying a franchise record.


Vancouver finally broke the drought when Bo Horvat and Daniel Sedin scored in the first period Thursday at Nashville, though it failed to hold the early two-goal lead in a 3-2 shootout defeat that extended its season-high losing streak to six games. It's the Canucks' longest skid since losing seven straight from Jan. 27-Feb. 8, 2014.


The result was still viewed as a positive after Vancouver totaled three goals in dropping five straight in regulation. The Canucks also went 1 for 2 on the power play after going 0 for 25 over their previous eight.


'It's never good to lose, but you've got to look at the way we played and I thought we played one of our best games of the year,' captain Henrik Sedin said. They've got a great team over there. They're Cup contenders and they're going to make a push.'


The injury-riddled Canucks also got a key player back in Jannik Hansen, second on the club with 19 goals. The forward had missed the previous 11 games with a rib injury.


Vancouver has continued to receive solid work from its goaltending duo of Ryan Miller, who registered 47 saves in Saturday's loss to St. Louis, and Jacob Markstrom. The latter is expected to start on Friday after Miller had 30 saves against Nashville.


Markstrom has lost three straight starts but is coming off a career-high 47 saves in Tuesday's 2-0 defeat at Winnipeg. The Swede has performed well on the road, compiling a 6-4-2 record and 2.24 GAA in 12 starts.


The Canucks have won three straight in St. Louis and had a six-game series win streak halted with a 4-3 home loss on Oct. 16.

[TheGame]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 3/25

Grand Salami - March


The Grand Salami in pro hockey is decided by adding up all the goals scored in every game scheduled for that particular day. You can wager on 'over' or 'under' the Grand Salami total. The total is set by adding up all listed 'over/under' odds for each game on that particular day.


Note: The Grand Salami will have no action if any game is suspended or cancelled before the regulation time of three twenty minute periods. Also, regardless of the number of goals scored during the shoot out portion of the overtime, the final scored recorded for the game will give the winning team on more goal than its opponent based on the score at the end of regulation time.


*The majority of sportsbooks do not put out a total on the Grand Salami when there is only one game on the card. For tracking purposes, we will continue to show the 'over/under' for goals and combined goals scored on days with just one game.


NHL GRAND SALAMI
Date No. of Games Total Goals Combined Goals Scored Result
3/1 8 48.5 49 OVER
3/2 3 16.5 17 OVER
3/3 12 65.5 69 OVER
3/4 3 15.5 20 OVER
3/5 11 58 62 OVER
3/6 6 30.5 34 OVER
3/7 7 36 38 OVER
3/8 8 44.5 41 UNDER
3/9 6 32.5 32 UNDER
3/10 6 32.5 29 UNDER
3/11 5 26.5 28 OVER
3/12 12 63.5 66 OVER
3/13 3 16 13 UNDER
3/14 6 30 41 OVER
3/15 8 43.5 40 UNDER
3/16 6 32.5 32 UNDER
3/17 8 43.5 51 OVER
3/18 6 32 26 UNDER
3/19 11 56.5 53 UNDER
3/20 7 37 34 UNDER
3/21 4 20.5 25 OVER
3/22 10 54.5 51 UNDER
3/23 2 10.5 11 OVER
3/24 11 - - -
3/25 3 - - -
3/26 14 - - -
3/27 3 - - -
3/28 8 - - -
3/29 9 - - -
3/30 3 - - -
3/31 10 - - -

[TheGame]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 3/25

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews


We are witnessing something pretty unusual from an individual perspective in the NHL this season that you may not be aware of.


Take a look at the NHL points leaders. You have Ottawa's Erik Karlsson tied for fourth in the league with 73 points while leading with 60 assists. And you have San Jose's Brent Burns 10th in points with 65. He has 26 goals. What's so unusual about that? Both are defensemen.


The last time two defensemen finished in the Top 10 in points was in 1973-74 when Bruins legend Bobby Orr finished second in scoring and New York Rangers blueliner Brad Park finished tied for ninth. No defenseman has led the NHL in assists since Orr in 1974-75 when he tied Bobby Clarke with 89. Only Orr and Paul Coffey have finished a season in the top three in points. No defenseman has scored 30 goals since Washington's Mike Green had 31 in 2008-09. In the last 10 years, only eight defensemen had even topped 70 points.


Presumably either Karlsson or Burns is going to win the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman, although it's not just about scoring. Karlsson has won the award twice, including last season when he had 21 goals and 45 assists. He also leads the league in average time on ice this season and 29:05 per game. The Norris Trophy has never gone to a defenseman whose team missed the playoffs, however. Ottawa doesn't look likely to make it. San Jose should and is still in the Pacific Division race. The Sharks are +650 to win the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history.


Big Loss For Stars


Crushing loss for the Dallas Stars as they battle Chicago and St. Louis for the Central Division lead and potential No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Stars center Tyler Seguin will miss three to four weeks because of a cut to his Achilles' tendon suffered on the skate of Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman late in Thursday's game. General manager Jim Nill said that Seguin suffered a 15 percent cut, but that he should be back for the playoffs. For a point of comparison, Karlsson suffered a 70 percent tear in 2013 and it sidelined him 10 weeks.


"I can't really picture myself missing Game 1," Seguin said of the playoffs. "If I can come back for the last game of the regular season that would be quite the goal for me."


The Stars lead the NHL in scoring at 3.2 goals per game. Seguin is tied for fourth in the league with 73 points and seventh in goals with 33. Dallas currently leads the Blues by two points atop the Central and the Blackhawks by four. The Stars are +550 to win the West.


This Week's Games To Watch


St. Louis at Washington, Saturday: It's the Blues' only trip to the nation's capital this season. That Seguin injury for Dallas could help St. Louis more than any team as it appears to be the top threat in the Central Division with the Blackhawks in a funk right now. Goalie Brian Elliott returned to the lineup and made his first start Saturday since suffering an injury on Feb. 22, He shut out the Canucks. The Capitals have very little to play for at this point as they are going to finish with the most points in the NHL. They can clinch the top seed in the East this week and remain Cup favorites at +400. Thus, you might see the team put up a stinker or two the rest of the way. That was the case Sunday night in a 6-2 loss to Pittsburgh. St. Louis and Washington haven't played yet. They close the regular season against one another on April 9.

[TheGame]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 3/25

NHL


Hot teams
-- Washington won three of its last four games. Devils won five of their last seven.
-- Tampa Bay won 2-0/6-2 in its last two games.
-- St Louis won eight of its last ten games.


Cold teams
-- Islanders lost six of their last eight games.
-- Vancouver lost its last six games, outscored 18-5.


Series records
-- Devils lost their last six games with Washington.
-- Islanders won their last three games with Tampa Bay.
-- Canucks won six of last eight games with St Louis.


Totals
-- Over is 4-1-1 in last six Washington games.
-- Under is 4-1-2 in last seven Islander games.
-- Over is 7-2-1 in last ten Vancouver-St Louis games.


Back-to-backs
-- New Jersey is 3-2 at home if it played night before.
-- Canucks are 5-3 on road if they played night before.

[Satch]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 3/25

Preview: Washington at New Jersey
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, March 25, 2016
Where: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
With the Metropolitan Division title and the top seed in the Eastern Conference under wraps, the Washington Capitals will have an opportunity to set a franchise record on Friday, when they visit the New Jersey Devils. Washington snapped a three-game road skid (0-2-1) with a 4-2 victory over Ottawa on Tuesday, notching the team’s 24th win of the season away from home to match the club-best total set in 2009-10.
“There is something about going out on the road and having that road warrior mentality everybody talks about,” Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen told Monumental Sports Network. The Capitals claimed all three previous meetings with the Devils this season, including a 3-2 shootout victory at Prudential Center on Feb. 6. While Washington has punched its ticket to the postseason, New Jersey is fighting the odds to do the same as it posted its fifth win in seven contests with a 3-0 triumph over red-hot Pittsburgh on Thursday. Kyle Palmieri recorded his second two-goal performance in three outings and extended his point streak to four games (four goals, three assists) in that contest as the Devils are six points behind Philadelphia for the second wild-card spot in the East.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN-DC (Washington), MSG (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (52-15-5): Although T.J. Oshie sealed Tuesday’s win with his career-high 23rd goal, the 2014 United States Olympic hero has been under the weather of late and missed Thursday’s practice as a result. “Just a flu bug, I think,” coach Barry Trotz told the Washington Post of Oshie, who is not expected to make the short trek to the Garden State and likely will miss his first game of the season. Oshie, instead, will remain in the Washington area and rest up for Saturday’s contest against his former team (St. Louis).
ABOUT THE DEVILS (36-31-7): While Palmieri increased his career-high goal total to 29, Adam Henrique is right on his heels as he netted his fourth in as many games and 27th of the season versus the Penguins. The 26-year-old Henrique also tallied in New Jersey’s 5-3 setback against Washington on Oct. 10 as well as the shootout loss on Feb. 6. Fellow forward Reid Boucher, who extended his point streak to four games (two goals, three assists) on Thursday by setting up a pair of tallies, registered a goal and two assists in a 4-3 loss to Washington on Feb. 20.
OVERTIME
1. Washington captain Alex Ovechkin collected a goal and an assist in two of the three meetings with New Jersey this season.
2. Devils G Scott Wedgewood has stopped 66-of-67 shots in his only two NHL starts, although Keith Kinkaid may get the nod on Friday for the latter half of the back-to-back set.
3. Washington D John Carlson could make his return from a 13-game absence due to a lower-body injury on Friday.
PREDICTION: Capitals 4, Devils 2

[Satch]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 3/25

Preview: NY Islanders at Tampa Bay
When: 7:30 PM ET, Friday, March 25, 2016
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
The New York Islanders stuck a bandage on their bleeding playoff hopes last time out and look to build off that success when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday. The Islanders, who also play at Carolina on Saturday during their brief Southern trek, knocked off Ottawa 3-1 on Wednesday to snap a four-game losing streak (0-3-1).
New York will host six of its final eight games of the regular season after the trip and trails Pittsburgh by one point for third place in the Metropolitan Division while clinging to a two-point lead over Philadelphia for the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning eased their fears of dropping out of a playoff position by winning their last two contests and sit two points behind Florida for first place in the Atlantic Division with a game in hand. Captain Steven Stamkos has notched five goals and three assists in his last five games while Nikita Kucherov has scored in three straight contests for Tampa Bay, which is 1-0-0 on its six-game homestand. The Islanders posted a 3-2 win at Tampa Bay on Nov. 28 in the teams’ first meeting this season.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network, TVA, MSG Plus (New York), Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (39-24-9): Captain John Tavares snapped a five-game goal-scoring drought on Wednesday to push his team-leading total to 27 and Brock Nelson (24) scored for only the third time in 16 contests. Impending free agent Kyle Okposo has scored three goals in his last six games and recorded 56 points – one behind Tavares for the team lead. J-F Berube made 22 saves on Wednesday for his second victory with the Islanders as he provided rest for Thomas Greiss (19-10-4, .927 save percentage), who has dropped three straight.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (42-26-5): Defenseman Victor Hedman continues to add to his Norris Trophy resume with four assists and a plus-5 rating (plus-20 overall) in his last three contests. Coach Jon Cooper has been going with seven defensemen in the lineup of late – mostly due to injuries to forwards Ryan Callahan (lower body) and Valtteri Filppula (upper body), who both are questionable for Friday. Vladislav Namestnikov scored his 13th goal in the 6-2 win over Detroit on Tuesday and is an impressive plus-17.
OVERTIME
1. Tampa Bay G Ben Bishop is among the league leaders in goals-against average (2.02) and save percentage (.928).
2. Islanders D Nick Leddy ended a six-game point drought Wednesday with an assist and has 37 points overall – placing him fourth on the team.
3. New York has won three straight over the Lightning and has earned points in nine of the last 10 in the series (7-1-2).
PREDICTION: Lightning 4, Islanders 3

[Satch]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 3/25

Preview: Vancouver at St. Louis
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, March 25, 2016
Where: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
The St. Louis Blues look to continue pursuit of the Central Division title with stellar defensive play when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. After surrendering a total of 13 goals in losses at Calgary and Edmonton, the Blues concluded their 3-2-0 road trip by posting shutout victories over Vancouver on Saturday and San Jose three nights later.
St. Louis, which claimed its second division title in four years last season, trails Dallas by two points for the top spot in the Central. Vancouver is the perfect opponent for the stingy Blues as it has produced a total of five goals during its current slide, which reached six games (0-5-1) on Thursday as the club carried a two-goal lead into the third period but squandered it en route to a 3-2 shootout loss at Nashville. Bo Horvat scored less than seven minutes into the contest for the Canucks, who were blanked in each of their previous three games. St. Louis is looking to complete a sweep of the three-game season series after posting a pair of victories in Vancouver.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet (Vancouver), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (27-33-13): Horvat’s goal on Thursday was his 12th of the season – one shy of the total he amassed as a rookie last campaign – and ended Vancouver’s franchise-record drought at 234 minutes, 52 seconds. Daniel Sedin needs three tallies in his last nine games to reach the 30-goal plateau for the fifth time in his career and first since 2011-12. Captain Henrik Sedin moved past a legend Thursday, notching his 966th career point (an assist) to overtake Maurice Richard for 88th place on the all-time list.
ABOUT THE BLUES (43-22-9): Brian Elliott’s return from a knee injury that sidelined him for 17 games has been a raving success, as he turned aside all 56 shots he faced in wins over Vancouver and San Jose. The triumph over the Sharks was the 30-year-old’s 100th as a member of the Blues and put him within one of his second consecutive 20-win season and the fourth of his career. Vladimir Tarasenko, who leads the team with 63 points, is three goals away from matching his personal best of 37 from last season and two points shy of 200 in the NHL.

OVERTIME
1. Blues captain C David Backes needs one tally to reach the 20-goal plateau for the third straight season and sixth time in his career.
2. Vancouver RW Jannik Hansen, who returned to the lineup Thursday after missing 11 games with a rib injury, is one goal shy of reaching 20 for the first time in the NHL.
3. St. Louis recalled D Petteri Lindbohm from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.
PREDICTION: Blues 6, Canucks 1