NHL Betting Info. 4/25

[TheGame]

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Monday's NHL betting preview


It's Game 7 time! The Blues will host the Blackhawks in the final game of their, predictably, awesome first round series. In Monday's only other game the Predators will try to push their series to Game 7 with their backs against the wall against the Ducks.


Anaheim Ducks at Nashville Predators (A: -110, H: -110, O/U: 5)


Ducks lead series 3-2


The Nashville Predators flew home last week in control of their first-round playoff series and looking to push the Anaheim Ducks to the brink of elimination. Three straight losses later, the Predators returned home with a far different agenda - needing a victory Monday night to keep their season going as they prepare to host the Ducks in Game 6.


Since dropping a pair of one-goal decisions at home, Anaheim has outscored Nashville 12-3 to seize a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. "Just like our season," Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. "We started off terrible and then got good. It's a race to four and we still have to win another game. But I don't think there's a single guy in this room that didn't think we'd be in this position." The No. 7 seed Predators also didn't expect to be in this position after taking their first two-game series lead in franchise history - on the road no less - before dropping three in a row to the Pacific Division champions. "It's do or die," Nashville center Ryan Johansen said. "It's about finding a way to get it in the net and keeping them from scoring. We have to throw them everything we've got."


TV: 8 p.m. ET, CNBC, Sportsnet, TVAS


PROBABLE GOALIES: Ducks - F. Andersen (0.922%), Predators - P. Rinne (0.906%).


ABOUT THE DUCKS (49-27-11, 42-45 ATS, 33-35 O/U): Every move seems to be working for Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau, including the surprise top-line promotion of Ryan Garbutt, who put his team ahead to stay in Game 5 with a second-period goal that accounted for his first point of the series. "He's as good a forechecker as we have, he's responsible defensively, and if people take liberties, he's not afraid to mix it up," Boudreau said of the decision to pair Garbutt with Getzlaf and David Perron. "I just thought it was a good fit." Frederik Andersen has been spectacular since taking over for John Gibson in net, turning aside 84-of-87 shots for a .966 save percentage.


ABOUT THE PREDATORS (43-30-14, 36-51 ATS, 34-34 O/U): Forward Craig Smith, who finished third on the team with 21 goals, has essentially missed three contests after suffering a lower-body injury in the opening minutes of Game 3, but he was back at practice Sunday and remains listed as day-to-day. Nashville must find a way to solve Anaheim's penalty-killing unit, which ranked No. 1 during the regular season and has snuffed out 14 straight power-play chances over the past three games and 21-of-22 in the series. The Predators led the league with 55 goals from their defensemen but have managed only a pair of assists from captain Shea Weber in the past three games.


TRENDS:


* Ducks are 9-2 in their last 11 Conference Quarterfinals games.
* Predators are 0-4 in their last 4 games following a loss of 3 or more goals.
* Under is 3-0-1 in Ducks last 4 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
* Over is 4-1-3 in the last 8 meetings in Nashville.




Chicago Blackhawks at St. Louis Blues (A: -105, H: -115, O/U: 5)


Series tied 3-3


The Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues are no strangers to many elements of the current script, with the former ultimately overcoming a two-game deficit in 2014 to defeat the latter in a hard-hitting first-round playoff series. The reigning Stanley Cup-champion Blackhawks look to repeat the feat on Monday when the bitter Central Division rivals play a winner-take-all Game 7 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.


Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo did his best to put a positive spin on the position of the Blues, who are perilously close to being bounced in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season - despite having home-ice advantage in each series. "We worked 82 games this year to get that home ice," Pietrangelo said after seeing Chicago score five unanswered goals en route to a 6-3 victory in Game 6 on Saturday. "If there's a time to use it, it's right now." The Blackhawks overcame a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate a rival in 2013, having done so versus Detroit in a second-round matchup.


TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, CSN-Chicago


PROBABLE GOALIES: Blackhawks - C. Crawford (0.923%), Blues - B. Elliott (0.930%)


ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (50-28-10, 39-49 ATS, 33-33 O/U): Although Brent Seabrook scored the overtime goal to oust the Red Wings three years ago, the defenseman isn't taking his team's success for granted heading into Monday's pivotal contest. "I don't think you ever learn how to play in a Game 7," Seabrook told the Chicago Sun-Times. "When you play in more of them, you get — comfortable's not the right word — but you get not as nervous, I guess." Seabrook has recorded at least a point in all four of his previous Game 7s, including a goal to help Chicago oust Anaheim in the 2015 Western Conference final.


ABOUT THE BLUES (52-26-10, 39-49 ATS, 35-41 O/U): Vladimir Tarasenko scored his series-leading fourth goal and 14th in 19 career playoff games on Saturday to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead before the roof caved in. The 24-year-old Russian reportedly was upset after seeing limited time during a power play despite scoring 12 of his career-best 40 goals with the man advantage, but coach Ken Hitchcock told reporters that St. Louis had the puck in the offensive zone and couldn't get Tarasenko on the ice. Veteran Troy Brouwer will play in his seventh consecutive Game 7 on Monday, having competed in one with Chicago in 2011, two with Washington the following year, one in 2013 and two more with the Capitals in 2015.


TRENDS:


* Blackhawks are 8-2 in their last 10 when their opponent allows 5 goals or more in their previous game.
* Over is 9-2-6 in Blackhawks last 17 games following a win.
* Over is 11-2-3 in Blues last 16 games playing on 1 days rest.
* Road team is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.

[TheGame]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 4/25

Preview: Ducks (46-25) at Predators (41-27)


Date: April 25, 2016 8:00 PM EDT


The Anaheim Ducks' first-round playoff series is following the same pattern as their regular season.


Surging toward the second round after dropping the first two games, Anaheim looks to complete the comeback in Game 6 as it visits the Nashville Predators on Monday night.


Much like their stumbling first six weeks of the season which preceded a scorching stretch that lifted them into the playoffs, the Ducks looked all but done in this series with a pair of 3-2 home losses to open it. They promptly headed to Nashville and won both games by a combined 7-1, then earned a 5-2 victory at Honda Center on Saturday.


"Those first two games we lost at home were rock bottom for us," said forward Ryan Garbutt, who scored the go-ahead goal in the second period. "We definitely want to finish it off in six."


A major reason for the turnaround has been Frederik Andersen, who took over for John Gibson after Game 2 and stopped 27 shots Saturday in a third straight excellent performance.


Anaheim scored three times in the third period to overcome a 1-for-7 effort on the power play, which hasn't been very effective in this series. That power-play goal was a timely one, though, as Cam Fowler scored with 3:23 left to give the Ducks a two-goal lead.


"We have a chance to go there and close it (out), and we've got to do it," said forward David Perron, who had the tying goal in the second and assisted on Garbutt's tally.


The Ducks, tops in the league on the power play and penalty kill during the regular season, are 2 for 19 in this series with the man advantage. But they've extended their exceptional work while short-handed into the playoffs, holding the Predators to 1 for 22 on the power play.


"We had the most looks and the most chances, but there's not a lot of room out there," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said after Saturday's contest. "After Game 1, they really clamped down."


Getzlaf has created plenty of problems for the Predators with two goals and three assists, and four other Ducks have two goals in the series as Anaheim's depth appears to be taking its toll on Laviolette's club.


Puck-moving defenseman Sami Vatanen recorded a goal and an assist Saturday and was a plus-3, improving him to plus-6 in the series. That ties defense partner Hampus Lindholm - with whom Vatanen was paired when Josh Manson was injured in Game 1 - for tops on the team.


"You look at any team that's won the (Stanley) Cup and it's never been smooth sailing though the playoffs," Predators center Ryan Johansen told the team's official website. "Adversity is going to hit and our backs are against the wall now. One thing in our favor is we're going home to a city that's going to be buzzing to try and help us and be there with us and support us.


"Our job is to throw on the jersey at home and try and bring it back here to Anaheim."


Johansen got his first goal of the series to open the scoring in the second period, but Perron's and Garbutt's goals followed in the next 2:10.


Nashville is 0-8 when losing three of the first five games in a playoff series. The Predators have dropped four of their last six postseason games at Bridgestone Arena, totaling four goals in the defeats and getting shut out twice.


They went 0 for 11 on the power play in Games 1 and 2.


"We're going to take the good things from this game, we're going to go home and regroup and be ready to play," Laviolette told the team's website. "I have no question that our guys will be ready."

[TheGame]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 4/25

Preview: Blackhawks (47-26) at Blues (49-24)


Date: April 25, 2016 8:30 PM EDT


The St. Louis Blues had no Game 7 predictions late Saturday night. They were too busy fending off questions about their impending collapse.


While the Chicago Blackhawks are doing what they always seem to do, the Blues are suddenly facing a familiar first-round flop, one they will try to avoid when they head back to St. Louis for Monday night's series finale.


"It's going to be fun here to win it in Chicago."


That Game 6 prophecy of sorts from Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo suddenly sounds more like a Chicago rallying call.


It tanked hard Saturday night when the defending Stanley Cup champions scored five unanswered goals for a 6-3 win at United Center to force a winner-take-all finish.


Dale Weise capped a three-goal second period with the eventual winner, and Andrew Shaw scored in his return from a one-game suspension for hurling a gay slur at officials in Game 4. Those tallies helped the Blackhawks rally from a 3-1 deficit - just like they could in this series with one more victory.


Chicago improved to 45-15 in Games 4-7 and 15-1 in Game 6s in eight seasons under coach Joel Quenneville. The Blackhawks are 2-2 in Game 7s in that time, including a win and loss on the road.


"It's a testament again to our experience and the guys who haven't been here ... to really buy in and play the right way when we've been in this do-or-die position we've been in the last couple games," captain Jonathan Toews said. "You see what can happen when we all buy in, we all play the right way."


Toews is still yet to score in this series, but he had two assists Saturday. A Chicago attack that totaled eight goals through the first four games has 10 in the last two - starting with Thursday's 4-3 double-overtime win in Game 5.


St. Louis seemed to have the Blackhawks' number, winning three of five regular-season meetings and outplaying them early in this series.


However, a massive hit advantage shrank Saturday to 40-38, the narrowest yet. The physical play, which resulted in a fight from Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford and Shaw's outburst in Game 4, amounts to a 249-187 St. Louis advantage through six games.


While St. Louis has bested Chicago in the first and third periods, the middle 20 minutes has resulted in a 10-3 Blackhawks scoring edge.


Blues coach Ken Hitchcock also had to defend his use of star forward Vladimir Tarasenko, whose ice time was down in Game 6. Tarasenko appeared to confront Hitchcock when the team left the bench after the second period.


"Knowledgeable hockey people don't look at time, they look at shifts, and shifts matter," Hitchcock said. "The game he plays is a physical game. It's at the puck, it's around the puck, it's one on one and it's very demanding."


Brian Elliott was great the opening four games but has surrendered nine goals in the last two with an .871 save percentage. He was beaten three times on 19 shots in Saturday's second period, but Hitchcock is sticking with him.


"There's no bad goals," forward Paul Stastny said. "He's made the big saves when he's had to, and sometimes whether it's an odd-man rush or a rebound or we just lose our coverage, the goalie's not at fault."


The Blues have been knocked out in the opening round in each of the last three seasons, including a 2014 six-game series against the Blackhawks that they led 2-0.


"It's going to change eventually, so why not do it tomorrow?" Stastny said. "I think in here, we have that mentality that what happened in the past happened in the past. I think we all believe in each other."

[Satch]

Re: NHL Betting Info. 4/25

PLAYOFFS
St Louis-Chicago (3-3)
Chicago won last two games to force Game 7, rallying from down 3-1 in Game 6; Blues won five of last eight games with Chicago, with four wins by one goal, three in OT/SO; but you have to wonder if the Blues believe they can win. Chicago lost five of their last eight games overall, with three losses in OT. Over is 6-2-3 in last 11 Chicago games. Blues won ten of their last 15 games- they’re 5-16 on power play in series, but had only one last game; Chicago is 5-18 on power play in series, 2-3 in last game. Five of six games in series have been decided by one goal.
Nashville-Anaheim (A 3-2)
Anaheim won last three games after falling behind 2-0 in series; they won last two games 4-1/5-2, killing all nine Nashville power plays. Over is 10-1-4 in last 15 series games; Under is 5-2-3 in last nine Anaheim games overall, 4-2-3 in last nine Nashville games. In 17 years of existence, Nashville has only won two playoff series, first round series in 2011, 2012; they’ve been over .500 in 11 of last 12 years, so you know there is doubt in their minds now. Ducks are 3-2 in last five visits here. Anaheim is 2-19 on power play in series, Predators 1-22.
Playoffs tally: Home: 21-23, Over: 16-15-13