Philadelphia Flyers visit Detroit Red Wings
Two of the top teams in the National Hockey League will square off when the Detroit Red Wings host the Philadelphia Flyers. The Red Wings lead the Western Conference, and the Philadelphia Flyers are tied with Washington for the second most points in the Eastern Conference. Both teams figure to be title contenders throughout the season.
NHL Betting Odds have not yet been posted.
The Flyers lost to the Vancouver Canucks after a long layoff. Prior to that, they put together a strong run that included their third win over Pittsburgh. The Flyers are behind the Penguins in the Atlantic Division, but Pittsburgh has played three more games. Mike Richards leads the team with 32 points, while Danny Briere has 17 goals. The Flyers also got back Michael Leighton in goal, adding more depth to a position that has been stronger than most thought so far this season.
The Red Wings have quickly climbed up the Western Conference standings after a disappointing finish last season. Henrik Zetterberg leads the team with 42 points. Zetterberg belongs in the discussion of the best players in the NHL. Johan Franzen has also turned in a strong season, leading the Red Wings with 16 goals. Jimmy Howard has been playing like of the top goaltenders in the NHL. He has 20 wins in 28 starts this season.
The Flyers and Red Wings have played a tight series throughout the history of the rivalry, but the home team usually performs much better. The Flyers won the only meeting last year in Philadelphia. However, they have not played well in Detroit. The Flyers have been a strong road team this season, but this might be their toughest test so far.
Detroit Red Wings visit Colorado Avalanche
The Detroit Red Wings will renew their rivalry with the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Monday.
While this match up might not have the fights and animosity between the players that it once did, fans of these two franchises still like beating each other. This is especially true this year with the Avalanche being one of the more surprising teams in the NHL with their 19-11-4 record that has them tied for the Northwest Division lead. In NHL betting lines hockey betting odds for this matchup have not yet posted.
It is no secret that the Detroit Red Wings have been struggling lately. Having lost six of their last nine games, the Red Wings are hoping to get this back on track and reopen a sizable division lead again. With some of the Red Wings’ top scorers going into a funk, the Wings need their second and third line players to start producing if they want to distance themselves from the rest of the division.
Colorado on the other hand has been red hot as of late winning six of their last seven games. The Avalanche have also scored a ton of goals during that stretch that now has them leading the NHL with an average of 3.5 goals per game. If the Red Wings can find their scoring ways over the next few days and the Avalanche continues their recent trend of mediocre goal tending and prolific scoring, this contest could be one of the more entertaining, fast paced hockey games of the season.
New York Rangers visit Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday
The New York Rangers take on the Philadelphia Flyers in NHL action on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.
NHL Odds have not yet been posted for this game.
New York is 19-13-1 and Philadelphia is 21-7-5 so far this season.
The Rangers will be without Ryan Callahan, who is out with an injury for six weeks. Callahan was injured Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
New York won 4-1 on the road, cashing as a +145 moneyline underdog and the score stayed under the total.
The Rangers played the Phoenix Coyotes at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
The Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3 on Wednesday.
James van Riemsdyk scored his second goal of the game on a power play 14:27 into the third period as the Flyers won their fourth straight.
Jeff Carter scored a goal and added two assists. Nikolay Zherdev had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who lead the NHL with 47 points.
Washington Capitals visit New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden
The Washington Capitals take on the New York Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden (7 pm ET, NHL).
NHL Odds are not yet available for this matchup.
Both teams will be on the second half of a back-to-back, as the Capitals were to face the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday and the Rangers visited the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday.
In their previous game Thursday, Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals lost their fourth-straight game, their longest losing streak in over a year.
Tomas Vokoun stopped 36 shots to earn his third shutout of the season as the Florida Panthers blanked Washington 3-0. Washington went 0-for-8 on the power play.
"If your best players aren't your best players, you're not going to have success," sais Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau. "You have to get production out of your best players, and it's not happening for us right now."
The Rangers took on the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, beating the Senators 5-3.
Michael Sauer, Erik Christensen, Brandon Dubinsky, Derek Stepan and Ruslan Fedotenko all had singles for New York.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 24 shots for the Rangers, who have won seven of their past 10.
In Chicago – This Friday – Vancouver Canucks Vs. Chicago Blackhawks
In Chicago this Friday, the Chicago Blackhawks will lock horn with the Vancouver Canucks. As of Tuesday morning both these teams have won back to back games and both looking like they are on the upswing. Even though the Blackhawks seems to be improving as the season goes on they will have a tough game earlier against the Blues.
On the season to this point the Canucks are 12-7-3 while the Blackhawks are 13-11-2.
For this game NHL betting Odds have not so far been posted.
This season in the NHL, the Canucks have been one of the very best teams. The one aspect that they do not have in their game is weakness. When the power play is concerned this is the best team all around. At 25.3 percent, they have the highest conversion rating of any team on the Power Play and also they have a penalty kill percentage of 86.9. On a nightly basis these things facilitate this team win games.
The Canucks have only allowed 2.6 goals per game on defense (8th in the NHL) and have averaged 3.1 goals per game on offense (6th in the NHL). As Chicago has a comparatively poor Penalty Kill percentage of 78.7 percent, their offense could be even better in opposition to the Blackhawks. If they want to keep up with Vancouver, Chicago will need to play smarter.
In order to step up and score early against the Canucks, the Blackhawks do have a solid offensive attack and they will need the offense. Even though the Chicago will need to play at a high level to take out Vancouver, this is a winnable game.
Tampa Bay Lightning take on Washington Capitals
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals will be squaring off to play this Friday. These two teams will feature two of the best offensive attacks in all of the NHL. This could be a very high scoring game.
The Capitals and Lightning will both come into this game with solid records. As of Tuesday morning these teams have records of 14-6-2 (Capitals) and 12-7-2 (Lightning).
While these teams have great offenses, defense could be the key to winning this matchup. Neither team has been dominant on defense, but the Capitals have been a bit better than the Lightning and favorites among betting fans in NHL betting lines.
The Lightning are allowing 3.1 goals per game on the season. They will really need to tighten things up against the Capitals. The Capitals have averaged 3.3 goals per game on the season. This average is good for the 4th best average in the NHL.
One of the reasons why the Capitals have been so good on offense is the power play. They are the 6th best team in converting on the power play in the league. They have also been solid on defense against the power play. The Capitals have a penalty kill percentage of 84.0.
If anyone can stop the Capitals on the power play it will be the Lightning. They have the 3rd best penalty kill percentage in the NHL at 89.4 percent. They have also been great on offense on the power play. They have a power play percentage of 23.9 percent. This game should be a great battle between two great teams.
Los Angeles Kings visit Boston Bruins on Saturday
During Saturday’s full slate of games, NHL hockey fans will be treated to a great interconference match up between the Los Angeles Kings and the Boston Bruins. Boston has cooled off lately and currently sits in 6th place in the Eastern Conference, 6 points behind Montreal for the division lead. Los Angeles has been the complete opposite posting an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 games en route to a first place standing in the Western Conference.
Even though Boston has been struggling as of late they will be looking to turn things around before meeting one of the best teams from the Western Conference. Boston is still leaning on their stellar defense to keep them in games this season. Currently the Bruins are #1 in the NHL in goals against per game yielding just 1.9 goals. The penalty kill has also been a bright spot for the Bruins as they are ranked 3rd in that category at 88.9%. It is on offense where the Bruins are seeing their problems, scoring only 2.9 goals per game on average.
While the Boston Bruins have been struggling the Los Angeles Kings have been going in the opposite direction. With a combination of a potent offense and stellar goal tending, the Kings have risen to number one in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Detroit Red Wings. Currently the Kings score 3 goals per game on average while only giving up 2.1 goals per contest. With these quality scoring and defensive numbers, the Kings figure to be in the mix for the Western Conference crown all season long.
This Saturday’s contest will be a good measuring stick for both teams to see where they stack up against the other conference’s better teams.
NHL – New Jersey Devils @ Anaheim Ducks Preview
The struggling New Jersey Devils continue a Western road trip with at stop at the Honda Center to face the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
Online sportsbooks have not yet posted betting odds for this matchup.
The Devils are off to one of their worst starts in recent memory, as they’ve started the 2010-11 NHL season with a 2-7-1 SU record. The Ducks aren’t exactly setting the word on fire, as they are a game under .500 at 4-5-1 SU.
Part of New Jersey’s problem is injuries – the Devils have lots of them. Four defensemen are out indefinitely, as Mark Fraser has a broken hand, Anssi Salmela has knee injury, Bryce Salvador is suffering from a concussion, and Anton Volchenkov is out with a sore neck. As well, forward Brian Rolston is out indefinitely with a sports hernia.
Anaheim is also piling up injuries, with defensemen Cam Fowler out day-to-day with facial injuries and Andy Sutton out indefinitely (broken thumb). Forwards Matt Beleskey (Day-to-Day, upper-body injury), Joffrey Lupul (Out Indefinitely, sore back), and Dan Sexton (Out Indefinitely, facial injuries), are also on the shelf.
Anaheim is 6-4-0-0 in the past 10 meetings between the teams. The Devils and Ducks met once last season, when New Jersey won 3-1 at home on Nov. 11. The Devils cashed as a -135 moneyline favorite.
New Jersey opened its road trip with a 5-2 loss against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. Anaheim beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 on Tuesday.
NHL Season Preview: Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals will start the new season with high hopes. The team is one of the most popular teams in the league with its dominant offensive attack and in NHL odds the team is rated quite high.
The Capitals led the league with 3.8 goals per game on the season. The team is led by someone who might be the best player in all of the NHL, Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin led the team with 50 goals on the season and also dished out 59 assists. He is teamed up with Backstrom who dished out 68 assists as well.
The team focuses on the power play, where they are at their best. They scored on more than 25 percent of their power play opportunities on the year, leading the league in that category. The Capitals managed to win 52 games on the season and easily beat out 2nd place Atlanta for the top spot in the Southeast Division Standings.
The one concern for the team will be their defense. They were solid defensively, but they were only the 16th best team in the league in the goals against category. They were especially weak in the Penalty Kill Percentage category, only stopping their opponents 78.8 percent of the time. That percentage is good for 25th in the NHL.
The Capitals have all of the tools, the only question is whether or not they can pull it all together. They will be a top contender for the Stanley Cup this year if they can solidify things on the defensive side of the game.
NHL: Blue Jackets lock up goalie
Columbus Blue Jacket goaltender Steve Mason has agreed to a two-year extension with the National Hockey League team.
Mason has one year remaining on his current deal, meaning he will be with the Blue Jackets for the next three years. The deal is for $5.8 million -- $2.6 million in 2011-12 and $3.2 million the next season, according to ESPN.
Mason’s breakout season was 2008-09, when he won the Calder Trophy winner as the NHL's rookie of the year. But he slumped last season as the Blue Jackets failed to return to the playoffs.
Mason, 22, has an NHL record of 53-46-16 with a 2.65 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage and 15 shutouts in 119 games during his first two seasons.
The Oakville, Ontario, native was chosen by Columbus in the second round of the 2006 draft.
General manager Scott Howson, who announced the signing on Monday, said it was important to lock up such an important piece of the young team's future.