NHL Info 11/12/08

Phoenix Coyotes at Columbus Blue Jackets – 7:05 p.m. EST

This game looked like it would be clunker between cellar dwellers at the start of the season, but both sides are playing solid hockey. Columbus has won three straight fixtures and has pulled in at least one point in six straight matches. One of the reasons for the inspired play is rookie netminder Steve Mason. The youngster has a 2.60 goals against average in winning the first three games of his NHL career; he’s the first netminder to do that since Montreal’s Jaroslav Spacek did it last season.

Phoenix has welcomed November with open arms as it has won three of five matches this month and five of its last eight dating back to last month. The Coyotes are picking up points in the Pacific Division thanks to their biggest off-season acquisition, Olli Jokinen. The former pivot for the Panthers has lit the lamp five times and helped on three other goals this month. That’s important since Shane Doan has one assist in his last three appearances.

One thing we should anticipate to see is a high scoring affair as the ‘over’ is 5-2-1 for the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena this season. Also, the road squad has fared well in this head-to-head battle by going 5-2 in the last seven meetings.


St. Louis Blues at Buffalo Sabres – 7:05 p.m. EST

A promising season has slowed down for the Blues recently as they’ve posted just three points in their previous eight contests. While you could blame their stilted play on a non-existent offense, it is more tethered to their special teams performance. St. Louis has given up at least one power play goal in its last five matches and has allowed seven PPGs in 27 times being short-handed. I should be fair though as the goaltending has been lackluster as well. Manny Legace hurt his hip thanks to Sarah Palin’s carpet, leaving Chris Mason to take over between the pipes. The problem is the former starter for Nashville stunk up the joint with a 0-4 record and a GAA of 3.59.

Buffalo has come back down to Earth as well with a 2-3-2 mark in its past seven games. You could point the finger at Ryan Miller for the poor play after losing his last two starts with a 3.96 GAA. But the team’s dependence on Thomas Vanek has hurt them so far. If the first four games (all victories) of October, Vanek scored six goals. Yet he’s only scored three times in the first four matches this month to a 2-2 record. I guess you can say that Lindy Ruff is relying too much on his offensive-minded winger.

St. Louis has seen the ‘over’ hit in four straight matches and in all five of its road contests. The Sabres have a 4-3 record in favor of the ‘over’ at home this year as well


New York Rangers at New Jersey Devils – 7:05 p.m. EST

The Blueshirts are happy to have racked up such a big lead in the Atlantic Division as they’ve been in a funk recently. That’s about all you can say for a squad that is 1-3-1 in November. To give you an idea how bad things are in Gotham right now, the Rangers were 4-1 at this same time last season. One reason for the slump is Nikolai Zherdev’s play. He had five goals and seven assists in his first month in New York, but he’s got just two points in November.

New Jersey isn’t faring much better with the loss of Martin Brodeur for the next four months. Making matters worse is Kevin Weekes’ struggle to take over the starting job in goal for the Devils. Weekes has gone 7-6-1 with a 3.03 GAA in 14 career starts against the Rangers.

Bettors should also know that the ‘over’ has gone 4-1-1 in the last six head-to-head meetings. And the road team has won six of the last 10 matches, including the playoffs.

Washington Capitals at Carolina Hurricanes – 7:05 p.m. EST

The Southeast Division came down to the Hurricanes and Capitals last season. So it’s only fair that these two franchises are tied for first place at this point of the year. Washington was able to not hiccup with Alex Ovechkin in Russia visiting his ailing grandfather. Yet the Caps are running smooth right now with Ovechkin back in the lineup, going 3-0-1 since Nov. 4.

Carolina is so-so this month as evidenced by its 3-3 record. While that might seem bad, remember that the Hurricanes have dealt with the injury bug once again this year…the biggest absence being Justin Williams. If that wasn’t enough, the goaltending of Cam Ward and Michael Leighton has done nothing to distinguish themselves.

The Capitals have feasted on divisional foes recently with a 10-1 record against the Southeast dating back to the end of last season. But the home team has gone 8-2 in the last 10 matchups of these rivals.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers – 7:35 p.m. EST

The Lightning were all the rage during the summer after making move after move to bring in new players. With so many new faces joining the team, chemistry is sure to be an issue. Tampa Bay is no exception to that rule as its special teams defense has surrendered 10 power play goals in the last seven games. Something else to keep an eye on is Vincent Lecavalier and his magically disappearing scoring touch, failing to get a goal during the Tampa Bay’s current road trip.

Florida hasn’t fared much better than their intrastate rivals. Although, much of the Panthers’ issues come from being banged up. Now Pete DeBoer’s team must contend with losing Cory Stillman’s scoring ability to the Injured Reserved list with facial lacerations. The Cats will have higher spirits this time around after snapping a six-game skid at Anaheim on Nov. 9, 3-1.

The Panthers have fared well against Tampa Bay, going 6-4 in their last 10 meetings. And they’ve seen the ‘under’ go 6-1 in their past seven games.

Boston Bruins at Chicago Blackhawks – 8:35 p.m. EST

These “Original Six” squads have long been afterthoughts to everyone, but not this season. Chicago finds itself in second place in the Central Division after going 6-1-2 since Joel Quenneville took over as head coach on Oct. 16. The Blackhawks have also benefitted from a renewed interest of fans in the local area this year, going 6-0-2 at the United Center.

Boston has won all three games it has played in November and is 6-1 since Oct. 25. Tim Thomas has been on fire during that stretch with a 4-1 record and minuscule GAA of 1.19 while saving 96.4 percent of the shots fired his way. Thomas’ great goaltending has made the penalty kill unit that much better as it has stopped 21 of 26 power plays.

Something has to give as far as totals go: Chicago has watched the ‘over’ post a 5-3 mark at home, while the ‘under’ is 4-0 on the road for the Bruins. Home teams are 3-1 in the last four head-to-head scuffles.

Colorado Avalanche at Vancouver Canucks – 10:05 p.m. EST

The Avalanche looked like they had things figured out when they won five straight tilts between Oct. 16 and Oct. 25. Yet Colorado found a way to erase any momentum it had by dropping its next five games. While the goalie is the first scapegoat (and Peter Budaj has been garbage this year), the offense is God awful when getting a one or two-man advantage. That’s easily seen as the Avs have just two power play goals in 29 chances, which is bad even for a team converting 14.9 percent of the time.

Vancouver seems to have settled down now after being an ‘over’ machine during the first month of the season. A lot of that has to do with Roberto Luongo stopping all 81 shots on goal faced in his last three starts. Needless to say, the ‘under’ has been on order for betting the Canucks, hitting in four straight fixtures and six of their last seven.