Toronto Maple Leafs Will Take On Pittsburgh Penguins This Weekend

  By admin | February 25, 2011 - 7:45 am | NHL Leave a comment

This weekend the Toronto Maple Leafs will battle against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Even though the Penguins will be trying to overcome a series of injuries that have recently come up, they have one of the top records in the league at 36-20-5.

While Toronto is at 200-1 in NHL Odds, Pittsburgh, despite its injuries, are at 30-1 to win the Stanley Cup.

The Maple Leafs is currently out of the playoff picture as they are 26-27-7 on the season. If they hope to claw their way back towards relevance, they will need some big wins.

In Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby, the Penguins have two injured players. These players will need them to win games, as they are both important to their team. They will need a lot of production from their other players if they hope to walk away from this game with a win, if both of these players are unavailable for this game.

However the Maple Leafs are near .500 on the season, they are not very good offensively or defensively. As the Maple Leafs is the home team, they do play much better while in Toronto which will benefit them in this game. They are 28th in goals per game and 21st in goals allowed per game, this season. If they hope to compete against top level teams like Pittsburgh, they will need to improve on at least one side of the game.

In both goals per game and goals allowed per game, the Penguins are ranked within the top 10 teams in the league. Their penalty kill percentage has been the secret to their great defense. At 87.6 percent, they are tops in the league in that category.

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Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames meet outdoors in Heritage Classic

  By admin | February 19, 2011 - 5:16 am | NHL Leave a comment

The 2011 Heritage classic will be held Sunday afternoon when the Montreal Canadiens travel to Calgary to take on the Flames. The game will be held at McMahon Stadium, which is located on the campus of the University of Calgary. This will be the second outdoor game of the year for the NHL with the first one being the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh on New Year’s Day.

NHL Odds have not yet been posted but look for the flames to be the favorite with their stellar play of late and a big “home ice” advantage.

Aside from the novelty of playing an outdoor game in Calgary, this game has significant meaning in regards to the league’s standings. Currently, the Flames hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference by only one point over bother Los Angeles and Minnesota. In fact, the Western Conference is so competitive this year that while the Flames are in eighth place right now they are only three points out of third place as well. This fact makes each and every game down the stretch extremely important as every team fights for any points they can get.

Montreal is in a similar situation as Calgary. Right now the Canadiens are in fifth place in the standings, but are tied with Boston for the division lead and could move into third place in the conference with just one more point. With both teams in such tight playoff races every game gains more importance as the season rolls on, making the 2011 Heritage Classic one of the bigger outdoor games in recent years.

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Saturday Clash Between San Jose Sharks And Boston Bruins

  By admin | February 5, 2011 - 6:29 am | NHL Leave a comment

NHL fans will be treated to contents of two of the better teams in the entire league when the San Jose Sharks travel to Boston to take on the Bruins Saturday night with the NHL getting back into high gear after the All-Star game.

For this matchup hockey odds are not yet available.

The Sharks still figure to be one of the favorites to win the Western Conference come playoff time, but San Jose is struggling in the standings right now.

Boston leads Montreal by only four points in the standings as they are currently third in the Eastern Conference. Boston continues to rely on one of the best goal tending tandems in the league to win games on a nightly basis in spite of a mediocre power play that currently sits at 16th in the league. As the Bruins average 3.0 goals per game, the offense is doing pretty well also.

The San Jose Sharks have been a bit of a disappointment so far this season after making it to the Western Conference finals last year. In the first half of the season, Struggling to find any consistency on offense and defense has really slowed the down the Sharks. San Jose will need to get things going in a hurry especially since they are tied for 8th place in the West with two other teams if they want to make another deep playoff run.

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New York Islanders visit Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals

  By admin | January 21, 2011 - 5:32 am | NHL Leave a comment

The New York Islanders will head to Washington to take on the Capitals this weekend. The Capitals are happy to be home as they have gone 16-5-5 while playing at home this season. The Islanders really struggle while playing on the road, winning just 6 of their 23 games on the road this season. They are 6-14-3 overall on the road this season.

NHL Betting Odds are not yet available.

The Capitals will definitely be the heavy favorites in this game. The Islanders are simply not very good offensively or defensively and they will struggle against the Capitals. The Islanders are 28th in the NHL in goals per game and they are 29th in the league in goals against per game.

The Capitals rely heavily on their defense. They have a great penalty kill percentage that helps them stay in games. They are currently 5th in the NHL at 85.1 percent. The Islanders will really struggle to score against this team as they are so good even while playing a man down.

The Rangers rely heavily upon John Tavares. The Capitals will certainly do all they can to keep him from making a big impact in this game. If the Capitals eliminate him the Islanders will lose a lot of their scoring power.

The Islanders will focus on keep in Ovechkin out of this game. He is the best player that the Capitals have. While he is having an poor season, if he gets going then the Islanders will have no chance to win in this game.

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Sunday Clash Between Chicago Blackhawks And Nashville Predators

  By admin | January 14, 2011 - 3:18 am | NHL Leave a comment

On Sunday, the Chicago Blackhawks will clash with the Nashville. Both these teams are fighting to overtake the Detroit Red Wings in the Central Division as these two teams are division rivals. While the Predators are sitting at 23-13-6 on the season, the Blackhawks are currently 23-18-3 on the season. In NHL lines, the betting odds for this matchup have not yet published.

Against each other, these teams match up very well. In the NHL, the Predators are one of the best defensive teams. For each game, they are only allowing 2.3 goals, which is the second best average of any team in the league. As they have a fantastic penalty kill percentage, much of their success defensively has come. In the NHL in penalty kill percentage at 85.7%, they are 3rd.

In every way the Blackhawks are almost the opposite of the Predators. In the league, the Blackhawks have one of the best offenses. This season, they are averaging 3.1 goals per game. In the NHL, that is good for the 5th best average. The Blackhawks’ fantastic attack on the power play has been the key for them. In the NHL at 24.8 percent, the Black Hawks have the best power play conversion percentage.

If the defense of the Predators will be able to stand against the offense of the Blackhawks will be very interesting to watch. Whether or not the Predators can get going offensively will be one other factor in this game. They have only managed to score 2.5 goals per game this season, while they only allow 2.3 goals per game.

On Sunday night, this game will take place in Chicago.

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NHL: Deryk Engelland Receives 3-Year Contract Extension In Pittsburgh Penguins

  By admin | January 4, 2011 - 10:55 am | NHL Leave a comment

Defenseman Deryk Engelland received a three-year contract extension in Pittsburgh Penguins team. In the 2011-12 season, Engelland’s new deal will start and run until 2014. An average salary of $566,700 will be received by him.

Engelland was a member of the rival team Hershey Bears, which the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins love to hate. With Bears in 2006, he won a Calder Cup Championship and in 2007, he was a finalist with the team. Prior to the 2007-08 season, Engelland stayed in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for three years and in all those years, he had missed nine out of 240 regular season games. Of the 2008 Baby Penguins squad, he was a member. The squad went on to square off with the Chicago Wolves in the Calder Cup Finals.

Engelland said that, it took eight years to get here, although he was in the ECHL. He added that the eight years’ time was worth the wait. He said that it was a good accomplishment for him and it is an exciting news for him and his family.

Engelland, who is 6 feet 2, 202 pounds, in 32 games, has two goals, three assists and a team-high 76 penalty minutes. With victories against respected heavyweights such as Toronto’s Colton Orr and Jody Shelley of Philadelphia, he has not only been a willing factor, but an effective one.

Coach Dan Bylsma said that Engelland’s pugilistic achievements have been big. The solid performance on the ice keeps him in the lineup most nights and his fighting prowess has got him some major attention. Bylsma added that in this year’s games, Engelland’s ability to defend and be physical against good players has really been probably the biggest thing.

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Washington Capitals Powered To 5-1 Win Over New Jersey

  By admin | December 22, 2010 - 10:36 am | NHL Leave a comment

In the second period Tuesday, John Carlson, Jason Chimera and Jay Beagle powered the Washington Capitals to a 5-1 win over New Jersey.

To give the Capitals a 1-0 lead, Andrew Gordon scored his first NHL goal and Washington blew it open with three more in the middle period. Michal Neuvirth made 35 saves and the Capitals posted their second straight win following an eight-game-losing skid. In Washington’s win, Mike Knuble also scored.

For the Devils, who fell to 1-8-0 in December, Patrik Elias scored and Brodeur allowed five goals on 28 shots. Against future Hall-of-Famer Martin Brodeur (22 saves, 27 shots), Gordon recorded his first NHL goal by driving the net hard and with the help of teammate Marcus Johansson. At 16:41 of the first period, Washington scored their first goal.

Gordon said that, for him to fist pump or anything he did not have any speed to go to the corner and therefore he stood there and enjoyed that moment where he figured that everyone was looking at me for once instead of Ovi. He added that the moment was special for him and he probably will mull over it in his head all night.

In the second period when Patrik Elias shot at 4:56, which beat Washington goalie Michal Neuvirth for a power-play tally, New Jersey tied it early in the second period, although it did not take long for the Caps to respond. At the 10:00 mark of the second, Beagle banged home a stuff attempt by David Steckel.

Just as David Steckel began to pass behind the cage, he took it below the goal line and sent it to the front of the net. To make it 2-1, Beagle stuffed the shot past Brodeur. Despite having a defender draped across Jason Chimera’s shoulders, his effort to finish on that breakaway made it 3-1 and counted as the left wing’s 200th career NHL point. He went the past 14 contests without one.

John Carlson followed up on a play that looked to be a scoring chance for Alex Ovechkin and he made it 4-1, until New Jersey defenseman Colin White poked the puck off his stick. With a plus-4 rating, Carlson led the Capitals and played a second-most 23:42 (behind only Mike Green’s 25:45). Knuble capped the scoring with a deflection goal, with nearly eight minutes to go in the third period. From the top of the crease, Knuble redirected Tom Poti’s shot from the right side to home.

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Edmonton Oilers Clash With Tampa Bay Lightning On Friday

  By admin | December 10, 2010 - 11:47 am | Hockey Leave a comment

On Friday night the Edmonton Oilers will be back in action as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning in a game at Rexall Place. Game time is at 9pm ET and this game is the only time these two teams will meet this season with Edmonton winning their only match-up from last season, almost a year ago to the day.

A full 6 points behind the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay currently sit 2nd in the Southeast division. One peculiarity with the Lightning is that despite being one of the stronger teams in their division, they are just -12 in terms of goal differential.

With Simon Gagne, Vincent Lecavalier and Steve Downie among those missing games, the Lightning (15-10-3) have dealt with their share of injuries during the early part of this season.

By going just 4-6-2 from Rexall Place so far this season, the Lightning, however, have not been that bad of a road team this season as they have gone 8-8-1 as visitors so far while Edmonton have had significant home struggles on the year. Without Ales Hemsky or Shawn Horcoff, most will be writing the Oilers off for quite some time now but at least the young talent in Edmonton will be showcased more in upcoming games.

The Oilers, however, lost Captain Shawn Horcoff to a right knee injury. Horcoff, who has seven goals and eight assists in 24 games, is expected to miss up to eight weeks. Edmonton (10-12-5) also will likely not have forward Ales Hemsky (groin) for at least another month.

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In NHL Action – Chicago Blackhawks Vs. Anaheim Ducks

  By admin | November 25, 2010 - 5:56 am | NHL Leave a comment

This Friday, the Anaheim Ducks will battle against the Chicago Blackhawks. To this point in the year both these teams are struggling through mediocre seasons. As of their mediocre start both teams expect to improve. For both team a win in this game could turn things around.

The offense of the Blackhawks will be one of the keys for this game. In the NHL to this point they have managed to produce the 9th best offense, while they have been struggling to win games. 3 goals for each game, they have averaged. In opposition to the defense of the Ducks they will be going up.

3 goals for each game, the Ducks defense has been surrendering and in the NHL, this is good for the 20th best defense. The Blackhawks may be competent to put the game out of reach from the Ducks if they can start things out with a bang.

For every game, the Ducks have only been able to average 2.5 goals. They have been outscored by their rival, while they have a 10-10-3 record.

For the Ducks their power play has been the strength in the game. In the NHL they are the 7th best team in terms of converting on the power play. In order to keep all of their players in the game, the Blackhawks will need to be careful. When the Ducks don’t have power play opportunities they haven’t been so hot on offense.

This season, the Blackhawks have been even improved on the power play. In the NHL, 3rd best power play conversion rate have been managed by them. The factor which decides this game could be the power play.

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At The Verizon Center –Philadelphia Flyers Vs. Washington Capitals

  By admin | November 19, 2010 - 9:22 am | NHL Leave a comment

On Saturday at the Verizon Center (7 pm ET, COMCAST, CSN), the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals meet for the second time this season.

With the Flyers at 12-5-2 and the Capitals with a 14-4-1 record, both teams are near the top of the NHL Eastern Conference standings. The Flyers are favorites in hockey betting odds.

With the Capitals the highest scoring, averaging 3.68 goals per game, and the Flyers not far back at 3.32 GPG, both teams are among the highest scoring in the league.

The Flyers have allowed the third fewest goals in the league at 2.2 per game as Philadelphia is also among the league leaders on defense.

The Flyers are without forwards Dan Carcillo (Out Indefinitely, knee injury), Ian Laperriere (Out Indefinitely, concussion), goalie Michael Leighton (Out Indefinitely, back injury), and defensemen Matt Walker (Out Indefinitely, hip injury) on the injury front.

Capitals’ defenseman goalie Semyon Varlamov is Out Indefinitely (groin injury) and Tom Poti is Day-to-Day (groin injury).

In the last 10 meetings head-to-head Washington is 6-2-0-2 and the over/under is 4-4-2. When the Capitals edged the Flyers 3-2 and cashed as a -190 moneyline favorite, the teams last squared off on Nov. 7. Under the over/under total of 5.5 what the score stayed.

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