NHL Notes going into Saturday and Bet

NHL Notes going into Saturday and Bet I'm impressed by Ottawa even without Spezza but Karlsson is bigger loss. They play the Leafs tonight. I have no bet on it. No data here you have to just go by feel. Leafs not as strong at home and a deep rivalry game vs. a very beat up team. However, it is a team that still has some quality players especially Anderson the goalie. I don't think there is value on the Leafs and I'd rather have Ottawa but I'll need a bargain on them.Maybe something later. Another note from last night I saw Lehtonen leave the net for Dallas in the 1st period. Have to watch his status he 's a top goalie in the NHL and Bachman is a fairly sizable downgrade if he plays regularly going forward. (It was a little deja vu for me since I was on Dallas and Bachman gave up what I viewed as a soft goal early in the 2nd went down 3-1 but Dallas came back to win 4-3. Shneider not good last night) One play I like for tonight but not without my usual trepidation are the Ducks vs. the Predators. I feel there is value in either PL or ML. I played PL (although Pinnacle has actually gone 4 cents cheaper on PL since my bet now at +1.5-234). Reasons for Liking (1) Anaheim might be the best team in the league. Won 5-2 in Detroit last night and IMO they really outplayed Detroit, burned them on all of their mistakes. It was a tilted ice surface. I read Zetterberg said he felt Detroit played well not sure what game he was watching. (He really didn't seem to be playing that well so I assumed he was watching something). (2) They're 10-2-1. Just too good a record to ignore. They beat Chicago the other night. (3) Fasth or Hiller seem capable in net. Fasth might be getting a penalty on him in the betting line for playing but he's the first rookie to win 7 games straight as a goalie. He's 30 years old not a typical rookie. I hear Hiller may even play tonight as he's getting healthier and I think betting would be on Anaheim from this point if he does. (4) Most important is price. Anaheim was a dog in Chicago I forget the number but around +150. Chicago was -125 in Nashville the other night. And now Nashville is -144 vs. Anaheim at home. We know Anaheim beat Chicago but we also know Anaheim back to back. Reason for Disliking: (1) Preds are great on home ice. However, I did lose on them last week when they did get beat by Chicago 3-0l (2) Rinne hasn't allowed a goal since that game vs. Chicago. (3) Anaheim on back to back and will Anaheim continue to bring it. It is just too high a price to pay on Nashville against this Ducks squad. If the game drops to Nashville -120 I would consider jumping over to Nashville and hoping for the one goal game but at this price I'll go with the Ducks for now. I don't even think -120 is a fair line on this game as I have just been so impressed by Anaheim that this game could be close to PK. And that is giving the Preds alot of credit. They continually don't get much O from few shots on net and I don't think are as good as some other teams they've had the past few years.

That Dallas game had back-to-back-to-back fights on three straight faceoffs toward the end of the 2nd period. I've never seen anything like it. The Sharks aren't this bad, and they weren't that good. Historically their offense gets in a rut because they get lazy, but eventually they adjust, until the opposition adjusts. Another note on the Sharks, they are in the middle of a 6-game trip but only play one game in six days (Tuesday at StL). If they're going to try something new to change their O, this would be a good time for it. Strictly in terms of wins and losses (versus looking for value in the moneyline), if they win by scoring goals in different ways or even show flashes of success via different means, they could be a good play for the next week or two. If they do the same old thing @StL Tuesday, it will be profitable to continue to fade them.

That sure was good those fights. Probably worked out in Dallas's favour. Also with Sedin getting the point to become the career scoring leader may have expended the energy a bit for Vancouver or was distracting. However, Vancouver had their chances to widen the lead so maybe it all meant nothing but didn't capitalize. Schneider's shaky play was a factor though for sure. Good insight on the Sharks. I would thnk Mclellan would be in trouble if the Sharks don't snap their funk. In fact with this time off right now, I would say he could be in trouble. They were in too much of a playoff dogfight last year and took a rather easy exit. Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't dumped him already. Burns has been somewhat of a bust---I think---haven't watched enough games to say that definitively. Good game to point to vs. St. Louis. They'l have a revenge and desperation angle to it along with being rested. They can take a few days to relax yet maybe experiment with a few things. It might just be a few line changes. I expect the Sharks will be a pretty decent dog vs. the Blues.