Matt's NHL Pix Jan.23

[Matt]

Carolina Hurricanes over Montreal Canadians @1.54 (Pinnacle)

Montreal is coming off of two tough losses on their recent west-coast trip, and things are not getting any easier tonight as they travel across the country to take the Carolina Hurricanes. Although the Canes are coming off of a disappointing 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals, they are 9-1 in their last 10 games and are back home where they are 21-4-1 on the year. They have not had any trouble scoring this season (170 goals on the year) but they have recently added more fire-power to their team by picking up forward Keith Aucoin from the AHL. He leads his team in goals, assists, points, and power play goals; and he should be a useful addition to this Canes squad coming down the stretch. It is expected that Cam Ward will be between the pipes for Carolina tonight and he has been doing a good job lately. He is 9-3-2 this season with a goals against average of 3.62, but he has been getting more help from his defense as of late, and seems to be doing a much better job. His last time out he stopped an impressive 36 shots in a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders, and as the Canadians have scored just 5 goals combined in their last three road games I do not see him facing over 30 shots tonight. Jose Theodore will be the starting goalie for the Canadians tonight but he has looked really poor as of late. In Saturday’s 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks he was pulled early after allowing 5 goals on only 11 shots in the first ten minutes of the game. A performance like this is definitely not good for your confidence when your traveling on the road to take on a red hot Canes squad. I see Carolina taking control of this game and holding on to a victory with their solid goaltending and defense.

7u (ml)
3u (-1.5)

Washington Capitals over Boston Bruins @1.84 (Pinnacle)

After a pathetic start to the season, the Washington Capitals are finally starting to turn things around and are now looking to pick up their fifth win in a row. They are being led by the impressive rookie Alexandre Ovechkin who already has 62 points this season. The Capitals head coach Glen Hanlon gave the team a much needed day off yesterday after they ended the Carolina Hurricanes 9 game winning streak with an impressive performance in their 5-2 victory. The team chemistry is finally coming together and their “soft” defense is finally starting to be effective. They have won their last four games by a combined score of 18-9 and they have proven they can compete with the best teams in the league as they have beaten both Carolina and Ottawa. The Bruins are coming off of a 3-2 shoot-out loss to the New York Rangers, and have gone into overtime in 3 of their last four games. This season they are 0-4 in shoot-outs and only have 2 shoot-out goals. Tim Thomas will be the starting goalie for the Bruins tonight and he has played well lately going 2-0-2 with a goals against average of 2. He has done a great job since he has taken over for the injured Raycroft, but I do not expect his success to continue for long and a high powered offensive team such as the Washington Capitals has the ability to give him troubles. Boston has not been putting up great offensive numbers this season, and I believe the Capitals will avenge a loss earlier this season and get the job done on their home ice.

5u

Anaheim Mighty-Ducks over Los Angeles Kings @2.60 (Pinnacle)

The Kings are currently in a funk losing 5 of their last seven games, including their most recent 4-3 defeat in overtime at the hands of the San Jose Sharks. Also, the news has recently got worse for them as they will be without Valerie Bure who went down with a back injury. They will need all the firepower they can find for tonight as they will be facing Jean Sebastian Giguere who seems to be returning to his solid form. The Ducks are coming off of back-to-back wins and both came in large part due to the solid goaltending efforts of Giguere. On Saturday he recorded 30 saves on route to his 1st shut-out this season (20th of his career), and on Thursday he led the Ducks to a 4-3 victory over the high scoring Senators, including stopping all three of their shots in the shoot-out. These two teams have already met 3 times this season with LA winning 2, but Anaheim taking the most recent contest 6-2 as Jonathan Hedstrom had a hat trick and Giguere made 41 saves for Anaheim. The Kings are one of the most inconsistent teams in the NHL as they can beat the Hurricanes one night and then lose to the Sabres by 9 goals. The Mighty-Ducks are a team on the rise and I believe Giguere will continue his solid goaltending and led his team to a victory tonight on the road.

5u

Vancouver Canucks (-1) over St.Louis Blues @1.80 (5dimes)

The Canucks are currently playing their best hockey of the season. They have won 4 straight, and 7 of their last eight games including an impressive 3 of 4 games on the road. Tonight they will travel to St.Louis to begin their road trip as they will take on two of the worst teams in the Western Conference (St.Louis and Columbus). On Saturday the Canucks scored 6 goals in 13 minutes as they cruised past the Montreal Canadians 6-2. They have outscored their last four opponents 22-6 and are hoping that their success will continue on the road where they are averaging only 2.79 goals per game and have a 10-12-2 record this season. Luckily their road trip is against two of the worst teams in the league and I expect they will have little troubles picking up two wins. Tonight they will get some help as defenseman Ed Jovanovski has returned to the team after missing 11 games with a groin injury. He has 6 goals and 22 assists this season and as he is one of their top defensemen he will be a welcome addition back into their line-up. The Blues on the other hand have not been playing well lately losing their last 9 games. Tonight things do not get any better for them as they will be starting goalie Curtis Sanford who is just 4-10-0 this season with a goals against average of 3. Vancouver has a well balanced team with solid defense and goaltending, and they know they can not afford to slip up in games like this. They should control the game and cruise to an easy victory.

8u