Free Nhl Picks - April 15, 2008

We finished 1-1 last night for a slight loss. Tough loss in Colorado set us back. We like the board a lot tonight and have picks on all games including our first 5-unit game of the playoffs.

Today's NHL Hockey Picks:

Game: Washington at Philadelphia (7:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 units on Philadelphia -130 (moneyline) (risk 3 to win 2.3)

Biron stopped all 24 shots he faced to blank the Caps in only his second career postseason outing. The Capitals haven't won a playoff series since making a run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998. Philadelphia won the regular-season series against the Caps, posting a slight 2-1-1 edge. The Cap's looked tired in game 2. The fans and the team looked as if they had spent to much energy in game 1. Philadelphia's Wachovia Center will be rockin' tonight as the Flyers will come home for an overdue playoff game. Although we think this will be a close game the Flyers have the advantage at home. Take Philly in game 3.

What a great series for the NHL! Two of the original six teams going head-to-head. Although Boston snuck in a overtime win in game 3, the Canadiens have been the better team. We all know the complete domination Montreal has had on Boston this season. Montreal is 13-1 in its last 14 games when playing Boston. Captain Saku Koivu is the Habs' heart and soul and he has been held fairly quiet in the series. Tonight that will have to change. Koivu, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn will all have to step up and score some goals. If the Habs can get some much-needed offense from their big players they will come out on top. Take Montreal over Boston tonight.

Let's start simple in this matchup. The stars won game one 4-0 and in convincing fashion. The Stars won game two 5-2. In a game where Anaheim never really had a chance to win once Dallas got rolling in the third period. What will happen in game 3? Well we're predicting another dominating performance by the Stars. Dallas is 6-1 in its last seven games when playing at home against Anaheim. The stars have out-scored Anaheim 9-2 in the first two games. Turco has really been playing well and has had plenty of offense to support him. The Stars have also been spreading the offense around. Seven different players have scored including Morrow, Richards and Modano. In short, Dallas has things going well while Anaheim is struggling to score goals. The Dallas fans will be out of control tonight and will help the Stars win another. Take the Stars at home agains the Ducks.

Did the sharks really squander a three-goal lead? YES! Well we predicted that the Sharks would take control of this series in game 3 and they should of. Three early goals got us off to a great start, but in the end the Flames battled back to tie the game sending it to overtime and eventually won the game 4-3. The Saddledome is a tough, tough rink to play in. The Sharks have to take the crowd out of the game to have a chance. Kiprusoff was pulled in game 3 and was replaced by CuJo (Curtis Joseph) who absolutely stood on his head. Joseph made 22 saves shutting the sharks out after the three early goals. That will not happen again. The sharks will turn up the heat and this time they won't let the lead slip away. The series is 2-1 in the flames favor but the Sharks are still a better team. Take the sharks tonight.

Colorado dominated the first period last night. Minnesota was lucky to get out of that period with just one goal scored on Backstrom. The Avs went into the third period with a 1-0 lead but couldn't hold on to get the “W”. Ultimately the game went into overtime at 2-2. The overtime was simply taken over by the Wild. Theodore played absolutely fantastic but the Avs could not weather the storm and Bouchard put a wrister past Theodore to take game 3. A very tightly-contested battle that gave the Avs a rare home loss. Tonight things should be different. The Avs will come out hungry and should bury some early goals. No doubt about this will again be a tightly-contested game, but we think the Avs' advantage is being at home and coming off a tough loss.

Results: 4-1

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• Don't forget to read our 2007 NHL hockey picks season results here.

Check out the last five NHL Hockey Picks Newsletters:

NHL-Hockey-Picks-April-14-2008
The Senators dominated the series last year, eliminating the Pens in 5 games. Not so much this year. Crosby, Malkin, Skykora and Roberts are all playing well for the Pens. Pittsburgh leads the series ...

NHL-Hockey-Picks-April-13-2008
An afternoon playoff delight goes today in Washington. The first meeting between these two teams was a dandy with 9 total goals including one from Ovechkin who had the winner. The second match between...

NHL-Hockey-Picks-April-12-2008
We went with the Stars in game one and they paid off at +150. We like them again at a similar line. Yes, it's a bold move but we like Dallas here for a lot of the same reasons. This team is more m...

NHL-Hockey-Picks-April-11-2008
New York laid the wood to New Jersey in game one and what we saw there was a preview at what should continue. New York just dominated and they look like the much more focused and better team. New Jers...

NHL-Hockey-Picks-April-10-2008
Anaheim opens up their defense of the Stanley Cup vs. the Stars and most have already annointed the Ducks a first-round easy winner. Not so fast. The Stars actually won five of eight between...