Nhl Hockey Picks - February 22, 2008
We suffered a losing night last night unfortunately as we dropped 6.7 units. Tonight we look to bounce back with three strong picks...
Today's NHL Hockey Picks:
Game: Detroit at Calgary (9:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 units on Detroit -115 (moneyline) (risk 3 to win 2.6)
Detroit snapped their uncharacteristic six-game losing streak with a big 4-0 victory on the road in Colorado. We were on Detroit in that one as we knew they wouldn't stay down for long. The bad news is that the Wings lost Nicklas Lidstrom for three weeks with an injured knee. That is keeping this line down, but we expect the rest of the team to really step things up in their first game without Lidstrom. They will feel a need to play harder here and we think they rally. This team is 21-11 on the road holding opponents to just 2.0 goals per game. That defense will still be there and it should be able to hold Calgary, a losing team at home, down. The Red Wings are an incredible 10-1 this season on teh road off a road win. They are also 21-6 off a win by 2+ goals.
Game: St. Louis at Anaheim (10:00 PM Eastern)Pick: 3 units on St. Louis +190 (moneyline) (risk 3 to win 5.7)Pick: 3 units on Game Total OVER 5 -110 (risk 3 to win 2.7)
The Ducks have won seven of eight games since Teemu Selanne's return. Now they get lowly St. Louis at home. How can they lose? Exactly! This is a perfect let-down situation for Anaheim. They were playing very poorly before Selanne came back. They were nervous and motivated. He provided a spark and they have now gotten to a very confident position. They now believe again and it's easy to take a deep breath and underestimate the Blues here, a bad team off an embarrassing 5-1 loss to the NHL's worst team (LA). That loss however will motivate the Blues players who have as much pride as anyone. So, we get an (over)confident team vs. a motivated one. Let's not let that LA loss cloud the fact that St. Louis is playing very good hockey right now. In the five games prior to that loss, the Blues went 4-1 outscoring their foes by a combined score of 19-7! Anaheim is just 3-12 this season vs. poor offensive opponents (those averaging under 27 shots on goal per game). They are also just 21-16 as home favorite of -200 or more the past two seasons. Should Anaheim win? Yes. Will they? We think there's a 50% chance of the Blues taking this and at +190, that's a ton of value. We think St. Louis will score which also bodes well for the OVER here against his low line of 5. The Blues are 10-3 OVER this season after scoring 0 or 1 goal last game and they are 14-6 OVER after two straight OVERs the past two seasons. St. Louis and the OVER here.
NHL Hockey Picks Resources:
Check out the last five NHL Hockey Picks Newsletters:
NHL-Hockey-Picks-February-21-2008
Philadelphia has lost eight straight games while San Jose has dropped five straight. This is the best chance for Philadelphia to break out of their slump against the Sharks who are 1-6 on the road sin...
NHL-Hockey-Picks-February-20-2008
The Stars are averaging just 2.2 goals allowed on the season here at home but they score 3.1 per game and Calgary road games are averaging 6.2 goals per game. Over their last five games, Calgary is sc...
NHL-Hockey-Picks-February-19-2008
Both of these defenses have taken the week off. Over their last five gams Boston has allowed 3.2 goals per game while Carolina has given up 3.8 per game. Neither defense was good to start with but the...
NHL-Hockey-Picks-February-18-2008
Yes, San Jose's scoring has fallen off of late. But, their defense has fallen off in lock-step. The Islanders have found some offense and their defense has suffered concurrently. Islanders games a...
NHL-Hockey-Picks-February-17-2008
San Jose is great on the road but they are facing a great defense this afternoon. The Rangers who have really struggled offensively have found ways to win games, especially at home thanks to allowing ...
