darrell,

Like both games today on the ice...

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Keep your head up and stick on the ice, darrell!

Game: Carolina at New Jersey (3:05 PM Eastern)
Pick: 2 stars on Carolina +145

New Jersey was hot with the key word being "was." They entered the series against Carolina having won 15 straight. Well, I guess that "hot" bug jumped over to Carolina in game one. The Hurricanes have won the first three games and they are now on a seven game winning streak. No way the Devils lose this must-win backs-against-the-wall game at home, right? Wrong. I like Carolina in the big dog role here. I think they have a legitimate shot at the sweep. Carolina is now 23-13 vs. winning teams this season and 20-9 on the road (yes, on the road!) vs. teams that allow opponents to 29+ shots on goal with a 17%+ power play conversion. Therein lies New Jersey's problem against Carolina. The Devils allow 19% power play conversion on the season and it's gotten worse in the playoffs. They've allowed 10 of 40 (25%). Carolina can score in droves and they are putting in 29% of their powerplays this playoff season. If that continues in this game, New Jersey is toast.

It's been a crazy playoffs and you can look no further than this series as proof. The top-seeded Senators fell down 0-3 to Buffalo. Ottawa pulled out the must-win victory in game three and breathed some hope into their chances to advance. Their backs are again against the wall here. They know that if they can win this game, they are back in the series. All four games thus far have resulted in 1-goal victories as the battles are tightly contested. Buffalo is playing very well right now. During the playoffs they've managed 0.5 goals per game more than the regular season and 0.4 goals allowed fewer. Ottawa has underperformed in a big way this series, especially on offense. I expect them, back home off a win, in a must-win game, to return more to form. During the regular season they scored 3.9 goals per game and allowed 2.4 here at home. That's hard to ignore. Senators here.