Hockey Free Picks - November 17, 2008

We nailed our 5-unit play last night on Carolina to boost our three-day run to 3-0 for +7.5 units. Three plays today.

Today's NHL Hockey Picks:

Game: Ottawa at New York Rangers (7:05 PM Eastern)
Pick: 2 units on Game Total OVER 5 -125 (risk 2 to win 1.6)

The Senators have been a streaky team this season and the streak is negative right now with four straight in the loss column. The streak coincides with goaltender Alexander Auld, who has been good for stretches, then bad for stretches. He is in the midst of a bad stretch now. He is allowing 10 goals in his last three behind the net. Martin Gerber has shown the same tendency. The Rangers won early with great goaltending and hard checking. Their first 10 games showed them with five games allowing one goal or less. Things have changed, as they have now played 10 straight allowing two goals or more, but at the same time have scored 2.9 per game themselves. This one has an offensive look to it, so I'll back the OVER here.

The Cunucks’ Roberto Luongo went through a stretch of four shutouts in six games and was the hottest net-minder in the league. He has started behind the net in all but one Canucks’ game and 12 in a row, probably because Curtis Sanford allowed five goals in his only start. He has allowed two goals in each of the last two games, but the Canuck's have been home for six straight where he allowed only seven goals. The road has been a different story where Luongo has allowed 26 past the net in seven games, or 3.7 per contest. The Islanders have found the net three times or more in seven of their 10 at home, or 70% of the time, but at the same time have allowed 3.9 goals per game on home ice. This one looks like a high-scoring affair taking shape, and I'll back the OVER here.

The Detroit Redwings are hot on the trail to make a run at a second-straight Stanley Cup, out of the gate with an 11-2-3 mark. The Edmonton Oilers have not been playing great and have dropped their last two games and four of their last six, but remain above the .500 mark. The one thing they have done is given the Redwings fits and have played them, perhaps as tough as any team in the league over the last couple years. The Oilers have won five of the last eight contests against the Redwings including the last two times these teams have hooked up. They have also done very well on the road in Detroit where they have claimed victory in two of the last three. This is a live dog at very large odds, so I'm going with the Oilers here.

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• Updated today: 2008 hockey prior picks.

Check out the last five NHL Hockey Picks Newsletters:

NHL-Hockey-Picks-November-16-2008
Barry Melrose didn't last long, did he? Will Rick Tocchet be able to help his team snap a three-game skid? I don't think so. The fact remains that the Lightning are last in the NHL in goals sc...

NHL-Hockey-Picks-November-15-2008
The Rangers are playing tough on home ice as witnessed by their 20 goals allowed in their 11 at home. That works out to be 1.82 goals per game, and puts pressure on the opponent to find the win column...

NHL-Hockey-Picks-November-13-2008
Both of these teams are off to big starts which is developing into a three-team race in the NHL Northeast. Both of these squads have gotten superb net play, and Montreal will enter this one fresh off ...

NHL-Hockey-Picks-November-12-2008
The Coyotes invade Columbus tonight to take on the Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets are on a bit of a roll here as they have now won three straight, all at home, and will look to make it four straight t...

NHL-Hockey-Picks-November-11-2008
The Islanders have been living in a nightmare, as they have just two wins to show for their last nine efforts on the ice. On average the Isles’ have been getting out-scored by a goal a game - on...