SportsWagers
NHL
NY ISLANDERS +120 over Pittsburgh
DALLAS +100 over Chicago
COLUMBUS -½ +135 over Colorado
NY ISLANDERS +120 over Pittsburgh
The Penguins have won six of eight games including a 2-1 OT victory last night over a Kings squad that was beginning to heat up. What that win last night did was create a complete overlay here because that win was an illusion. The Kings dominated the first and third periods and the whole OT session was played in Pittsburgh’s zone. The Pens had very few chances the whole game and it was a rather unlikely win. Pittsburgh resembles a good minor league club right now and even when they were completely healthy the Islanders have given them trouble. The home team in this series is 21-7 over the last 28 games and now the Islanders will face a completely wounded and very beatable club. The Pens played hard last night and they played to prove a point. They did it but it wasn’t pretty and there’s not a good chance they’ll get beat here, there’s a great chance. Wrong side favored. Play: N.Y. Islanders (Risking 2 units).
DALLAS +100 over Chicago
The Stars are still in a bit of a funk but they’re expecting a rare sellout tonight and when that occurs this is one of the toughest buildings in the league to win at. They’ll also face Marty Turco as oppose to Cory Crawford and that, too, adds to the Stars appeal. Turco played for Dallas for seven seasons and who better to know his weaknesses than the guys that were shooting on him in practice for years. Besides that, he’s not very good to begin with and a slower Turco facing snipers that know his tendencies is not a pretty picture for the Blackhawks. Chicago will play its fifth straight on the road and this one comes after the dreaded three-games to Western Canada that NHL players have called the most exhausting three-game stretch of the season for years. In a desperation position in the final leg of that trip, the Blackhawks beat Edmonton 4-1 but in no way were they that much better. Dallas has just seven regulation losses at home this season in 28 games and thus, we’ll go with the best of it here and play the Stars in regulation. Play: Dallas +100 (Risking 2 units).
COLUMBUS -½ +135 over Colorado
The Av’s have a great history against the Jackets and that’s even more reason to play Columbus. In fact, Colorado has won six in a row in this series and the Jackets have to be sick of losing to this team. Now the Jackets are playing extremely well while the Av’s can’t get out of their own way. Columbus shot out of the gate with a 14-6 record before they lost their way. They have their swagger back and had won three in a row and five of seven before losing 3-2 in its last game to the red-hot Sharks in a game they were clearly the better team. Colorado has one win in its last eight. They’re tooth and nails to score a goal these days and neither goaltender has been sharp all season long. They keep switching from Petr Budaj to Craig Anderson hoping that one will step up but that has yet to happen. Budaj and his .897 save percentage gets the call tonight. Anyway, as mentioned earlier, the Blue Jackets are sick of losing to this familiar enemy and couldn’t have handpicked a better time to get this proverbial monkey off their backs. Play: Columbus -½ +135 (Risking 2 units).