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[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Canucks (4-0) at Ducks (1-3)
Date: October 23, 2016 8:00 PM EDT

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Different coach, same start.

When the Anaheim Ducks began last season under coach Bruce Boudreau, they lost their first four games and gained only one point from an overtime defeat before earning their first win. Under Randy Carlyle, who guided the Ducks to the 2007 Stanley Cup and replaced Boudreau in June, the squad achieved the same results after five games.

Carlyle and the Ducks hope to reverse that trend Sunday night in the team's home opener against the Vancouver Canucks at the Honda Center.

The Canucks began the season with four consecutive victories for the first time since 1992 before losing Saturday night to the Los Angeles Kings in a shootout, 4-3. Only the Canucks and the Montreal Canadiens have yet to lose in regulation this season.

"It's a lot of fun to play hockey right now," Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom said. "We're really buying into what we say we're going to do, and it gets results."

Vancouver achieved its success without placing one player among the NHL's top 20 in goals, assists, points or plus-minus rating. Nor did the Canucks rely on goalie Ryan Miller for four of the first five games. Miller, the former Vezina Trophy winner who played in the past two Winter Olympics for the United States, missed the last four games with unspecified tightness in his core muscles.

But Miller will make his second start of the season Sunday night. The 36-year-old began his 15th season Oct. 15 with 25 saves in win against the Calgary Flames.

Anaheim, meanwhile, seeks to avoid the kind of phenomenon that occurred after last year's 1-3-1 start. Following a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild to end that four-game losing streak, the Ducks lost their next five and owned only two points after their first 10 games.

Undisciplined play, disorganization on offense and the lack of forechecking defined Anaheim's poor start this year. But the Ducks overcame all three problems in Thursday night's 3-2 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers. Despite taking eight penalties, Anaheim kept the Flyers from scoring on all but one of their seven power plays. Last year, the Ducks led the NHL by defusing 87.2 percent of opponents' power plays.

"You got almost the same group in here that's killing penalties, guys that work hard and are hard on the puck," Anaheim winger Ryan Garbutt told the Orange County Register after scoring the winning goal Thrusday night. "I think confidence carries over. I think our penalty kill is going to be a strength of ours for the season."

Off the ice, the Ducks and defenseman Hampus Lindholm remain at an impasse in contract negotiations. Lindholm, a restricted free agent, seeks a contract between $5.5 and $5.8 million per season while Anaheim is offering between $5.1 and $5.4 million per year, report various sources.

The Ducks have only $323,335 in room under the salary cap after signing forward Rickard Rakell, another restricted free agent, to a six-year contract extension Oct. 14.


NHL HEAD TO HEAD

Apr 1, 2016 Score ATS Results
VAN « 3 Push: 5
ANA 2 Cover: 114
Tools: Recaps

Feb 18, 2016 Score ATS Results
ANA « 5 Cover: 248
VAN 2 Over: 7
Tools: Recaps

Jan 1, 2016 Score ATS Results
ANA 1 Cover: 299
VAN « 2 Under: 3
Tools: Recaps

Nov 30, 2015 Score ATS Results
VAN 0 Under: 4
ANA « 4 Cover: 274
Tools: Recaps

Oct 12, 2015 Score ATS Results
VAN « 2 Under: 3
ANA 1 Cover: 179
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

EDM at WIN 03:00 PM

EDM +104 *****

O 5.5

MIN at NYI 06:00 PM

MIN +130 *****

O 5.0

ARI at NYR 07:00 PM

NYR -176

U 5.5

VAN at ANA 08:00 PM

VAN +169 *****

U 5.0

[StarDust Bum]

NHL
Dunkel

Sunday, October 23

Vancouver @ Anaheim

Game 57-58
October 23, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Vancouver
9.230
Anaheim
12.273
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Anaheim
by 3
3
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Anaheim
-200
5
Dunkel Pick:
Anaheim
(-200); Under

Arizona @ NY Rangers

Game 55-56
October 23, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Arizona
9.080
NY Rangers
12.844
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
NY Rangers
by 4
6
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
NY Rangers
-145
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
NY Rangers
(-145); Over

Minnesota @ NY Islanders

Game 53-54
October 23, 2016 @ 6:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Minnesota
12.437
NY Islanders
11.109
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Minnesota
by 1 1/2
3
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
NY Islanders
-145
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Minnesota
(+125); Under

Edmonton @ Winnipeg

Game 51-52
October 23, 2016 @ 3:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Edmonton
11.970
Winnipeg
8.895
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Edmonton
by 3
5
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Winnipeg
-125
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Edmonton
(+105); Under




NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Sunday, October 23

Oilers-Jets is an outdoor game in Winnipeg; forecast for today is 49 and partly cloudy. Jets won five of last seven games with Edmonton (under 6-1). Oilers lost three of last four visits to Winnipeg. Edmonton won four of its first five games this season (over 3-2). Jets split first four games (over 3-1), winning two of three at home.

Islanders won six of last nine games with Minnesota; four of last six series games went over. Wild won two of its last three visits to Brooklyn, where teams are complaining about bad ice. Road team won five of last seven series games. Minnesota is 0-2 on road (3-0 at home); they lost in OT at New Jersey last night. Over is 3-1-1 in their games this month. Islanders lost three of first five games (2-1 at home), with last four staying under the total.

Rangers won their last five games with Arizona (over 3-0-2). Coyotes lost their last five visits to Manhattan (over 3-1-1). Arizona lost its last three games, outscored 15-8 (over 3-1). New York won in Washington last nite; they won three of last four games (over 4-1-1).

Canucks won four of last six games with Anaheim; under is 6-1-1 in last eight series games. Vancouver is 3-2 in last five visits here. Canucks won four of first five games (under 3-2); four of the five went either OT/SO- they lost road opener in SO yesterday. Anaheim started the season with a 1-4 road trip (under 2-1-2).




NHL

Sunday, October 23

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4:00 PM
EDMONTON vs. WINNIPEG
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Edmonton's last 5 games on the road
Edmonton is 8-17 SU in its last 25 games on the road
Winnipeg is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Edmonton
Winnipeg is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games

7:00 PM
MINNESOTA vs. NY ISLANDERS
Minnesota is 3-6 SU in their last 9 games when playing NY Islanders
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Minnesota's last 6 games when playing NY Islanders
Arizona is 0-5 SU in their last 5 games when playing NY Rangers
The total has gone OVER in 4 of the NY Rangers last 6 games
NY Rangers are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games when playing at home against Arizona

9:00 PM
NY Islanders are 6-3 SU in their last 9 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone OVER in 4 of the NY Islanders last 6 games when playing Minnesota

8:00 PM
ARIZONA vs. NY RANGERS
Arizona is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games
VANCOUVER vs. ANAHEIM
Vancouver is 5-11 SU in its last 16 games when playing Anaheim
Vancouver is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Anaheim
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Anaheim's last 5 games when playing at home against Vancouver
Anaheim is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Vancouver

[StarDust Bum]

NHL
Long Sheet

Sunday, October 23

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EDMONTON (4-1-0-0, 8 pts.) at WINNIPEG (2-2-0-0, 4 pts.) - 10/23/2016, 3:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
EDMONTON is 8-32 ATS (+60.8 Units) in road games first half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
WINNIPEG is 14-26 ATS (-20.2 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
WINNIPEG is 4-2 (+1.6 Units) against the spread versus EDMONTON over the last 3 seasons
WINNIPEG is 4-2-0 straight up against EDMONTON over the last 3 seasons
5 of 6 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+4.0 Units)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MINNESOTA (3-1-0-1, 7 pts.) at NY ISLANDERS (2-3-0-0, 4 pts.) - 10/23/2016, 6:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
NY ISLANDERS is 2-2-0 straight up against MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
2 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.2 Units)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ARIZONA (1-3-0-0, 2 pts.) at NY RANGERS (3-2-0-0, 6 pts.) - 10/23/2016, 7:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
NY RANGERS is 4-0 (+4.0 Units) against the spread versus ARIZONA over the last 3 seasons
NY RANGERS is 4-0-0 straight up against ARIZONA over the last 3 seasons
2 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+2.3 Units)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VANCOUVER (4-0-0-1, 9 pts.) at ANAHEIM (1-3-0-1, 3 pts.) - 10/23/2016, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
VANCOUVER is 355-318 ATS (-102.6 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record since 1996.
ANAHEIM is 13-2 ATS (+9.9 Units) when playing with 2 days rest over the last 2 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 214-168 ATS (+29.9 Units) after a non-conference game since 1996.
ANAHEIM is 16-25 ATS (-26.7 Units) first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
VANCOUVER is 5-5 (+2.4 Units) against the spread versus ANAHEIM over the last 3 seasons
ANAHEIM is 5-5-0 straight up against VANCOUVER over the last 3 seasons
7 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+5.3 Units)

[StarDust Bum]

NHL Capsules
October 23, 2016

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) Cam Talbot made 31 saves and Mark Letestu scored the first of three second-period goals, lifting the Edmonton Oilers over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday in an outdoor game delayed almost two hours by sunlight melting the ice.

The Heritage Classic victory extended Edmonton's winning streak to three in front of 33,240 at Investors Group Field. Fans wore both Jets and Oilers jerseys to the league's 19th outdoor game.

Zack Kassian had a goal and an assist and Darnell Nurse also scored for Edmonton.

Connor Hellebuyck, who had a tuque attached to his helmet, stopped 29 shots for Winnipeg.

The NHL said the start of the Heritage Classic game was delayed ''due to intermittent sunlight on the playing surface'' and ''in the interest of player safety.''

ISLANDERS 6, WILD 3

NEW YORK (AP) - John Tavares had two goals and an assist, Johnny Boychuk scored for the second straight game and New York beat Minnesota.

Calvin de Haan, Alan Quine and Thomas Hickey also scored to help New York get its highest scoring total of the year and win for the third time in four home games after opening with two road losses. Thomas Greiss stopped 26 shots for his first win in two starts this season.

Islanders rookie Anthony Beauvillier had two assists, giving the 19-year-old at least a point in three straight games.

Zach Parise scored twice for Minnesota to top 300 goals for his career, and Nino Niederreiter also scored. Second-string goalie Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves.

RANGERS 3, COYOTES 2

NEW YORK (AP) - Dan Girardi scored 1:55 into the third period and New York beat Arizona.

Josh Jooris and J.T. Miller also scored for New York, which has won consecutive games to improve to 4-2-0. Henrik Lundqvist made 27 stops.

Radim Vrbata had both of Arizona's goals, and Louis Domingue made 23 saves. The Coyotes have lost their first four games on a six-game trip since beating Philadelphia in overtime at home to start the season.

Girardi put the Rangers ahead with a slap shot from the right point. The veteran was paired with rookie Brady Skjei in his first game after missing New York's previous three with a strained groin, and Skjei assisted on the goal.

DUCKS 4, CANUCKS 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Nick Ritchie scored the tiebreaking goal on a rebound with 8:36 to play, captain Ryan Getzlaf had three assists and Anaheim finally opened its home schedule with a victory over Vancouver.

Andrew Cogliano, Cam Fowler and Corey Perry also scored for the Ducks, who have won two straight after a four-game winless start. John Gibson made 17 saves in the Western Conference's final home opener, thanks to a schedule that forced Anaheim to play in five teams' home debuts this month.

Henrik Sedin scored the tying goal early in the third period for the Canucks, who lost in regulation for the first time this season. Bo Horvat scored a short-handed goal, and Loui Eriksson had two assists.

Ryan Miller made 33 saves in his first outing since opening night for the Canucks.

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Monday's six-pack

Six most popular picks in Week 7 of the Westgate Super Contest:

1) Minnesota Vikings (751) -2.5- L

2) San Diego Chargers (599) +6.5- W

3) Tennessee Titans (562) -2.5- L

4) New England Patriots (506) -7- W

5) Miami Dolphins (489) +3- W

6) Oakland Raiders (413) +1- W

Season record: 15-26-1

**********

Armadillo: Monday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud

13) Since 1990, NFL teams that were 4-3 made the playoffs 47.9% of the time; teams that were 3-4 made it 19% of the time.

12) Before baseball season started, the Cubs-Indians World Series matchup was 74-1 in Las Vegas. Last year’s World Series (Mets-Royals) was 250-1 before the season.

11) Actor Marc Blucas has 57 credits to his name, including regular roles in TV shows Necessary Roughness and Underground; he went to college at Wake Forest, where he was a basketball teammate of Tim Duncan.

10) People are frontrunners: Golden State Warriors have a season ticket waiting list of 33,000. Across the parking lot, the A’s are lucky to draw half that unless they give stuff away or have firework shows.

9) Falcons’ QB Matt Ryan has thrown for 200+ yards 46 games in a row, which is an NFL record; now he plays at least nine games a year in a dome and two others in Charlotte/Tampa, so he hasn’t had to deal with much bad weather, but a record is a record.

8) Edmonton Oilers/Winnipeg Jets played an outdoor hockey game in Winnipeg Sunday; the ref wore a camera on his helmet and it provided some interesting angles of the game. It is worth finding on the Interweb.

7) Kentucky 40, Mississippi State 38- Kicker for Kentucky nailed a 51-yard FG at the gun to win this game for the Wildcats. After watching the kicking debacle in Arizona just now, this seemed more impressive than when I left it out of the college wrap up Saturday night.

6) Alabama has scored a TD on defense or special teams in 10 straight games, which is an amazing streak.

5) Oakland Raiders won in Jacksonville Sunday, will stay in Bradenton all this week before playing the Buccaneers in Tampa Sunday. Five of Oakland’s first eight games are east of the Mississippi, but they don’t have a road game in November and after this week, only have their three AFC West road trips remaining, as far as travel goes.

4) Penn State is in the top 25 for the first time in five years, so credit to coach James Franklin for that. You win at Vanderbilt, you can coach and he won there.

3) Sunday Night Football next week: Eagles at Cowboys with two rookie QB’s starting. Big game in the NFC East.

2) Carson Wentz’ emergence in the NFL is going to help make Wyoming’s soph QB Josh Allen really rich someday. Allen plays for Craig Bohl, who coached Wentz at North Dakota State. Allen is big and he can move a little and he has a rifle arm. When he comes out of college, either in the 2018 or 2019 NFL Draft, he will be a very high pick and Wentz’ success in the NFL ain’t going to hurt his standing any.

1— Rams QB Case Keenum gets his number retired at U of Houston Saturday; he is taking a lot of grief now in LA as the Rams have lost three games in a row. QBs get too much credit, too much blame. Jeff Fisher seemed to blame the WRs for some of the miscues in London but you cannot turn the ball over in the NFL and win and that is the QB’s #1 responsibility.

Anyway, congratulations on getting the number retired. Keenum was a great player in college, throwing for more yardage than anyone in I-A history.

[StarDust Bum]

NHL
Dunkel

Monday, October 24

Calgary @ Chicago

Game 3-4
October 24, 2016 @ 8:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Calgary
9.335
Chicago
11.970
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Chicago
by 2 1/2
6
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Chicago
-185
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Chicago
(-185); Over

Philadelphia @ Montreal

Game 1-2
October 24, 2016 @ 7:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Philadelphia
9.842
Montreal
12.393
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Montreal
by 2 1/2
6
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Montreal
-165
5
Dunkel Pick:
Montreal
(-165); Over




NHL
Long Sheet

Monday, October 24

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHILADELPHIA (2-2-0-1, 5 pts.) at MONTREAL (4-0-0-1, 9 pts.) - 10/24/2016, 7:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
PHILADELPHIA is 233-245 ATS (-89.1 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more since 1996.
MONTREAL is 21-5 ATS (+13.3 Units) in home games after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game over the last 3 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA is 19-14 ATS (+37.8 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5 or less over the last 2 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA is 27-20 ATS (+52.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA is 14-7 ATS (+23.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
MONTREAL is 4-2 (+1.9 Units) against the spread versus PHILADELPHIA over the last 3 seasons
MONTREAL is 4-2-0 straight up against PHILADELPHIA over the last 3 seasons
4 of 5 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+3.1 Units)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CALGARY (1-4-0-1, 3 pts.) at CHICAGO (3-3-0-0, 6 pts.) - 10/24/2016, 8:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 26-8 ATS (+13.5 Units) after a non-conference game over the last 2 seasons.
CALGARY is 102-103 ATS (+231.4 Units) in road games after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game since 1996.
CHICAGO is 315-325 ATS (-74.0 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record since 1996.
CHICAGO is 165-163 ATS (-70.2 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the first half of the season since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
CHICAGO is 4-2-0 straight up against CALGARY over the last 3 seasons
5 of 6 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+3.6 Units)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Monday, October 24

Home side won eight of last nine Philly-Montreal games; Flyers were outscored 15-7 in losing last four visits here. Over is 4-2 in last six series games, but 1-3 in last four in Molson Centre. Flyers lost three of their last four games (over 4-1); they’re 1-2 on road. Canadiens won last three games, outscoring foes 13-4; three of their last four games went over.

Chicago won four of last five games with Calgary; eight of last ten series games stayed under. Flames lost 4-1/2-1 in last two visits to Windy City. Calgary lost five of its first six games (over 5-1); they’re 0-2 on road. Blackhawks won their last three home games (over 3-0) scoring 17 goals




NHL

Monday, October 24

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8:30 PM
PHILADELPHIA vs. MONTREAL
Philadelphia is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
Philadelphia is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Montreal
Montreal is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Philadelphia
Montreal is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games

9:30 PM
CALGARY vs. CHICAGO
Calgary is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing on the road against Chicago
Chicago is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago's last 5 games at home

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Flyers (2-2) at Canadiens (4-0)
Date: October 24, 2016 7:30 PM EDT

MONTREAL -- Feeling confident after a comeback win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, the Philadelphia Flyers will face one of their toughest tests of the young season when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

The Flyers (2-2-1) found their offensive groove again with six goals in the win over the Hurricanes and are now averaging 3.8 goals per game. Montreal is averaging four goals, which leads the NHL.

"They have excellent team speed, especially their group of forwards," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol told the Philadelphia Inquirer of the Canadiens. "They play with a lot of pace."

Trailing 2-0 early in the second period on Saturday, the Flyers rallied for four straight before skating away with a 6-3 victory. While winger Jakub Voracek paced the offense with two goals and an assist, rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov came through with two key assists on goals that tied the game and provided Philadelphia with a lead it would never relinquish.

It was a bounce-back night for the 19-year-old after some tough outings on both sides of the puck, helped along by a teammate just one year removed from freshman status.

"He was down after a few games," second-year defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere told CSNPhilly.com. "I didn't really tell him much other than, 'Hey, we've got 79 more of these.' I told him to keep his head up and he'll get over it.

"He's a hell of a player and sometimes you don't get all of the bounces. He's a great player as you guys could see."

The Canadiens extended their winning streak to three games with a 4-1 triumph over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. But while names like Pacioretty, Radulov, Gallagher and Galchenyuk are the ones teams try to keep a close eye on, it was the unlikely sources who delivered on offense in the latest win.

Philip Danault, Torrey Mitchell and Paul Byron joined Brendan Gallagher on the scoresheet, giving Montreal 13 different players who have scored this season.

"We need that," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said after the game. "We knew it was a character game, and it really was outstanding (against Boston)."

While Montreal is putting the puck in seemingly with ease, opponents haven't been able to do the same at the other end. Back-up goaltender Al Montoya held the fort through the first three games and Carey Price looks like his old self in two appearances since returning from illness. The result is a league-best 1.60 goals-against average.

It's been a tougher road for the Flyers in their own end, averaging 3.8 goals against. Netminders Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth carry well-below average statistics into the week, with Mason's 3.35 goals-against average and .882 save percentage holding a slight edge over Neuvirth's 4.24 goals-against and .854 save percentage.

If there's an area that could use improvement on Montreal's end, it's the power play. While the man advantage has looked better than years past under associate coach Kirk Muller's guidance, the team only connected three times on 21 opportunities, tied for sixth-most chances in the NHL.

Former Canadiens forward Dale Weise won't get the chance to face his former team as he serves the second of a three-game suspension for a hit last week.

The Flyers could have fresh legs coming into the line-up this week as defenseman Michael Del Zotto and forward Scott Laughton joined the team for practice on Sunday and will travel to Montreal and partake in the club's morning skate. Both players have been on injured reserve since opening night.


NHL HEAD TO HEAD

Feb 19, 2016 Score ATS Results
PHI 2 Under: 5
MON « 3 Cover: 301
Tools: Recaps

Feb 2, 2016 Score ATS Results
MON 2 Over: 6
PHI « 4 Cover: 282
Tools: Recaps

Jan 5, 2016 Score ATS Results
MON 3 Over: 7
PHI « 4 Cover: 301
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Flames (1-4) at Blackhawks (3-3)
Date: October 24, 2016 8:30 PM EDT

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks are off to an inconsistent start while the Calgary Flames are among the NHL's worst clubs in 2016-17.

Struggles by stars on both teams could explain a lot.

Jonathan Toews will try to help the Blackhawks continue their recent offensive surge at home Monday night when they play host to Johnny Gaudreau and the Flames.

Toews, Chicago's captain, has just two assists in six games after averaging 28 goals and 35 assists during his previous nine NHL seasons. Part of the reason for his slow start may be as simple as letting a relationship with new linemates Tyler Motte and Richard Panik develop.

Motte and Panik each scored in regulation and Toews found the back of the net in the shootout as Chicago (3-3-0) rallied to beat Toronto 5-4 on Saturday night. The Blackhawks scored 16 of their 23 goals in their last three games at the United Center.

Motte, a rookie and a fourth-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft after a solid career at Michigan, has goals in each of his last two games. In a huge surprise, Panik leads the league with six goals despite taking only nine shots.

If Toews is panicking over his slow start, he's not showing it.

"You only get better and better when you really start understanding and really knowing everything (about your linemates)," he told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It just becomes feel. Sometimes you have to just go out there and let things happen, and use your instincts. That really kicks in with guys that you play with for a long time."

Toews, though, has only one goal and four assists in his last nine matchups with the Flames (1-4-1), who are waiting for Gaudreau to start putting together numbers like he did last season.

Through six games, Gaudreau has a goal and two assists but is also a team-worst minus-7. Last season, Gaudreau was sixth in the league in scoring with 78 points on 30 goals and 48 assists, and he was rewarded Oct. 10 with a six-year extension worth a reported $40.5 million.

Gaudreau has one assist in three career games at the United Center.

Another key offseason acquisition is key to the Flames' lackluster start under new coach Glenn Gulutzan. Goaltender Brian Elliott, who helped St. Louis eliminate the Blackhawks in seven games during the opening round of last season's Western Conference playoffs, has yet to win in any of his three starts this season while posting a 4.72 goals-against average and .839 save percentage.

Elliott didn't face his former team on Saturday night in the Flames' 6-4 loss to the Blues. He also could sit when Calgary caps its road trip Tuesday night in St. Louis.

"He's a confident guy. He's a well-structured guy. We know he'll be fine," Flames captain Mark Giordano told the Calgary Sun. "When he gets back in there, I'm sure the players will be looking to shut it down and really tighten up defensively, because we haven't really given him a game where he's had much of a chance."

Calgary's 27 goals allowed are most in the league. Chicago is only slightly better than the Flames with 22 goals given up.

Corey Crawford, who didn't play in the win over the Maple Leafs, is 4-2-3 with a 2.67 GAA and .895 save percentage versus the Flames. Scott Darling was 2-0-1 versus Calgary last season, stopping 91 of 95 shots.


NHL HEAD TO HEAD

Mar 26, 2016 Score ATS Results
CHI « 4 Cover: 223
CGY 1 Under: 5
Tools: Recaps

Nov 20, 2015 Score ATS Results
CHI 1 Cover: 244
CGY « 2 Under: 3
Tools: Recaps

Nov 15, 2015 Score ATS Results
CGY 1 Under: 5
CHI « 4 Cover: 203
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

Sabres goalie Lehner ill; Nilsson to start at Philadelphia
October 24, 2016

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Buffalo Sabres starting goalie Robin Lehner is sidelined with an illness, which means backup goalie Anders Nilsson will make his season debut at Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

Coach Dan Bylsma provided the update after Lehner missed practice Monday. Bylsma said Lehner was ''feeling under the weather,'' and not scheduled to travel with the team.

Buffalo filled the backup spot by promoting Linus Ullmark from Rochester, the team's American Hockey League affiliate.

Lehner has 1-2-1 record in playing all four games this season.

Buffalo gave up a fifth-round pick in the 2017 draft to acquire Nilsson in a trade with St. Louis in July.

He has a 19-22-4 record over three NHL seasons split between three teams, including the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers.

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NHL RECORD:

10/23/2016 4-4-0 50.00% -80

WLT PCT UNITS

M/L Picks 19-27-0 41.30% -3390

O/U Picks 27-31-7 46.55% -3550

TRIPLE PLAYS - ***** 9 - 15 - 1


M/L-.......... 6 - 10 - 0
O/U-..........7 - 10 - 1


MONDAY, OCTOBER 24

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

PHI at MON 07:30 PM

MON -163

O 5.0

CAL at CHI 08:30 PM

CHI -165

U 5.5

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SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY OCTOBER 25, 2016

Time (ET) Away Home Site

7:00 PM Arizona Coyotes New Jersey Devils Prudential Center

7:00 PM Florida Panthers Pittsburgh Penguins CONSOL Energy Center

7:00 PM Minnesota Wild Boston Bruins TD Garden

7:30 PM Buffalo Sabres Philadelphia Flyers Wells Fargo Center

7:30 PM Carolina Hurricanes Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena

7:30 PM Tampa Bay Lightning Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre

8:00 PM Calgary Flames St. Louis Blues Scottrade Center

8:30 PM Winnipeg Jets Dallas Stars American Airlines Center

10:00 PM Anaheim Ducks San Jose Sharks SAP Center at San Jose

10:00 PM Ottawa Senators Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena

10:30 PM Columbus Blue Jackets Los Angeles Kings Staples Center

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NHL Capsules
October 25, 2016

CHICAGO (AP) Kris Versteeg scored the lone goal of the shootout in the seventh round of the tiebreaker to give Calgary a 3-2 win over Chicago on Monday night and just their second victory this season.

Versteeg, a former *********, faked Corey Crawford and connected on a wrist shot.

Sam Bennett and Sean Monahan scored in regulation for Calgary, which snapped a two-game losing streak.

Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell connected in regulation for Chicago.

Campbell's goal, his first with the Blackhawks since rejoining them as a free agent in the offseason, tied it 2-all at 4:12 of the third.

Brian Elliott made 31 saves through overtime and blocked all seven in the shootout to earn his first win with Calgary after three losses. Acquired from St. Louis in June, Elliott had allowed 14 goals in his first three starts for the Flames.

Crawford blocked 29 shots through overtime.

CANADIENS 3, FLYERS 1

MONTREAL (AP) - Brendan Gallagher scored midway through the third period as Montreal extended its winning streak to four games.

First-place Montreal (5-0-1) remains the only team unbeaten in regulation time.

Shea Weber and Alexander Radulov, into the empty net, also scored for Montreal. Carey Price made 31 saves for his third consecutive win to start the season.

Jakub Voracek scored the lone goal for the Flyers (2-3-1). Steve Mason stopped 30 of 32 shots.

Gallagher scored on the power play at 13:08 of the third period, just four seconds into Montreal's man advantage. It was his team-leading fourth goal of the season.

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Tuesday’s six-pack

— Median price for a ticket to tonight’s World Series game is $1,100.

— Big night in Cleveland tonight; Cavaliers get their championship rings and the Indians play in the World Series.

— Jets’ QB Geno Smith is out for the year with a torn ACL.

— In his last 13 games, Lions’ QB Matthew Stafford has thrown 32 TDs, only five INTs.

— I’m not sure why, but Hank Aaron was an honorary captain for Michigan’s football game Saturday

Tuesday’s List of 13: Random NBA knowledge

With NBA starting the week, some notes you might find interesting……….
13) Brooklyn Nets are terrible and do not have control of their first round draft pick until 2019. Hard to get better that way.

New GM of the Nets is Sean Marks, who was a throw-in in the Knicks-Toronto Oakley-Camby trade in 1998. Marks comes from the San Antonio front office. We wish him good luck; he’ll need it.

12) Portland Trailblazers had the #29 payroll in the NBA last year; they paid to keep their core players this spring and now have a top five payroll.

11) It was 948 days in between Joel Embiid’s last game at Kansas and his first preseason game for the 76ers. He did play well in preseason though.

10) Kyrie Irving scored 19.6 pts/game in regular season LY, 25.2 in playoffs. How much will he score this regular season?

9) Andre Drummond of the Pistons just signed a contract worth $130M for five years. He shot 35.5% from the foul line last year. This bothers me.

8) When Oklahoma City Thunder players have dinner together on the road, they all put their cellphones in the middle of the dinner table, to eliminate distractions.

7) According to a survey released last week, the average NBA player spends $42,500 a month.

6) This quote on the Milwaukee Bucks from an anonymous NBA scout: “Jason Kidd’s had a lot of influence in personnel moves and I don’t think that’s been a good thing.”

5) Minnesota Timberwolves’ top three scorers last year were all 21 years old or younger. Minnesota was the #28 defensive team LY; in Tom Thibodeau’s five years as coach of the Bulls, they were a top 6 defense four times. Thibodeau is Minnesota’s new coach.

4) In three years under Doc Rivers, Clippers are 166-80 in regular season, 15-18 in playoffs.

3) Memphis Grizzlies used 28 players last year, most in NBA history.

2) Now-retired Tim Duncan averaged 25.2 minutes/game for the Spurs LY; looks like 36-year old Pau Gasol will be his primary replacement. Better on offense, not nearly as good on defense.

1) NBA regular season is 1,229 games long; we’ll have knowledge on every one of them on the Hoops page, starting tonight. Plus we’ll do college hoop every night too. Enjoy!!

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NHL knowledge

Tuesday’s games

Penguins won three of last four games with Florida; over is 5-2-2 in last nine series games. Panthers were outscored 11-4 in losing last three visits here. Florida is 3-2 this season, 0-1 on road; their last three games went over. Penguins lost three of their last four games (over 2-2-2).

Bruins won their last three games with Minnesota; over is 4-0-1 in last five series games. Wild won three of last five visits to Beantown. Minnesota is 0-3 on road, outscored 11-6 (over 3-2-1). Boston is off to 3-2 start, 1-1 at home; three of their last four games stayed under.

Devils won last four games with Arizona, outscoring Coyotes 12-3; Arizona lost four of last five visits here (under 2-0-2 last four). Coyotes are 0-4 on road, outscored 18-10 (over 3-2). New Jersey won both its home games 2-1; under is 4-0-1 in Devil games this month.

Sabres won three of last four games with Philly; over is 5-3 in last eight series games. Buffalo is 2-3 in last five visits here (over 3-1 in last four). Sabres lost three of their first four games (over 2-2). Flyers lost four of last five games (over 4-1-1), splitting their two home games.

Tampa Bay won six of last eight games with Toronto; under is 4-1-1 in last six. Lightning won four of its first five games (over 2-2-1), winning only road game at Ottawa. Toronto lost its last three games, all by one goal (one in SO, one in OT); over is 3-2 in their games this season.

Road team won six of last seven Carolina-Detroit games; Hurricanes won three of last four visits to Motor City. Under is 4-2-1 in last seven series games (over 3-2-1). Carolina lost four of its first five games (over 4-1); they haven’t played a home game yet. Red Wings won last four games, outscoring foes 15-5; over is 3-2-1 in their games this year.

Blues won seven of last eight games with Calgary; over is 3-0-1 in last four. Flames lost last four visits to St Louis, outscored 14-6 (under 2-0-2). Flames lost five of their first six games (over 5-1); they’re 0-2 on road. Blues won first two home games, both 3-2; they’re 4-2 overall (over 2-2-2).

Dallas Stars won four of last five games with Winnipeg; road team won six of last nine series games, with six of last seven going over total. Jets won three of last five visits to Dallas; they lost three of last four games overall (over 3-2). Dallas lost three of its last four games (over 3-2).

Canucks are 7-3 in last ten games with Ottawa; five of last six series games went over the total. Senators lost four of last five visits to Vancouver (over 4-1). Ottawa is off to 3-2 start, losing only road game 5-1 at Detroit (over 4-1). Canucks are 4-0 at home (0-2 on road), with three wins in OT/SO (over 3-3).

Ducks won 1-0/1-0/3-2 in last three games with San Jose; under is 5-1-1 in last seven series games. Anaheim lost three of last four visits here. Ducks won last two games after an 0-4 start; they’re 1-4 on road (over 2-2-2). Sharks lost three of last four games (under 5-1).

Kings won seven of last nine games with Columbus; over is 3-1-2 in last six series games. Blue Jackets are 1-4 in last five visits to Staples (under 4-1). Columbus split its first four games, with last three staying under- they won only road game, at Dallas. Kings won last two games, one in OT, one in SO; their last four games went over total.