Saturday Trends and Indexes 10/13

[pm530]

Baseball – Write up

MLB
Write-up


Saturday, October 13

League Championship Series

Schilling is 2-2, 2.02 in his last four starts; under is 3-0-1 in his last four outings. Schilling beat the Indians 5-3 back on May 28, allowing one run in seven IP. Red Sox are 4-0 so far in playoffs, scoring 29 runs in the four games. Cleveland won Carmona's last eight starts; he is 5-0, 1.81 in his last six starts. He beat the Red Sox 1-0 on July 25. Under is 14-2 in his last 16 starts.

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[pm530]

National Hockey League – Write up

NHL
Write-up


Saturday, October 13

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Today's NHL analysis

Hot Teams-- Washington won three of its first four games.
-- Senators won five of their first six games.
-- Carolina won three of last four games, scoring 12 goals in the last two games. Montreal is off to a 2-1 start.
-- Flyers went 2-1 on opening road trip, scoring 14 goals.
-- Tampa Bay won first three games, allowing four goals.
-- Colorado is 2-0 at home, scoring ten goals. Columbus is 2-1, with pair of shutout wins.
-- Minnesota is off to 3-0 start, allowing two goals.

Cold Teams
-- Buffalo lost two of its first three games.
-- Penguins lost two of first three games. Leafs are 2-3 in first five games; they've been shorthanded for 10:42+ in each of the last four games.
-- Rangers scored four goals in their last three games (1-2).
-- Islanders lost two of last three games, scoring five goals.
-- Atlanta is 0-4 this season, outscored 16-4. Devils lost three of first four games, scoring seven goals.
-- Panthers lost three of their first four games, scoring 7 goals.
-- Calgary lost three of their first four games. Nahsville lost last two games, allowing 10 goals.
-- Dallas lost its first two road games, outscored 9-4. Chicago is 2-2 so far, just 2-18 on the power play.
-- Coyotes are 2-2, scoring four goals in two home games (1-1).
-- Oilers lost last three games, outscored 11-4. Vancouver is 0-2 at home, losing 3-1/8-2. Canucks won 5-2 in Edmonton Friday.
-- Bruins are playing fifth straight road game; they won 8-6 last night in Los Angeles. Home opener for 2-2 San Jose; they have nine goals in their first four games.

Series Records
-- Buffalo won six of its last seven games vs Washington.
-- Penguins lost three of last four at Toronto (2-3/3-5/6-5/4-5)
-- Ottawa won four in row vs Rangers (1-0/6-4/3-2/2-0).
-- Carolina won their last seven games at Molson Centre.
-- Islanders won five in row vs Flyers (4-2/2-0/6-5OT/4-3/4-2).
-- Atlanta won seven of last eight vs Devils, with NJ losing last four visits to Philips Arena (4-3/6-5OT/5-2/5-4SO).
-- Lightning lost seven of last eight visits to Florida.
-- Flames lost last four visits to Nashville (2-0/9-4/5-3/6-3).
-- Home side won last five Chicago-Dallas games.
-- Colorado won seven of last eight vs Columbus.
-- Minnesota won five of last six against the Coyotes.
-- Canucks won last six games vs Oilers (6-2/3-2/5-3/5-2/2-1).
-- Sharks won 6-2 in Boston two years ago, in last meeting.

Totals
-- Under is 4-0 in Washington games this season.
-- Last three Pittsburgh-Toronto games went over total.
-- Seven of last eight Ranger-Senator games stayed under.
-- Under is 7-1-1 in last nine Montreal-Carolina games.
-- Six of last eight Islander-Philly games stayed under total.
-- Four of last five Atlanta-Devil games went over the total.
-- Over is 5-2 in last seven Tampa-Florida games.
-- Over is 3-1-1 in last five Calgary-Nashville games.
-- Under is 3-1-1 in last five Chicago-Dallas games.
-- Seven of last eight Colorado-Columbus games went under.
-- Last three Minnesota-Phoenix games stayed under.
-- Over is 4-1-1 in last six Edmonton-Vancouver games.
-- Under is 3-1 in Boston games this season.

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[pm530]

National Hockey League – Ice Picks

NHL
Previews and Picks

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Ice picks: Saturday's best NHL bets


Carolina Hurricanes at Montreal Canadiens (-112, 6)

Carolina was shut down 3-2 by Montreal in its home opener and hope to return the favor tonight when they visit the Bell Centre.

Carolina is in the middle of a brutal six-game road trip while Montreal is home for the first time this season. The road has been kind to the Habs (2-0-1), though. Despite an overtime loss to Toronto, they've come away with five points in three games.

Eric Staal leads Carolina with five goals and eight points and the Canes have scored 12 goals in their last two games - both wins. They'll face Cristobal Huet, who rejected 29 of 31 shots in the teams' last matchup. Huet has a 2.89 GAA in two starts.

Pick: Over 6


Ottawa Senators at New York Rangers (-108, 5 ½)

The Senators won five of their first six games of the season, including a 2-0 home win over the Rangers. They're coming off a 5-3 loss to Carolina when they visit Madison Square Garden tonight.

Henrik Lundqvist (1.77 GAA) and the Rangers will try to slow the Sens' power trio of Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley, who have a combined 28 points. Spezza leads the league with 10 assists and Alfredsson has scored in his last five games against New York. The teams have a low-scoring history, however, and have played under the total in seven of their last 10 meetings and four of their last five at the Garden.

The Sens' penalty-kill could come in handy against the Rangers, who scored all three of their goals in a 3-1 win over Washington Friday with a man advantage.

Pick: Sens -102


Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers (-125, 5 ½)

The Lightning beat the Panthers 2-1 Wednesday night in Tampa Bay and need to do it again to go 4-0 for the first time since they hoisted the Cup in 2003-04.

Martin St. Louis has five points on five assists for the Lightning while Vincent Lecavalier and Vaclav Prospal each have three goals and one assist. Former Panther Chris Gratton is a welcome addition to the Bolts' offense after scoring both goals in Wednesday's win.

The teams have played over the total in five of their last seven meeting in Florida.

Pick: Over 5 ½

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[pm530]

Hockey today - October 13

SCOREBOARD
Saturday, Oct. 13

Ottawa at N.Y. Rangers (7 p.m. EDT). The Senators shut out the Rangers 2-0 seven days ago.

STARS
Friday

-Phil Kessel, Bruins, scored three goals for his first career hat trick and Boston beat Los Angeles 8-6.

-Matthew Lombardi, Flames, scored twice, including the overtime winner that gave Calgary a 3-2 victory at Dallas.

-Robert Lang, Blackhawks, scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and Chicago rallied for a 3-2 win at Detroit.

-Jaromir Jagr, Rangers, assisted on all three goals in New York's 3-1 win over Washington.

STRONG PUNISHMENT

Philadelphia forward Jesse Boulerice was suspended 25 games by the NHL on Friday for striking Vancouver's Ryan Kesler across the face with his stick, the longest single-season ban in league history. Boulerice is the second Flyer in two weeks to draw a long suspension - rookie Steve Downie was suspended 20 games for an intentional hit against Ottawa. In 1998, Boulerice was suspended for one year by the Ontario Hockey League for violent stick-swinging.

LASTING LEGACE

St. Louis goalie Manny Legace improved to 12-1 lifetime against Colorado after making 24 saves in Friday night's 4-1 win. His career goals-against average against the Avalanche is 1.85.

MORE FROM MODANO

Mike Modano scored for Dallas in Friday night's 3-2 overtime loss to Calgary to move within four points of matching Phil Housley's record for U.S.-born players. Modano's first goal of the season gave him 1,228 career points in 1,243 games and 508 goals for his career, the most for any U.S.-born player.

REMEMBER ME?

Robert Lang haunted his former team for the second time in less than a week on Friday night, scoring the go-ahead goal midway through the third period to help Chicago defeat Detroit 3-2. On Saturday, Lang tied the game late in the third period before the Blackhawks defeated the Red Wings 4-3 in a shootout.

POWERING UP

The New York Rangers scored all three of their goals with the man-advantage in Friday night's 3-1 win over Washington. The Rangers had failed in all 15 power-play chances over the season's first three games, while the Capitals hadn't allowed a power-play goal in 12 short-handed situations while jumping to a 3-0 start.

STILL TRYING

Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie announced his continued interest in buying the Nashville Predators on Friday in a move that could disrupt the intended sale to a group of local businessmen. Balsillie, whose $220 million offer fell through earlier this year after he tried to move the team to Canada, now says he believes Nashville is a viable market for hockey, according to a letter sent to the Nashville ****** by his spokesman. However, current owner Craig Leipold is committed to completing the sale to the local investors, the team announced Friday. The local group put down a $10 million deposit in August on a $193 million offer and has until Oct. 31 to complete the sale.

SPEAKING

''It's just one of those teams that you have to be up for. Hopefully, it keeps up. I respect this team so much. They're so talented, if you don't show up against these guys, they're going to bury you in a hurry.'' - St. Louis goalie Manny Legace on improving to 12-1 lifetime against Colorado with 24 saves in Friday night's 4-1 win over the Avalanche.

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