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NHL
Wednesday, October 29
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Ice picks: Wednesday's best NHL bets
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Minnesota Wild at Dallas Stars (-140, 5)
The Wild try for their first victory in Dallas since the 2002-03 season when they meet a Stars team struggling to keep the puck out of its own net.
For the second consecutive October, Minnesota (6-0-1) is the last remaining NHL team without a loss in regulation. The Wild opened 7-0-1 last season before losing 5-3 at Calgary on Oct. 24, 2007.
This year's start is arguably more impressive, as it has occurred despite the extended absence of star right wing Marian Gaborik. Gaborik, the team leader with 42 goals and 83 points in 2007-08, has missed the last five games due to an unspecified lower body injury.
Mikko Koivu's line with wingers Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen - a former Star - has picked up the slack, combining for 10 of Minnesota's 22 goals and 29 of its 59 points. That trend continued in a 3-2 home victory over Chicago on Monday, when Koivu had three assists and Brunette and Miettinen added one goal and one assist apiece.
The Wild's visits to Dallas have not gone well. They are 3-8-2 with one tie all-time there, and the trend has grown worse in recent years. Minnesota has dropped eight straight games in Dallas since a 3-2 overtime victory on March 21, 2003, including a pair of defeats last season by a combined 11-4 margin.
Making opponents work for goals is precisely what the Stars aren't doing well enough. Dallas has already yielded 38 goals, including five or more in five of its nine games. The Stars rallied from two goals down to force overtime Saturday against Washington, but fell 6-5 when Alexander Semin beat Marty Turco at 2:17 of the extra session.
"The goals-against is a joke right now," coach Dave Tippett said. "There are a lot of guilty parties out there. It's not the way we do things around here, to have to score seven goals to win. Our goaltending hasn't been very good."
Pick: Wild
Detroit Red Wings at Anaheim Ducks (+105, 5.5)
In a matchup of the last two Stanley Cup champions, the Ducks will try to win their fifth straight overall as they open a three-game homestand against the Detroit Red Wings, who are perfect in five road games thus far.
Anaheim (5-5-0) opened this season with four straight losses, and that sluggish stretch was part of a 1-5-0 start in which it dropped three of four at home, where it went 28-9-4 in 2007-08.
But the Ducks have found their stride away from Honda Center, winning all four games on a recent road trip that was capped by Monday night's 3-2 victory at Columbus.
Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf each had a goal and an assist, while Teemu Selanne scored the go-ahead goal with 3:55 left as the Ducks evened their record by sweeping a road trip of four games or longer for the second time in franchise history.
Though the Red Wings are among the highest-scoring clubs in the NHL with 35 goals, seven of their nine games have been decided by one goal.
The defending Stanley Cup champions have taken advantage of their power-play opportunities, scoring once in five chances on Monday to improve to 12-for-37 (32.4 percent) this season. They have prevented 35 of 43 (81.4 percent) of their opponents' chances with the man advantage, turning aside five of six in their last game.
Pick: Wings
Wednesday, October 29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ice picks: Wednesday's best NHL bets
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minnesota Wild at Dallas Stars (-140, 5)
The Wild try for their first victory in Dallas since the 2002-03 season when they meet a Stars team struggling to keep the puck out of its own net.
For the second consecutive October, Minnesota (6-0-1) is the last remaining NHL team without a loss in regulation. The Wild opened 7-0-1 last season before losing 5-3 at Calgary on Oct. 24, 2007.
This year's start is arguably more impressive, as it has occurred despite the extended absence of star right wing Marian Gaborik. Gaborik, the team leader with 42 goals and 83 points in 2007-08, has missed the last five games due to an unspecified lower body injury.
Mikko Koivu's line with wingers Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen - a former Star - has picked up the slack, combining for 10 of Minnesota's 22 goals and 29 of its 59 points. That trend continued in a 3-2 home victory over Chicago on Monday, when Koivu had three assists and Brunette and Miettinen added one goal and one assist apiece.
The Wild's visits to Dallas have not gone well. They are 3-8-2 with one tie all-time there, and the trend has grown worse in recent years. Minnesota has dropped eight straight games in Dallas since a 3-2 overtime victory on March 21, 2003, including a pair of defeats last season by a combined 11-4 margin.
Making opponents work for goals is precisely what the Stars aren't doing well enough. Dallas has already yielded 38 goals, including five or more in five of its nine games. The Stars rallied from two goals down to force overtime Saturday against Washington, but fell 6-5 when Alexander Semin beat Marty Turco at 2:17 of the extra session.
"The goals-against is a joke right now," coach Dave Tippett said. "There are a lot of guilty parties out there. It's not the way we do things around here, to have to score seven goals to win. Our goaltending hasn't been very good."
Pick: Wild
Detroit Red Wings at Anaheim Ducks (+105, 5.5)
In a matchup of the last two Stanley Cup champions, the Ducks will try to win their fifth straight overall as they open a three-game homestand against the Detroit Red Wings, who are perfect in five road games thus far.
Anaheim (5-5-0) opened this season with four straight losses, and that sluggish stretch was part of a 1-5-0 start in which it dropped three of four at home, where it went 28-9-4 in 2007-08.
But the Ducks have found their stride away from Honda Center, winning all four games on a recent road trip that was capped by Monday night's 3-2 victory at Columbus.
Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf each had a goal and an assist, while Teemu Selanne scored the go-ahead goal with 3:55 left as the Ducks evened their record by sweeping a road trip of four games or longer for the second time in franchise history.
Though the Red Wings are among the highest-scoring clubs in the NHL with 35 goals, seven of their nine games have been decided by one goal.
The defending Stanley Cup champions have taken advantage of their power-play opportunities, scoring once in five chances on Monday to improve to 12-for-37 (32.4 percent) this season. They have prevented 35 of 43 (81.4 percent) of their opponents' chances with the man advantage, turning aside five of six in their last game.
Pick: Wings
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