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NHL
Thursday, February 19
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Ice Picks: NHL best bets
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Chicago Blackhawks at Florida Panthers (+105, 5.5)
The Chicago Blackhawks will be wrapping up a two-game trip through the Sunshine State. The Hawks came from behind to beat the Lightning 5-3 Tuesday.
"It was one of those games we started hard and had a lot of shots and a lot of scoring chances," Jonathan Toews told the Chicago Tribune. "We stuck with it and didn't let that momentum rattle us. We just kept driving and kept getting scoring chances. We knew eventually that they had to go in."
I’m not sure if Chicago is trying to avoid the cable guy or what, but it has been home just once in its last 10 games. During that span, the Hawks have seven wins and three losses. Their trip to Miami will be a little more difficult than the stop in Tampa.
Florida is coming off a very impressive 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils. The Panthers have actually won six of their last eight games with the only two losses coming to Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. The Panthers are 21-9-6 since late November and now find themselves in the ***** of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
''It's like night and day around here,'' Panthers blueliner Jay Bouwmeester told reporters. ''We've forgotten about the start of the year. It's in the past. Things are good with us right now.''
Here’s one interesting note for the water cooler discussion Thursday morning: The Hawks and Panthers will open up the 2009-2010 NHL season with a pair of games against each other in Helsinki, Finland.
Pick: Florida +105
Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars (-155, 5.5)
This is the third meeting between the Oilers and Stars this season. The home club has dominated the season series winning all three games.
Edmonton has won three of their last four games with the only loss coming to the San Jose Sharks Tuesday. Don’t read too much into the Oilers' winning streak. They beat a struggling Montreal team, a Los Angeles team that is in the midst of a slide and a Phoenix team that can’t buy a win on home ice.
Brad Richards is the latest casualty for the Dallas Stars. He is expected to be out six to eight weeks with a broken wrist. Brendan Morrow and Sergei Zubov are both out for the rest of the regular season.
This will be a battle between two of the busiest goalies in the NHL. Marty Turco has started 27 straight games for the Stars while Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson has played in 26 of the past 28.
This game could come down to special teams. The Oilers power play is red hot, firing at over 27 percent in the past five games. The Stars penalty kill is equally impressive, being 95 percent effective in their last five. But the Oilers have only five wins in their last 31 visits to Lone star state.
Pick: Dallas -155
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Thursday, February 19
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ice Picks: NHL best bets
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Blackhawks at Florida Panthers (+105, 5.5)
The Chicago Blackhawks will be wrapping up a two-game trip through the Sunshine State. The Hawks came from behind to beat the Lightning 5-3 Tuesday.
"It was one of those games we started hard and had a lot of shots and a lot of scoring chances," Jonathan Toews told the Chicago Tribune. "We stuck with it and didn't let that momentum rattle us. We just kept driving and kept getting scoring chances. We knew eventually that they had to go in."
I’m not sure if Chicago is trying to avoid the cable guy or what, but it has been home just once in its last 10 games. During that span, the Hawks have seven wins and three losses. Their trip to Miami will be a little more difficult than the stop in Tampa.
Florida is coming off a very impressive 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils. The Panthers have actually won six of their last eight games with the only two losses coming to Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. The Panthers are 21-9-6 since late November and now find themselves in the ***** of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
''It's like night and day around here,'' Panthers blueliner Jay Bouwmeester told reporters. ''We've forgotten about the start of the year. It's in the past. Things are good with us right now.''
Here’s one interesting note for the water cooler discussion Thursday morning: The Hawks and Panthers will open up the 2009-2010 NHL season with a pair of games against each other in Helsinki, Finland.
Pick: Florida +105
Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars (-155, 5.5)
This is the third meeting between the Oilers and Stars this season. The home club has dominated the season series winning all three games.
Edmonton has won three of their last four games with the only loss coming to the San Jose Sharks Tuesday. Don’t read too much into the Oilers' winning streak. They beat a struggling Montreal team, a Los Angeles team that is in the midst of a slide and a Phoenix team that can’t buy a win on home ice.
Brad Richards is the latest casualty for the Dallas Stars. He is expected to be out six to eight weeks with a broken wrist. Brendan Morrow and Sergei Zubov are both out for the rest of the regular season.
This will be a battle between two of the busiest goalies in the NHL. Marty Turco has started 27 straight games for the Stars while Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson has played in 26 of the past 28.
This game could come down to special teams. The Oilers power play is red hot, firing at over 27 percent in the past five games. The Stars penalty kill is equally impressive, being 95 percent effective in their last five. But the Oilers have only five wins in their last 31 visits to Lone star state.
Pick: Dallas -155
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