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NHL
Saturday, January 9
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Twice the Ice: Hockey Night in Canada
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Pittsburgh Penguins at Toronto Maple Leafs (+125, 6)
The basics
The early HNIC matchup is between two teams headed in the wrong direction.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are 27-17-1, fourth in the Eastern Conference, but have lost six of their last seven games.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are 15-20-9, 14th in the Eastern Conference and have lost eight of their last eleven games.
Falling stars
The Penguins and Maple Leafs have been slumping and so have stars Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel.
Malkin, who led the NHL in points last season, has no goals and four assists in his team’s last seven games.
Kessel has one goal and is minus-8 in Toronto’s last 10 games.
"He [Kessel] hasn't played well the last 10 games," coach Ron Wilson told the Toronto Star. "I can single out a bunch of guys, but he's our best player and a lot of times that needs to be the message."
Special (needs) teams
Saturday’s game pits the NHL’s worst power play against the NHL’s worst penalty kill.
Pittsburgh is executing with the man advantage at a league-low 14.6 percent and is 2-for-20 (10 percent) in its last seven games.
Toronto’s penalty kill, a league worst 69.7 percent, is 9-18 (50 percent) in its last six games.
“It's poor use of the stick, poor awareness of where the passes are going, unwillingness to block a shot," Maple Leafs assistant coach Tim Hunter told the Toronto Star.
Trends
The last five games between Pittsburgh and Toronto have gone over the total.
In all five games the total was set at 6 or 6.5 and an average of 8.2 goals were scored.
The Penguins have gone over the total in each of their last three games, while Toronto has had difficulty scoring and has gone under the total in seven of nine.
Toronto has won four of the last five games against Pittsburgh despite being an underdog in all of those games.
Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks (-165, 5)
The basics
The late HNIC contest features one of the best rivalries in the NHL.
The Calgary Flames are 25-13-5 and had won five in a row before a loss to the Minnesota Wild Wednesday.
The Vancouver Canucks are 27-16-1 and have won four games in a row.
Calgary and Vancouver have split the last 14 games.
Total trends
The over is 9-2 in the previous 11 contests between these two teams, but Calgary and Vancouver are among the stingiest in the Western Conference in allowing goals.
The Flames have not gone over the total in six games (0-5-1), allowing exactly one goal in five of those games.
Vancouver is allowing 2.39 goals a game, fourth in the Western Conference behind Chicago, Phoenix and Calgary.
Hot Swedish twins
Vancouver’s line of Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows may be the hottest line in the NHL.
Henrik Sedin leads the league with 61 points and was named the NHL’s first star for December.
Daniel Sedin missed time with an injury earlier in the season, but is averaging 1.35 points per game.
Alex Burrows has recorded back-to-back hat tricks.
"I wish I was Burrows playing on that line," Coyotes defenceman Ed Jovanovski told the Vancouver Sun.
Burn Out?
The Flames are one of the NHL’s best road teams at 13-6-3, but will be playing their fourth game in five days as a result of the NHL’s condensed schedule.
“It’s really, really hard on the players,” Flames general manager Darryl Sutter told John Down of the Calgary Herald. “People don’t understand it . . . our players are doing a good job.”
The Canucks have one of the league’s best home records at 18-6-0, and will be playing their third game in seven days.
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Saturday, January 9
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twice the Ice: Hockey Night in Canada
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pittsburgh Penguins at Toronto Maple Leafs (+125, 6)
The basics
The early HNIC matchup is between two teams headed in the wrong direction.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are 27-17-1, fourth in the Eastern Conference, but have lost six of their last seven games.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are 15-20-9, 14th in the Eastern Conference and have lost eight of their last eleven games.
Falling stars
The Penguins and Maple Leafs have been slumping and so have stars Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel.
Malkin, who led the NHL in points last season, has no goals and four assists in his team’s last seven games.
Kessel has one goal and is minus-8 in Toronto’s last 10 games.
"He [Kessel] hasn't played well the last 10 games," coach Ron Wilson told the Toronto Star. "I can single out a bunch of guys, but he's our best player and a lot of times that needs to be the message."
Special (needs) teams
Saturday’s game pits the NHL’s worst power play against the NHL’s worst penalty kill.
Pittsburgh is executing with the man advantage at a league-low 14.6 percent and is 2-for-20 (10 percent) in its last seven games.
Toronto’s penalty kill, a league worst 69.7 percent, is 9-18 (50 percent) in its last six games.
“It's poor use of the stick, poor awareness of where the passes are going, unwillingness to block a shot," Maple Leafs assistant coach Tim Hunter told the Toronto Star.
Trends
The last five games between Pittsburgh and Toronto have gone over the total.
In all five games the total was set at 6 or 6.5 and an average of 8.2 goals were scored.
The Penguins have gone over the total in each of their last three games, while Toronto has had difficulty scoring and has gone under the total in seven of nine.
Toronto has won four of the last five games against Pittsburgh despite being an underdog in all of those games.
Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks (-165, 5)
The basics
The late HNIC contest features one of the best rivalries in the NHL.
The Calgary Flames are 25-13-5 and had won five in a row before a loss to the Minnesota Wild Wednesday.
The Vancouver Canucks are 27-16-1 and have won four games in a row.
Calgary and Vancouver have split the last 14 games.
Total trends
The over is 9-2 in the previous 11 contests between these two teams, but Calgary and Vancouver are among the stingiest in the Western Conference in allowing goals.
The Flames have not gone over the total in six games (0-5-1), allowing exactly one goal in five of those games.
Vancouver is allowing 2.39 goals a game, fourth in the Western Conference behind Chicago, Phoenix and Calgary.
Hot Swedish twins
Vancouver’s line of Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows may be the hottest line in the NHL.
Henrik Sedin leads the league with 61 points and was named the NHL’s first star for December.
Daniel Sedin missed time with an injury earlier in the season, but is averaging 1.35 points per game.
Alex Burrows has recorded back-to-back hat tricks.
"I wish I was Burrows playing on that line," Coyotes defenceman Ed Jovanovski told the Vancouver Sun.
Burn Out?
The Flames are one of the NHL’s best road teams at 13-6-3, but will be playing their fourth game in five days as a result of the NHL’s condensed schedule.
“It’s really, really hard on the players,” Flames general manager Darryl Sutter told John Down of the Calgary Herald. “People don’t understand it . . . our players are doing a good job.”
The Canucks have one of the league’s best home records at 18-6-0, and will be playing their third game in seven days.
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