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NHL
Thursday, January 21
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Ice picks: Today's best NHL bets
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Toronto Maple Leafs at Tampa Bay Lightning (-115, 6)
The Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t exactly been lighting the world on fire this year, but their embarrassing 8-2 loss to the Rangers at MSG Tuesday night was possibly their worst outing of the season.
“The only thing we did right was that the bus was on time to get us here”, head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters after Tuesday’s blowout.
And that’s pretty accurate. Tampa Bay only managed 11 shots in the final two periods and was constantly out of position on the defensive end. Defensemen Victor Hedman and Kurtis Foster both finished minus-3 on the night.
“We need to see a lot better,” Hedman admitted to the St. Petersburg Times, “See where the puck is and where guys are and clean out in front of the net and let the goaltenders see the puck.”
The Lightning need to get back on track and put Tuesday’s debacle behind them. They will have a golden opportunity to do just that when they face the Maple Leafs, winners of only three of their last 10 games.
Pick: Lightning
Anaheim Ducks at San Jose Sharks (-210, 5.5)
The Anaheim Ducks are soaring. They have won seven of their last eight and defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 Tuesday night. The Ducks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period and were able to fight off the Sabres’ comeback.
The Ducks have done a much better job at preserving leads late in the game and have outscored opposing teams 10-5 in the third period.
Anaheim, which is now just four points away from the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, will embark on an important six-game road trip – starting with the San Jose Sharks Thursday.
“If you want to be a playoff team, you're going to have to win on the road,” head coach Randy Carlyle told The Orange County Register. “We put ourselves in a position now where we're challenging. We can't afford to give up ground here just because we're going on the road.”
The Ducks will have to fight hard for those two points at The Shark Tank, where San Jose has only lost in regulation a total of four times this season.
Pick: Ducks
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Thursday, January 21
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ice picks: Today's best NHL bets
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toronto Maple Leafs at Tampa Bay Lightning (-115, 6)
The Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t exactly been lighting the world on fire this year, but their embarrassing 8-2 loss to the Rangers at MSG Tuesday night was possibly their worst outing of the season.
“The only thing we did right was that the bus was on time to get us here”, head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters after Tuesday’s blowout.
And that’s pretty accurate. Tampa Bay only managed 11 shots in the final two periods and was constantly out of position on the defensive end. Defensemen Victor Hedman and Kurtis Foster both finished minus-3 on the night.
“We need to see a lot better,” Hedman admitted to the St. Petersburg Times, “See where the puck is and where guys are and clean out in front of the net and let the goaltenders see the puck.”
The Lightning need to get back on track and put Tuesday’s debacle behind them. They will have a golden opportunity to do just that when they face the Maple Leafs, winners of only three of their last 10 games.
Pick: Lightning
Anaheim Ducks at San Jose Sharks (-210, 5.5)
The Anaheim Ducks are soaring. They have won seven of their last eight and defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 Tuesday night. The Ducks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period and were able to fight off the Sabres’ comeback.
The Ducks have done a much better job at preserving leads late in the game and have outscored opposing teams 10-5 in the third period.
Anaheim, which is now just four points away from the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, will embark on an important six-game road trip – starting with the San Jose Sharks Thursday.
“If you want to be a playoff team, you're going to have to win on the road,” head coach Randy Carlyle told The Orange County Register. “We put ourselves in a position now where we're challenging. We can't afford to give up ground here just because we're going on the road.”
The Ducks will have to fight hard for those two points at The Shark Tank, where San Jose has only lost in regulation a total of four times this season.
Pick: Ducks
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