Nice to see everyone again. We are back in action for the big Saturday of games! Good night to take off last night as there was some unpredictable action, including a 5-4 SO come backer by Pittsburgh. As for our trends, we are coming straight off celebrating a Turkey. It was a last second shootout spin-o-rama, but we’ll take it. All we can say is, way to go three in a row!
Plenty of games to choose from. Because of the numerous match ups we’re going to put our record on the line and make two selections. One of the selections will also be a spread pick, and will have to cover to count the “W.”
First game on the map is the Detroit Red Wings versus the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets. What! The Red Wings again!? Yes, the Wings again. Will give a more behind the scenes reasoning this time for all skeptics. The Red Wings have been enforcing/trying out some system changes lately in their playbook. Most likely this was generated by the Babs himself (Mike Babcock). We actually can’t say for a fact that Babcock is the best fit for this Wings team. Personally I think Zetterberg needs to be dealt away. However there have been at least two changes made. There is a renewed commitment to keeping heads up, especially for defensemen starting the rush, for a more anticipated timing on moving the puck past the blue line. Second, there is an alternating of crowding the net and spreading out the Wings for rebound opportunities, instead of sticking to one method throughout the game.
Last and most noticeable, the defense is now taking wrist shots from the back end, instead of hard slappers. There have been more deflections and the puck stays in the opposition zone longer. The Wings defense has also been bar none as of late. They are at the Joe trying to increase the record to 16 in a row at home. When the Wings are home they play their best players for the fans. They should probably use the time to rest them and use it for some road wins, but that’s not the case. If this game were on the road I’d say Datsyuk would have the night off, he may even get it off at home for Columbus. Most likely he will be out there and as we said before he’s very due for a goal (plenty of recent assists), and only a few tacks off the league lead in scoring. Howard is also well rested coming of a perfect shootout finish and ready for the sub-par Jackets shooters.
Not only is Columbus absolutely pitiful but Detroit matches up well against them. I’ll hint everyone in on another secret. It’s become apparent that at this point in the season, for whatever reason, the streaky teams are fairing well against the struggling teams. This has started very recently.
To say the Wings are favorited heavily in this one is a bit of an understatement. They are suggested at a -1.5 goals spread. They must win and cover here for us to put it down as a win.
For our second game we have the Florida Panthers versus the Winnipeg Jets. I should say that I’ve predicted the restless teams from last night’s games will have an overall winning record tonight. However, one of the teams that won’t benefit from the back to back affair are the Florida Panthers. Why? Let’s say a home loss followed by a next day road win is exactly at fifty percent. It has proven easier coming off a home win to an immediate road game. Two road wins are tough back to back at below 50%, but that’s Tampa’s problem not ours. The hardest ordeal then is the road loss followed by a next day road game. It’s worth mentioning here that Montreal may fair differently because of the nature of their loss in a shootout. Enough of the tangent and back on track…Florida gets beat by a very strong home team in Chicago, who I see as currently heating up for a streak. They now go on to play an equally strong home team in Winnipeg, having no time to figure out how to score more than one goal.
Winnipeg is also more offensive than Chicago, and will be looking to open up the game and challenge Florida’s tired legs from the get go. We take Winnipeg ML and -.5 in regulation as the smaller side play.
To review we aren’t changing up much, sticking with the home team advantage. We are selecting a strong home team in Winnipeg over the ill rested Panthers. We select the Red Wings for the second time in a row as the strongest home team, after catching them sneaking out a road win. Remember they must win by two to count, considering the odds and the Jackets as a terrible opponent. A fun night of a hockey is ahead!
