[ZdenoK]

NHL preseason: Columbus Blue Jackets - Carolina Hurricanes

Second last match of preseason for Columbus. Tonight they will play with a strong lineup. In the offense majority of the NHL team, coach has split the lines so in each 2 veterans will play with a prospect, except for 3rd line which is a standard NHL line. There are pretty much all the players - Hartnell, Anisimov, Calvert, Atkinson, Hjalmarsson, Letestu, Foligno, Tropp, Boll... Dubinsky is missing. In the defense they are complete with NHL players - Tyutin, Prout, Johnson, Savard, Erixon, Wisniewski and in the net Bobrovsky will play the entire match. Carolina is coming with a young lineup. There will be no Staal, Semin, Skinner and Tlusty in the offense. In defense they have just first D pair standard NHL players - Hainsey and Gleason. Khudobin will play the entire match, on paper he is a backup to Ward. I think Columbus' lineup is too strong for Carolina tonight. Perhaps the only surprise factor of the guest team is wish to excell since this is the final match for most of the prospects before they get cut. Though Carolina still has two more matches to play so they have some manoeuvre space while Columbus will only play one more.

Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets ML @ 1.70 Bwin 5/10

6-3 Columbus

16-12 +16.85 units

[IrishLuck777]

you going to be posting here for nhl reg season?

[ZdenoK]

you going to be posting here for nhl reg season?

I will.

[ZdenoK]

CHL: Stavanger - Bern

Stavanger still has some chances to advance into next round if they win tonight and their calculations come through. Their leadership is favoring CHL even in front of their home Norwegian league so this is one of the most important season matches for them today. Stavanger is a good home team, they rarely hand out points at home as they have proven in previous CHL matches and in national championship they have 5 straight victories despite not playing that well. Bern has no chances for playoffs, the match is meaningless so they will give playing time to younger players. Stavanger has already beaten Bern away once so I think they can do it again at home.

Pick: Stavanger @ 1.95 TonyBet 3/10

[ZdenoK]

CHL: Stavanger - Bern

Stavanger still has some chances to advance into next round if they win tonight and their calculations come through. Their leadership is favoring CHL even in front of their home Norwegian league so this is one of the most important season matches for them today. Stavanger is a good home team, they rarely hand out points at home as they have proven in previous CHL matches and in national championship they have 5 straight victories despite not playing that well. Bern has no chances for playoffs, the match is meaningless so they will give playing time to younger players. Stavanger has already beaten Bern away once so I think they can do it again at home.

Pick: Stavanger @ 1.95 TonyBet 3/10

Stavanger wins 5-2.

Stats:
17-12 +19.70 units

[ZdenoK]

KHL: Atlant Mytishchi - Jokerit Helsinki

Atlant has a terrible start to the season but recently they were the first team to beat famous SKA and end their winning streak. How ever 3 victories in 12 matches is far from what they wanted and coach Kudashov is walking on thin ice. Seems like the victory over SKA came at the right time to shift the momentum to their side. They were free for 5 days so they are well rested and they could prepare on Jokerit well. Igor Radulov (brother of Alexander Radulov) is returning back into the lineup after serving the suspension and young prospects - goalie Engren and offense player Shmelyov were selected for MVP of the past week so the moral of the team should be high. Finnish team is having an amazing start of the season but they amazingly lost the last match vs Medvescak Zagreb at home ice. Additional bad mood comes here since KHL league has forbade Jokerit supporters the use of megaphones which they protested about by leaving in the middle of the match. Many people are attributing the success of Jokerit to pure luck so eventually it has to run out. In today's match coach Westerlund will go with many changes in the lineup. They will play without some standard players: Ohtamaa, Väänänen, Hagman, Sallinen and Ben-Amor. Meaning they will shift at least 2 offensive and defensive pairings. Jokerit lost against Medvescak 2 days ago so they didn't have much time to practice with this sudden change of the lineup. The question is if the change is good or bad but we will see when the match starts. Teams have played 2 mutual matches already, Jokerit was better in both. Last they have met a week ago where Jokerit has won in OT. According to the current momentum teams are in and according to bookies highly favoring Jokerit I think it's worth of backing up Atlant for smaller stakes.

Pick: Atlant ML @ 2.60 Bet365 2/10

[ZdenoK]

KHL: Atlant Mytishchi - Jokerit Helsinki

Atlant has a terrible start to the season but recently they were the first team to beat famous SKA and end their winning streak. How ever 3 victories in 12 matches is far from what they wanted and coach Kudashov is walking on thin ice. Seems like the victory over SKA came at the right time to shift the momentum to their side. They were free for 5 days so they are well rested and they could prepare on Jokerit well. Igor Radulov (brother of Alexander Radulov) is returning back into the lineup after serving the suspension and young prospects - goalie Engren and offense player Shmelyov were selected for MVP of the past week so the moral of the team should be high. Finnish team is having an amazing start of the season but they amazingly lost the last match vs Medvescak Zagreb at home ice. Additional bad mood comes here since KHL league has forbade Jokerit supporters the use of megaphones which they protested about by leaving in the middle of the match. Many people are attributing the success of Jokerit to pure luck so eventually it has to run out. In today's match coach Westerlund will go with many changes in the lineup. They will play without some standard players: Ohtamaa, Väänänen, Hagman, Sallinen and Ben-Amor. Meaning they will shift at least 2 offensive and defensive pairings. Jokerit lost against Medvescak 2 days ago so they didn't have much time to practice with this sudden change of the lineup. The question is if the change is good or bad but we will see when the match starts. Teams have played 2 mutual matches already, Jokerit was better in both. Last they have met a week ago where Jokerit has won in OT. According to the current momentum teams are in and according to bookies highly favoring Jokerit I think it's worth of backing up Atlant for smaller stakes.

Pick: Atlant ML @ 2.60 Bet365 2/10

Close but no cigar, 2-3 Jokerit.

Stats: 17-13 +17.70 units

[ZdenoK]

NHL: Dallas Stars - Chicago Blackhawks

Dallas has stacked their offense pretty good. Next to Seguin, Benn, Nichuskin they have added more power by acquiring Spezza and Hemsky, who both have shown good chemistry in preseason (both played in Ottawa earlier). They are relying to score more than allow since they will have to compensate for a shaky defense. Gonchar is out for at least 5 weeks and Eric Cole is a healthy scratch. Tough job awaits Lehtonen who must stay healthy this year. Chicago without a doubt has one of the top all-around teams in the league recently. Good offense, good defense. They didn't change the team much from last year, the most important is they have added Richards from NYR to play center in 2nd line. According to preseason he fits in the team well. Seeing the power both teams have in offense and a hole in Dallas' defense I think today we will see some goals. Since it's the first match in new season for both teams I be more careful and bet accordingly.

Pick: Chicago vs Dallas over 5.5 @ 1.87 Pinnacle 3/10

[ZdenoK]

NHL: Dallas Stars - Chicago Blackhawks

Dallas has stacked their offense pretty good. Next to Seguin, Benn, Nichuskin they have added more power by acquiring Spezza and Hemsky, who both have shown good chemistry in preseason (both played in Ottawa earlier). They are relying to score more than allow since they will have to compensate for a shaky defense. Gonchar is out for at least 5 weeks and Eric Cole is a healthy scratch. Tough job awaits Lehtonen who must stay healthy this year. Chicago without a doubt has one of the top all-around teams in the league recently. Good offense, good defense. They didn't change the team much from last year, the most important is they have added Richards from NYR to play center in 2nd line. According to preseason he fits in the team well. Seeing the power both teams have in offense and a hole in Dallas' defense I think today we will see some goals. Since it's the first match in new season for both teams I be more careful and bet accordingly.

Pick: Chicago vs Dallas over 5.5 @ 1.87 Pinnacle 3/10

Crawford stands on his head and wins it for Chicago

Stats: 17-14 +14.70u

[ZdenoK]

EBEL: HDD Telemach Olimpija - EC Redbull Salzburg

Olimpija has played 9 matches so far in EBEL. They have managed to win only 2 in their home Tivoli arena against weak VSV and Alba Volan. On other 7 matches their opponents were dominating from the early start where they have gained lead in 1st period and brought the game to an easy victory. Olimpija is not really that bad defensively when playing 5 on 5 but they have awful penaly killing so they get scored on alot while they are unable to realize their own chances. Salzburg is dominating in CHL, in EBEL they have made a winning strike in the beginning but now they lost 3 straight matches, a bit surprisingly. Perhaps they were getting tired or they just gave more attention to CHL so EBEL was not so important to them. Anyway, today they are heading into the match rested and I'm sure they are motivated to win to get new points in order to get back in the top. They couldn't have a more easy opponent. Since Salzburg players are much more phisically prepared and have more skills I expect Olimpija to make more mistakes in the defense and possibly taking some penalty when they won't be able to match duels with Salzburg players. I see good chances for Salzburg to score in first period, a goal or two, to have a confident score going into 2nd period and bring the victory home while Olimpija will be (unsuccessfully) chasing the deficit again. Odds for Salzburg to win the 1st period seem rather high. On to the team totals. Olimpija only managed to go over in 2 matches - the two home victories I mentioned earlier where opponent was defensively much weaker than Salzburg. In average Salzburg gets scored against little more than 2 goals but they have "ruined" this average recently with 2 losses when they were playing 4 matches in 1 week so they were probably tired. They played CHL match during this period and only allowed 1 goal so they were probaly preparing for this match rather than pay attention to EBEL. Last year Salzburg has won all 4 mutual matches and Olimpija scored more than 2 goals only once.

Pick 1: Salzburg in 1st period @ 1.70 MarathonBet 5/10
Pick 2: Olimpija totals under 2.5 @ 1.49 MarathonBet 5/10

[ZdenoK]

EBEL: HDD Telemach Olimpija - EC Redbull Salzburg

Olimpija has played 9 matches so far in EBEL. They have managed to win only 2 in their home Tivoli arena against weak VSV and Alba Volan. On other 7 matches their opponents were dominating from the early start where they have gained lead in 1st period and brought the game to an easy victory. Olimpija is not really that bad defensively when playing 5 on 5 but they have awful penaly killing so they get scored on alot while they are unable to realize their own chances. Salzburg is dominating in CHL, in EBEL they have made a winning strike in the beginning but now they lost 3 straight matches, a bit surprisingly. Perhaps they were getting tired or they just gave more attention to CHL so EBEL was not so important to them. Anyway, today they are heading into the match rested and I'm sure they are motivated to win to get new points in order to get back in the top. They couldn't have a more easy opponent. Since Salzburg players are much more phisically prepared and have more skills I expect Olimpija to make more mistakes in the defense and possibly taking some penalty when they won't be able to match duels with Salzburg players. I see good chances for Salzburg to score in first period, a goal or two, to have a confident score going into 2nd period and bring the victory home while Olimpija will be (unsuccessfully) chasing the deficit again. Odds for Salzburg to win the 1st period seem rather high. On to the team totals. Olimpija only managed to go over in 2 matches - the two home victories I mentioned earlier where opponent was defensively much weaker than Salzburg. In average Salzburg gets scored against little more than 2 goals but they have "ruined" this average recently with 2 losses when they were playing 4 matches in 1 week so they were probably tired. They played CHL match during this period and only allowed 1 goal so they were probaly preparing for this match rather than pay attention to EBEL. Last year Salzburg has won all 4 mutual matches and Olimpija scored more than 2 goals only once.

Pick 1: Salzburg in 1st period @ 1.70 MarathonBet 5/10
Pick 2: Olimpija totals under 2.5 @ 1.49 MarathonBet 5/10

3-1 Salzburg, 2-1 after 1st period

Stats: 19-14 +20.65 units

[ZdenoK]

Playing it early before the odds drop after tonight's blowout.

Arizona Coyotes @ 2.05 MarathonBet 6/10

[ZdenoK]

Playing it early before the odds drop after tonight's blowout.

Arizona Coyotes @ 2.05 MarathonBet 6/10

7-4 Coyotes

Stats: 20-14 +26.95 units

[ZdenoK]

NHL: Montreal Canadiens - Boston Bruins

Home opener for Montreal who started the season by playing 4 road matches where they have won 3 times which is a good beginning. They lost the last match with 1-7 but it's not really surprising considering they played 4 games in 6 days, twice they were in a shootout so they were tired in the end. Today it is different, they are well rested so they had time to prepare for upcomming oponents. Boston has played yesterday in Detroit, they managed to win after SO but most of the victory can be assigned to Rask because he was saving his team big time. I expect Svedberg to start today so Rask can get some rest. If not, tired goalie is never a good thing. Bruins has played one more match than Habs so far, they are 2/5 which is far from being the favorite to win East conference. They are having troubles with offense where they can't score more than 2 goals. Adding some fatigue from yesterday's match and return of Emelin to the D for Habs + Price in net, I don't see them going over the line of 2 tonight either. Canadiens' main problem is inefficiency on powerplay. They are 0/14. Luckily Boston is nothing special on PK so they have chance to change their statistics tonight and score a goal or two from PP. I think the match tonight will be a close one but in the end Montreal will take both points.

Pick: Montreal Canadiens ML @ 1.87 MarathonBet 4/10

[ZdenoK]

NHL: Montreal Canadiens - Boston Bruins

Home opener for Montreal who started the season by playing 4 road matches where they have won 3 times which is a good beginning. They lost the last match with 1-7 but it's not really surprising considering they played 4 games in 6 days, twice they were in a shootout so they were tired in the end. Today it is different, they are well rested so they had time to prepare for upcomming oponents. Boston has played yesterday in Detroit, they managed to win after SO but most of the victory can be assigned to Rask because he was saving his team big time. I expect Svedberg to start today so Rask can get some rest. If not, tired goalie is never a good thing. Bruins has played one more match than Habs so far, they are 2/5 which is far from being the favorite to win East conference. They are having troubles with offense where they can't score more than 2 goals. Adding some fatigue from yesterday's match and return of Emelin to the D for Habs + Price in net, I don't see them going over the line of 2 tonight either. Canadiens' main problem is inefficiency on powerplay. They are 0/14. Luckily Boston is nothing special on PK so they have chance to change their statistics tonight and score a goal or two from PP. I think the match tonight will be a close one but in the end Montreal will take both points.

Pick: Montreal Canadiens ML @ 1.87 MarathonBet 4/10

6-4 Canadiens

Stats: 21-14 +30.43 units

[mnwild11]

solid

[Felipe4realz]

keeping an eye on this guy

[ZdenoK]

NHL: Edmonton Oilers - Vancouver Canucks

Weird schedule strikes out again. Canucks are resting since 11th while Oilers played 2 road matches which they (surprise surprise) both lost in a high fashion meanwhile - conceiving 6 and 7 goals. Edmonton is a huge mess. All together they have allowed 22 goals in 4 matches which is by far the worst GAA in West. Troubles with injuries - first centreman Nugent-Hopkins and goalie Fasth are still out, so they are left with gap in the offense and no good alternative to Scrivens who is currently struggling with his form. He allowed 6 goals on 29 shots vs Coyotes. No info about starting goalie yet, it should be Scrivens or Bachman but it doesn't really matter when it comes to a struggling goalie vs AHL goalie. A little spark of hope lies in Eberle who notched 2 assists after returning from injury back into the first line. Despite the high losses Oilers still managed to score some goals, on 4 matches they found back of the net 11 times which is given the shape of the team actually not that bad. The last match Vancouver has played it was against Edmonton. They went down 2-4 but managed to tie it up later in the game and eventually win in a shootout. Desjardins had almost a week to fix the mistakes in his new playing system. They had some issues with injuries in defense but the gap is closed now. Desjardins didn't give out info about starting goalie but it shouldn't really matter, Miller has 2 wins with GAA of almost 3 while Lack is still waiting to get his chance. Canucks' offense is producing so far, they scored 9 goals in 2 matches, Sedin twins are hot (4 points in 2 matches each) and I think it is realistic to expect these two to score again tonight. Given the time Canucks went without playing I think we might see a slow start from them and possibly a surprise lead by Oilers so I hate to pick sides in this matchup, especially given that Canucks are playing B2B against Bolts tomorrow but I see potential for some goals scored again. I'll be more careful here and play the line of 5 goals because an obvious choice with goal totals often backfires on me.

Pick: Edmonton Oilers/Vancouver Canucks totals over 5 @ 1.67 MarathonBet 4/10

[DocterDrew]

Zdenok - I actually hear Torts yelling when I read your posts

[ZdenoK]

AHL: Chicago Wolves - Lake Erie Monsters

Avalanche has injured both goalies - Varlamov and Berra so they will get goalies from Lake Erie Monsters, leaving them with young goalies who never played in AHL. First one is Czech goalie Roman Will who was in Czech second league until now and the second one is Francois Tremblay who was playing in QMJHL. The difference in playing level should be clear. Monsters are something average in AHL, perhaps some problems in the defense. Chicago Wolves are pretty good in home arena. Last year they had a decent goalie and efficient offense. In last 10 mutual matches Monsters managed to beat them only once. Given the situation with goalies and mutual tradition I think it's worth of backing up Chicago.

Pick 1: Chicago Wolves @ 1.85 MarathonBet 5/10
Pick 2: Totals over 5.5 @ 2.11 Pinnacle 5/10

[ZdenoK]

I should stay away from totals from now on

Stats: 22-16 +25.68 units

[ZdenoK]

Nothing much I like today. If I had to pick something, it'd be Blues ML and Penguins/Islanders over 5.5.

[ZdenoK]

AHL: Chicago Wolves - Lake Erie Monsters

Same logics as yesterday.

Pick: Chicago Wolves @ 1.90 MarathonBet 5/10

[ZdenoK]

AHL: Chicago Wolves - Lake Erie Monsters

Same logics as yesterday.

Pick: Chicago Wolves @ 1.90 MarathonBet 5/10

NOW they play over... anyway, another confident victory for Wolves

Stats: 23-16 +30.18 units

[ZdenoK]

Belarus Extraliga: Brest - Dinamo Molodechno

Brest is one of the worst teams in the league but tomorrow guests will play without some key players who are being lent to Dinamo Minsk. Molodechno will be without top scorer Lopachuk, one of the best defensemen Filichkin and goalie Shelepnev. Their other goalie Shegalo is suspended so tomorrow goalies coach Sergei Shabanov will start. He is former national goalie of Belarus but he is 40 years old - retired - the last time he played an official match it was more than year and a half ago. Teams played eachother in September and Molodechno won in a close match at home with 2-1 after OT. Good value in Brest given the odds.

Pick: Brest @ 4.75 bwin 1/10

[ZdenoK]

NHL: Nashville Predators - Arizona Coyotes

I like Predators so far. Solid defense with solid goaltending. Rinne shows his Preds are a totally different team with him being healthy. So far they are ranked 2nd in goals allowed (1.40) and Rinne is 4th with his save percentage. They are not scoring big time but enough to score more than opponent as they haven't lost in regulation yet. Though they have a loss in SO and in OT but 8/10 points puts them atop of Central Division which is a really nice surprise. Thanks to the good defense they managed to take Chicago to the OT in their last game (1-1) but they lost in the end as Toews secured the home victory. I think they have some reserves left in the offense, especially James Neal and Olli Jokinen are due. Mike Ribeiro is currently hot, it's a good thing when it comes facing a former team (he played for Coyotes last year). Coyotes will play their first road match of the season, they are coming into the match from a huge home loss, Blues have beaten them with 6-1. They didn't impress with their performance so far. Currently they own one of the worst defenses in the league - 2nd worst with 4-5 goals per game allowed and Mike Smith is struggling mightily - 82.2 saves percentage. Can't say their offense is much better, they only managed to score some goals vs Oilers, in other 3 matches they never went over 2. Boedker scored 5 goals, he is actually the only player who scored more than 1 goal in 4 matches. 2nd centre - Hanzal - is injured and out for tomorrow's match which takes away even more depth. Last year Nashville won both home mutual matches and lost in OT on the road. Given the momentum of both teams I think Preds should be pretty confident to continue with their home tradition vs Yotes and take both points. Might be a close one if they won't score much but their D should shut down Coyotes' offense.

Pick: Nashville Predators ML @ 1.68 MarathonBet 5/10

[ZdenoK]

Brest lost, Preds win in shootout

Stats: 24-17 +32.58 units

[ZdenoK]

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins - Philadelphia Flyers

Penguins should take advantage of banged up Flyers in this first battle for Pennsylvania of the year but odds for Pittsburgh to win are too low for me. It's always a derby when these two are playing so it's easy to backfire on you when predicting a winner. But there is one thing I like in today's matchup. Penguins usually have a strong start into the match, they are 3-1 dominating the opening period so far. Flyers are on the opposite being 2-4 in the first period. Additionally they have played a match yesterday and lost 0-4 in Chicago, it was 0-3 after first period. Penguins are fresh and eager to take a confident lead early while Flyers have played yesterday on the road, Mason is tired and if Emery will start, even better for this bet. Still no Lecavalier and Timonen which takes away lots of depth. Also it's a mismatch of the best powerplay vs terrible penalty kill so it's realistic to expect an early lead by Pens as long as they don't get dragged into taking penalties themselves. Not too confident in the bet but given the odds I'll take it for smaller stake.

Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins in 1st period @ 2.380 Pinnacle 3/10

[ZdenoK]

Dang it, should have rather played 1st period over but I liked the odds for Pens in 1st. They took the early lead and had good chances to make it 2-0 but instead let in 2 goals on next 2 shots

Stats: 24-18 +29.58 units

[ZdenoK]

NHL:
Minnesota Wild - Arizona Coyotes

Both teams coming from two losses trying to avoid 3rd in a row but I like Wild more. They are back to the home ice. They only played 4 matches so far, awesome schedule... they were free for 4 days so they could try out various combinations in offense. Last they got shut down in LA (1-2), even though they outshot Kings badly. Wild is pretty strong defensively and good in net, I don't see Coyotes penetrating that. Coyotes are just awful, they managed to get into OT against Predators but they allow by far too many goals per game. I wrote about them in my Nashville pick few days ago, nothing has changed since then. Smith will be in net tonight.

Pick: Minnesota Wild @ 1.87 MarathonBet 5/10


Detroit Red Wings - Pittsburgh Penguins

It seems like ages ago when these two battled each other in B2B Stanley cup finals. Penguins lost an emotional derby last night so this could be a good spot to bounce back tonight. Crosby went without points for the first time in the season, most of the "superstars" ended up with a nice negative +/-. It doesn't happen often with Penguins so I think they will be fired up. Wings are good defensively but their offense is asleep. Franzen is out, though The Magician is back and he scored a beauty vs Montreal but the bastard ref waved it off which led to OT loss. One of Detroit's offensive problems is converting on powerplay. In contrast they have flawless penalty kill but expect it to change tonight vs the best powerplay they will face so far. Last year Pens took 5/6 points in mutual matches.

Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins ML @ 2.02 MarathonBet 5/10


Boston Bruins - New York Islanders

Bruins seem to have warmed up after initial shaky start to the season and offense started showing some chemistry. Tonight they are chasing 3rd straight victory while their opponents will try to avoid 3rd straight loss. Islanders' injuries have caught up with them. It's never easy playing Boston at home ice so I think banged up Islanders are in for another loss.

Pick: Boston Bruins @ 1.980 Pinnacle 5/10

[ZdenoK]

A bit unlucky yesterday with Chara's injury and Penguins robbing us of the victory.

Stats: 25-20 +23.93u

[ZdenoK]

Stamkos to score tonight seems like a good option. He has 5 goals in 7 matches and he didn't score in the last 2 so I think it's time he does it again tonight.

[ZdenoK]

Stamkos to score tonight seems like a good option. He has 5 goals in 7 matches and he didn't score in the last 2 so I think it's time he does it again tonight.

So... that took less than 5 minutes. 1-0 Stamkos

[ZdenoK]

NHL: Ottawa Senators - New Jersey Devils

I really like Senators to win tonight. They are coming to this match with 4 straight victories, national shooting tragedy prevented them from playing the match vs Toronto as scheduled. Tonight they will host an emotional ceremony prior to the match so expect a strong emotional performance on the ice as well. Senators are winning with good defense and goaltending so far but they could use some more offensive power. Devils are struggling with 4 straight losses now. They were close vs Rangers and Stars but lost in SO as they are used to from last season where they have lost all 13 matches which went into SO. Clemmensen is possible to start for the first time which could be a good option to lift weight from Schneider's shoulder. Might be wrong but I think Senators will come out strong here and give their city something to cheer about.

Pick: Ottawa Senators ML @ 1.71 MarathonBet 5/10

[frankrom]

I kind of have that lean as well... ottawa over NJ that is...

What do you think about Montreal over NYR?