The Wings look to snap a two game losing streak while the Coyotes attempt to break their current 5 game win less drought. Both of these teams have had tough schedules of late, playing games almost every other day. This is the last game on Detroit's road trip. Phoenix has been playing hot/cold hockey of late, as they won 8 straight before losing 5 in a row.
This is the time of the year when a lot of teams in the 7-10 spots start to make some big upsets. The reason that I feel the Wings will not overlook the Coyotes is because of their veteran players, as well as the fact that they have the Kings waiting for them when they go home. The 7-4 win that the Wings got at the expense of LA should be fresh in the Kings mind, and I don't think Detroit wants to go into that game on a 3 game skid.
Although Detroit has earned a significant amount of points this season, they still have a substantial amount of work to do if they plan on staying in the top 1-2 seeds of the Western Conference. The Sharks are hot on their ass, and the Nucks are still 4 points away. I also feel that the President's trophy is actually something that the Wings aim to win on their quest to the ultimate goal, another cup ring. I don't expect Detroit to come out flat Saturday night.
Although the Wings have won 2/3 meetings between these two teams, they have out shot and out chanced the Coyotes in all 3 contests. I expect a similar performance from the Wings again tonight, maybe a 3-2 or 2-1 victory. What really keeps me from pounding this line too hard is Ilya Bryzgalov, the guy is a great goalie. One thing to note about him is that he has had 3 games this season with a .940-.999 save percentage (this does not include shutouts where he earned .1000%) and after those 3 games, 2 of them have been lackluster with him ending with <.890 save percentages. Hopefully the law of averages catches up with him against the Wings.
The turmoil that surrounds the Coyotes has been tough for the players to deal with, and the amount of fans that have been showing up for the games has been disappointing. I would not be surprised if the fans were 40%-60% in favor of the Coyotes, and they are the home team. They are talking about this team being moved to Winnipeg, would the fan base really be that upset?
I felt the line for this game should have been -135, as I cap games with the Home team having an automatic -120 to the visiting teams +100. I hope this writeup helps anyone if they were on the fence about this game, whether you decide to bet the Wings or mark it of as a "no-play". Please feel free to comment or disagree with me, I am always expecting people on the other side of every play