NHL Saturday :

St-Louis is dealing with some goaltending issues. No 1 goalie Manny Legace was injured in the first period and had to leave the game Friday night with a lower body injury. It will be very surprising to see him in goal tomorrow. Blues projected backup goalie Chris Mason is out (appendectomy) for at least a week. Rookie Ben Bishop who came in relief Friday and gave 2 goals in 17 shots will most likely be in front of the net tomorrow.

The Panthers play the Blues Saturday following a win at home and they are currently building some momentum. The Blues had a mediocre outing last night and are starting to be exposed. St-Louis blue line is thin right now. Blues still getting very big respect from oddsmakers. Line should move with the Blues goaltending situation. I think you have value with Florida here, add the goaltending situation and you get 10 to 15 cents edge with the Panthers from what the line should be around game time tomorrow. Worth a shot at this price.

Florida (+155)

You are one of the few I've seen who provide detailed writeups like this for hockey. Keep up the good work

What do you think about the over 5.5 goals?

You could make a case for the over but I don't have a call for the total. Craig Anderson is starting for Florida, Ben Bishop is starting for St-Louis. However, payout is not as attractive. At the time of the pick, I liked the side and the price. Price is less attractive now, we have seen a 25 to 30 cents line move. Line is accurate as I write with Blues at (-140, -145).

The Maple Leafs receive the Senators in classic Saturday night game in Canada. Ottawa playing second game in two nights in a traveling situation. Ron Wilson is pushing his players and they play hard. He benched Jason Blake in the last game. Leafs. Ottawa are yet to show they can get their nose dirty to win a game. They should have Leafs players in their face. Until the Sens can proove they can play hard I guess taking the plus money with the oppositon is not a bad thing. Many bettors still believe in the Senators... 70 % of the action on Ottawa...

Toronto (+105)

Sharks defense in a little slump. Sam Jose allowed 4 goals for a fourth straight game. Brian Boucher will try to stop the bleeding tonight in Tampa Bay. Lightning finally stopped losing streak against Atlanta in their last game. Tampa catching San Jose in a favorable spot here. Sharks in a third game in four nights situation, back to back. The Lightning should have energy to fight on their home ice against top level opponent. 3 bettors out of 4 are on the Sharks but the line has dropped 15 cents...

Tampa Bay (+115)

John Anderson and The Trashers are playing hard and may not be that bad after all. Atlanta won against Buffalo, played New Jersey, Minnesota and Detroit very tough. Opposition has been very high. Atlanta stopping in Boston to entertain the Bruins tonight after a 5-3 loss last night. Despite back to back situation, Atlanta should have some juice left since they had 2 days off before last night game. Boston has played to a tiring schedule recently, fourth game in 6 nights. Boston is a better team than Atlanta on paper but I think the line is a little too high. I think you get 15-20 cents value with Atlanta. Boston has not been high flying at all. Value is there.

Atlanta (+175)

Red Wings cruising, 5-1-1 so far this year. 5-3 win against Atlanta las night. Divisional game against Chicago tonight. Hawks have history of playing Wings hard despite so so teams in the last few years. Well, Chicago get a schedule edge here. They may catch Detroit sleeping in this situation. New coach Joel Quenneville has turned the Hawks season around. Value with a quality rested home team.

Chicago (+110)

I think you have a hungry Washington team tonight in Dallas coming from 3 straight one goal losses. Capitals should be able to get some goals against a struggling defense so far this year. Dallas is coming for first home game since a 3 game trip to play the 3 New York area teams. This is a third game in four nights for the Stars, fourth in six and fifth in 8 days. Very tough schedule. Plus not sure the Stars are back in business despite a 5-3 over the Islanders. They basically put the game to rest in the first period thanks to brutal turnovers before being outplayed in the last 2 periods. Defense need to be worked. Like the Caps motivation and also playing against Dallas energy level.

Washington (+112)