New York Rangers come off road for home cooking
After missing five games due to a concussion, Chris Drury is back on the ice for the Rangers. The Blueshirts are also back on their home ice at Madison Square Garden after spending a good chunk of the past few weeks on the road. New York will be tested immediately in front of the home fans with a contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins who have taken five in a row from the Rangers, all in the Steel City.
Ladies and gentlemen, Markus Naslund is back – playing for his old club Modo in the Swedish league. Naslund had an assist Saturday in his first pro game since retiring from the NHL in May. Not only does Naslund get to play in his hometown of Ornskoldsvik (pop. 29,000), he gets to play on the same line with childhood friend Peter Forsberg. That’s a pretty sweet retirement gig.
Meanwhile, back on American soil, Naslund’s former team has blown a tire. Somebody call his agent.
Not Enough MSG
The New York Rangers started the season at 7-1 and looked unstoppable with their new top line of Marian Gaborik, Vaclav Prospal, and Ales Kotalik. It was fun while it lasted. The Rangers are 6-11-1 since then and have seen their bankroll shrink to 5.13 units, eighth overall in the league in profitability. Playing away from Madison Square Garden so much hasn’t helped; 10 of their last 16 games were on the road.
The pendulum swings back in New York’s favor starting Monday night (7:00 p.m. ET, MSG) with a home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins (-115). Pittsburgh has won five in a row versus the Rangers, but again, all five were away from the Garden.
Hamstrung with Havlat
While Gaborik has stayed healthy (so far) for the Rangers, his replacement in Minnesota hasn’t been so lucky. Martin Havlat (hamstring) has been put on injured reserve after missing the last four games in a row. This is after just two goals and seven assists in his first 19 games with the Wild, who are last in the West at 10-12-3 (-11.73 units).
But it gets worse. Top defenseman Brent Burns (concussion) also went on injured reserve, joining forwards Petr Sykora and Pierre-Marc Bouchard in the press box with head injuries. The UNDER is 15-10 for Minnesota this year.
Try a Little Latendresse
Minnesota will attempt to fill Havlat’s void with Guillaume Latendresse, obtained from the Montreal Canadiens last Monday in exchange for fellow left winger Benoit Pouliot. This is one of those “change of scenery” trades where both players have been underperforming and accused of having a poor work ethic.
Latendresse made good with the tying goal in Saturday’s 3-2 shootout win over Colorado (-163); Pouliot has a wrist injury and isn’t expected to play for another week or so. The 12-12-2 Habs (1.13 units) have been floating around .500 ever since No. 1 blueliner Andrei Markov sliced a tendon in his leg on Opening Day. He’s not due back until early January.
Oil Change
As if things couldn’t get much worse for the Edmonton Oilers. They won just three games in November to fall to 10-13-4 (-6.22 units), one point better than the Wild – although Minnesota has two games in hand. Now Edmonton is going to be without RW Ales Hemsky (22 points in 22 games) for the rest of the season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
The Oilers have almost no depth on the right side with Fernando Pisani playing sparingly due to ulcerative colitis. They also don’t know how soon it will be before starting goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (back spasms) returns to action. Back-up Jeff Deslauriers was pulled after allowed four goals in the first 8:25 of Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks (-250).
I’m Too Sexy for Milan
The Boston Bruins had won four games in a row (all on the road) with LW Milan Lucic back in the lineup. And now he’s out of the lineup again for another month, this time with a high ankle sprain. The B’s are just 9-8-5 without Lucic, one of their best young forwards, but for now they’re on top of the Northeast Division and back above water 0.68 units in the black.
Boston has an even goal differential this year: 64 for, 64 against. Tim Thomas (.915 save percentage) has been merely good between the pipes this season and was out of action with a hand injury when Tuukka Rask (.929 SV%) won those four games the Bruins. Treat their betting odds accordingly.
After missing five games due to a concussion, Chris Drury is back on the ice for the Rangers. The Blueshirts are also back on their home ice at Madison Square Garden after spending a good chunk of the past few weeks on the road. New York will be tested immediately in front of the home fans with a contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins who have taken five in a row from the Rangers, all in the Steel City.
Ladies and gentlemen, Markus Naslund is back – playing for his old club Modo in the Swedish league. Naslund had an assist Saturday in his first pro game since retiring from the NHL in May. Not only does Naslund get to play in his hometown of Ornskoldsvik (pop. 29,000), he gets to play on the same line with childhood friend Peter Forsberg. That’s a pretty sweet retirement gig.
Meanwhile, back on American soil, Naslund’s former team has blown a tire. Somebody call his agent.
Not Enough MSG
The New York Rangers started the season at 7-1 and looked unstoppable with their new top line of Marian Gaborik, Vaclav Prospal, and Ales Kotalik. It was fun while it lasted. The Rangers are 6-11-1 since then and have seen their bankroll shrink to 5.13 units, eighth overall in the league in profitability. Playing away from Madison Square Garden so much hasn’t helped; 10 of their last 16 games were on the road.
The pendulum swings back in New York’s favor starting Monday night (7:00 p.m. ET, MSG) with a home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins (-115). Pittsburgh has won five in a row versus the Rangers, but again, all five were away from the Garden.
Hamstrung with Havlat
While Gaborik has stayed healthy (so far) for the Rangers, his replacement in Minnesota hasn’t been so lucky. Martin Havlat (hamstring) has been put on injured reserve after missing the last four games in a row. This is after just two goals and seven assists in his first 19 games with the Wild, who are last in the West at 10-12-3 (-11.73 units).
But it gets worse. Top defenseman Brent Burns (concussion) also went on injured reserve, joining forwards Petr Sykora and Pierre-Marc Bouchard in the press box with head injuries. The UNDER is 15-10 for Minnesota this year.
Try a Little Latendresse
Minnesota will attempt to fill Havlat’s void with Guillaume Latendresse, obtained from the Montreal Canadiens last Monday in exchange for fellow left winger Benoit Pouliot. This is one of those “change of scenery” trades where both players have been underperforming and accused of having a poor work ethic.
Latendresse made good with the tying goal in Saturday’s 3-2 shootout win over Colorado (-163); Pouliot has a wrist injury and isn’t expected to play for another week or so. The 12-12-2 Habs (1.13 units) have been floating around .500 ever since No. 1 blueliner Andrei Markov sliced a tendon in his leg on Opening Day. He’s not due back until early January.
Oil Change
As if things couldn’t get much worse for the Edmonton Oilers. They won just three games in November to fall to 10-13-4 (-6.22 units), one point better than the Wild – although Minnesota has two games in hand. Now Edmonton is going to be without RW Ales Hemsky (22 points in 22 games) for the rest of the season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
The Oilers have almost no depth on the right side with Fernando Pisani playing sparingly due to ulcerative colitis. They also don’t know how soon it will be before starting goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (back spasms) returns to action. Back-up Jeff Deslauriers was pulled after allowed four goals in the first 8:25 of Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks (-250).
I’m Too Sexy for Milan
The Boston Bruins had won four games in a row (all on the road) with LW Milan Lucic back in the lineup. And now he’s out of the lineup again for another month, this time with a high ankle sprain. The B’s are just 9-8-5 without Lucic, one of their best young forwards, but for now they’re on top of the Northeast Division and back above water 0.68 units in the black.
Boston has an even goal differential this year: 64 for, 64 against. Tim Thomas (.915 save percentage) has been merely good between the pipes this season and was out of action with a hand injury when Tuukka Rask (.929 SV%) won those four games the Bruins. Treat their betting odds accordingly.