[Chronicle Sports]

One multi-unit play tonight with three one unit plays to go along. All these plays are at Cris/BookMaker.


2* Away Goals +130

There are nine games on the slate tonight in the NHL. Out of the nine road teams five are Playoff bound as of right now. The road clubs also contain two of the top fifth of the league goals for leaders and three of the upper fifth in preventing opponents from lighting the lamp.

Conversely, the home clubs have only two teams that would be in the Playoffs today and have three of the worst teams in the league in scoring and two of the worst teams in goals allowed.


1* Tampa Bay -1.5 +180

The Lightning can be a risky team to take giving a goal and a half but tonight they play a Capitals team that is going with a backup, Brent Johnson, and traded away two of their best players in Danius Zubrus and Richard Zednik.

Tampa is 18-11-3 on the road and has won four of the five meetings this year against the Caps. Tampa is also one of the best at prohibiting opponents shots while Washington allows a ton of shots to their opponents. This could be a huge problem for the Caps against a Lightning team that has a .590 winning percentage when outshooting their opponents.


1* Pittsburgh +145 (Regulation Only)

Tonight in New York the Penguins will unveil a new look after acquiring veteran Gary Roberts (who will provide grit, leadership, and goals) and the toughest guy in the league, Georges Laraque (who will provide protection for the young guns with his fists). They will face a Rangers team that was unusually quiet during the deadline and are still minus Brendan Shanahan.

The Rangers have had their problems at home compiling an under .500 record and are again on the verge of missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Penguins have cooled off after a great 15 game run losing their last two. Pittsburgh is among the best at drawing the man advantage and have a .696 winning percentage coming off one day of rest while the Rangers have a .463 winning percentage in the same situation.


1* Under 6 PHI/BOS +115

This should be a goaltending duel tonight in Boston regardless of the two teams penchant for allowing opponents to score.

Martin Biron, acquired Tuesday from Buffalo, will get the call tonight in his Flyer debut. This may make Flyer fans happy but it is sure to make the Boston faithful cringe. Biron has dominated the B's this season going 3-0 with a 1.33 GAA and an unbelievable .953 save percentage.

Bostonians may feel better when they discover that their starter, Tim Thomas, has been very good against the Flyers. Thomas has a 3-0 record combined with a 2.67 GAA and .922 save percenatge over his career against the Bullies.



League Notes

- The Red Wings will be without the services of Henrik Zetterberg over the next few weeks because of a back injury. Zetterberg has 33 goals and 35 assists this season for the Wings.

- If it weren't for the debacle in Edmonton over the Ryan Smyth trade they would have value tonight against the Wild who are playing in back-to-backs and will be going with a third string goaltender. Minnesota was already without starter Manny Fernandez and then lost backup Niklas Backstrom last night to a "lower body injury".



Good Luck

[Chronicle Sports]

Road teams are up by about 15 goals with a few periods to go so I feel safe saying the 2* is a winner but overall a frustrating night losing all three of the others eventhough both sides won the games outright and the Under goes Over in OT. Tonight: -.40