Dallas Stars skating on thin ice as playoffs near
Dallas Stars skating on thin ice as playoffs near
With just over two weeks remaining in the NHL regular season, several Western Conference playoff hopefuls are facing an uphill skate trying to push their way into the Top 8 with banged-up rosters. The Dallas Stars are going to be without center Brad Richards, the Minnesota Wild will miss Mikko Koivu for the next week and the Los Angeles Kings are minus their leading goal scorer, winger Alexander Frolov.
Put a band-aid on it and let’s go.
If only it were that simple. With only 10 games left to go in the NHL regular season, this is definitely not the time you want to have one of your key players blow a tire. Yet that’s exactly the scenario facing these three Western Conference hopefuls who find themselves up against the wall.
Dallas Stars
The Stars are falling down. They’ve lost four games in a row to slip four points out of a playoff spot, and they’ve lost Brad Richards (16 goals, 32 assists in 56 games) for at least the next month with a broken wrist. The added problem here is that Richards plays center; the Stars are already missing the services of Brian Sutherby (lower body) and Toby Petersen (foot).
Granted, those are the two centers at the bottom of the depth chart, but it’s an issue nonetheless. Dallas is already subpar in scoring at 2.76 goals per game – No. 17 overall in the NHL.
Minnesota Wild
Back in Dallas’ former home, the Wild are even lower in scoring at 2.47 goals per game (No. 27), so the loss of center Mikko Koivu (knee) for the next week and possibly more gets magnified in importance. Koivu leads the team with 62 points (18 goals, 44 assists) and plays an integral role on the Minnesota power play.
At a competitive 19.3 percent success rate (No. 14 overall), the Wild need to keep clicking on the man advantage to weather Koivu’s absence – they’re only two points ahead of Dallas in the West and two behind eighth-place Anaheim.
Los Angeles Kings
Even the Kings have a shot at the playoffs despite sitting eight points behind the Ducks. But their chances got a lot slimmer on Sunday when Alexander Frolov (28 goals, 27 assists in 72 games) was knocked out of commission for 7-10 days with another of those ubiquitous lower-body injuries.
Los Angeles has dropped three straight and is definitely in no position to lose its leading scorer – the Kings are No. 24 overall in goals at 2.54 per game. And, yes, Frolov was also L.A.’s top gun on the power play (and a healthy one at 20.1 percent) with 11 goals. Oh well, there’s always the Lakers.
Calgary at Pittsburgh
Wednesday, Mar 25, 7:30 p.m. (ET) TSN
The 42-24-6 Flames (35-37 ATS, minus-0.49 units) are holding onto third place in the Western standings, three points ahead of Vancouver in the Northwest Division and 12 points ahead of Nashville in ninth. But these haven’t been the best of times for Calgary supporters at 3-5 over the past eight games, dropping 3.98 units along the way. Two of those starts were by No. 2 goalie Curtis McElhinney, who inspired no confidence with seven goals allowed in less than four periods of work. No. 1 Miikka Kiprusoff (.904 save percentage) is in line to make his fourth start in a row for the Flames.
Pittsburgh (35-39 ATS, minus-6.19 units) has catapulted back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture with an 8-1-2 record this month. That one loss in regulation was on Sunday, when the Pens fell 3-1 to the Flyers as –137 home faves. Otherwise, this has been an entirely rejuvenated team under coach Dan Bylsma, who took over for the straight-laced Michel Therrien on Feb. 15. Sidney Crosby has a point in each of the 13 games since (seven goals, 16 assists). Evgeni Malkin is also lighting it up with eight points in his last three games; Malkin will face the Flames on Wednesday after the NHL decided not to suspend him for hitting Los Angeles RW Wayne Simmonds in the head last week.
Crosby and Malkin are the top two scorers in the league right now and more than enough to make Pittsburgh a –130 favorite at the Igloo. The betting odds also have a total of six goals up on the board.
With just over two weeks remaining in the NHL regular season, several Western Conference playoff hopefuls are facing an uphill skate trying to push their way into the Top 8 with banged-up rosters. The Dallas Stars are going to be without center Brad Richards, the Minnesota Wild will miss Mikko Koivu for the next week and the Los Angeles Kings are minus their leading goal scorer, winger Alexander Frolov.
Put a band-aid on it and let’s go.
If only it were that simple. With only 10 games left to go in the NHL regular season, this is definitely not the time you want to have one of your key players blow a tire. Yet that’s exactly the scenario facing these three Western Conference hopefuls who find themselves up against the wall.
Dallas Stars
The Stars are falling down. They’ve lost four games in a row to slip four points out of a playoff spot, and they’ve lost Brad Richards (16 goals, 32 assists in 56 games) for at least the next month with a broken wrist. The added problem here is that Richards plays center; the Stars are already missing the services of Brian Sutherby (lower body) and Toby Petersen (foot).
Granted, those are the two centers at the bottom of the depth chart, but it’s an issue nonetheless. Dallas is already subpar in scoring at 2.76 goals per game – No. 17 overall in the NHL.
Minnesota Wild
Back in Dallas’ former home, the Wild are even lower in scoring at 2.47 goals per game (No. 27), so the loss of center Mikko Koivu (knee) for the next week and possibly more gets magnified in importance. Koivu leads the team with 62 points (18 goals, 44 assists) and plays an integral role on the Minnesota power play.
At a competitive 19.3 percent success rate (No. 14 overall), the Wild need to keep clicking on the man advantage to weather Koivu’s absence – they’re only two points ahead of Dallas in the West and two behind eighth-place Anaheim.
Los Angeles Kings
Even the Kings have a shot at the playoffs despite sitting eight points behind the Ducks. But their chances got a lot slimmer on Sunday when Alexander Frolov (28 goals, 27 assists in 72 games) was knocked out of commission for 7-10 days with another of those ubiquitous lower-body injuries.
Los Angeles has dropped three straight and is definitely in no position to lose its leading scorer – the Kings are No. 24 overall in goals at 2.54 per game. And, yes, Frolov was also L.A.’s top gun on the power play (and a healthy one at 20.1 percent) with 11 goals. Oh well, there’s always the Lakers.
Calgary at Pittsburgh
Wednesday, Mar 25, 7:30 p.m. (ET) TSN
The 42-24-6 Flames (35-37 ATS, minus-0.49 units) are holding onto third place in the Western standings, three points ahead of Vancouver in the Northwest Division and 12 points ahead of Nashville in ninth. But these haven’t been the best of times for Calgary supporters at 3-5 over the past eight games, dropping 3.98 units along the way. Two of those starts were by No. 2 goalie Curtis McElhinney, who inspired no confidence with seven goals allowed in less than four periods of work. No. 1 Miikka Kiprusoff (.904 save percentage) is in line to make his fourth start in a row for the Flames.
Pittsburgh (35-39 ATS, minus-6.19 units) has catapulted back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture with an 8-1-2 record this month. That one loss in regulation was on Sunday, when the Pens fell 3-1 to the Flyers as –137 home faves. Otherwise, this has been an entirely rejuvenated team under coach Dan Bylsma, who took over for the straight-laced Michel Therrien on Feb. 15. Sidney Crosby has a point in each of the 13 games since (seven goals, 16 assists). Evgeni Malkin is also lighting it up with eight points in his last three games; Malkin will face the Flames on Wednesday after the NHL decided not to suspend him for hitting Los Angeles RW Wayne Simmonds in the head last week.
Crosby and Malkin are the top two scorers in the league right now and more than enough to make Pittsburgh a –130 favorite at the Igloo. The betting odds also have a total of six goals up on the board.