Notch is back again with his winners – and his first challenger of the season in 'Doulos' from the DobberHockey forum. Maybe his tips will help you with some tough decisions on your Saturday ticket. If not, there's always Doulos!

St. Louis at Boston
Both teams are coming off dramatic games.  St. Louis beat the best team in the league by scoring 2 third period goals.  Boston scored 4 unanswered goals in an emotional fight filled game against Pittsburgh to tie the game, only to eventually lose the game in a shootout.  St. Louis has won 6 straight against Boston – with 5 of those games going past the 60 minute mark.  1:00 PM EST start
St. Louis – V

Chicago at Ottawa
Chicago is struggling on the road of late, but earlier in the year they have posted road wins against all the leagues best teams.  They have beaten Detroit twice, and Dallas, Calgary, St. Louis all once.  Except for their one losing streak earlier in the year, Ottawa is a very determined team and are very good at not losing consecutive games.  Emery will start in goal for Ottawa.  
Ottawa – H

Washington at NY Islanders
Both teams are struggling of late, and can’t seem to buy any breaks.  They have played twice this year and split the series with the visiting team winning each time.  The Islanders are playing 3 games in 4 nights, with B-2-B games and travel again.  Earlier on in the year this has been deadly for teams to deal with but in the last 6 games, teams are now 6-0 when doing this.  The Islanders are a top team at home.
NY Islanders in a shootout – T

Buffalo at Philadelphia
This is the finale of a home and home series.  Briere and Biron have been through their homecoming games and now look to win in their new home rink.  Philly has struggled at home as of late going (1-5-3) after starting the season on fire at The Wachovia Center going (6-0-0)
Philadelphia – H

Montreal at Atlanta
Montreal has the 2nd most road wins in the league.  Huet has great numbers against Atlanta recently going (3-0-0) with a 1.33 GAA in his last 3 games.  Atlanta is coming off a big win against Ottawa and I see this team coming together recently since the acquisition of old man Recchi.  
Atlanta – H

Toronto at Florida
Toronto has feasted on Florida for a long time now going (8-2) in the last 10 and winning 3 of the last 4 in sunny Florida.  The Panthers have the hottest goalie (besides Luongo) in the league going for them as Vokoun is stopping 95% of the 40 shots a game he is seeing.  
Florida – H

Carolina at Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is always happy to see Carolina on their schedule for some reason.  Overall, Tampa Bay has won seven of its last eight against the Hurricanes, including three of four this season. In Tampa, the same dominance applies with Carolina losing three straight and 12 of 15.  Carolina has a lot of walking wounded and some who can’t even walk right now.
Tampa Bay – H+

Los Angeles at Nashville
Two rotten teams lately face off to see who can break their losing streaks of 5 or more (LA still has to play on Friday night).  Nashville has a respectable home record, and will face a Los Angeles team who sports a horrendous road mark.  Nashville is better than this.
Nashville – H

Detroit at Minnesota
Who woke up Marion Gaborik?  Minnesota fans are the best in the league, could you imagine if Jacques Lemaire would allow his players to do that more often, Minnesota fans were going crazy on Thursday night watching Gaborik put on a show.   The Wings seem to lose in bunches.  Even though they only have 10 defeats all year, they have had a 3 game losing streak and 3 – 2 game losing streaks making up 9 of their 10 setbacks.
Minnesota – H

Vancouver at Phoenix
Phoenix is one of my new favorite teams.  With 4 hard earned wins in a row on the road, they will want to keep it going at home.  The problem is they have one of the worst home records in the NHL.  For Vancouver, Luongo has 4 shutouts in his last 6 games.  The Sedins are back as well after struggling earlier in December.  I think Carcillo’s injury will hurt Phoenix more than we think.  On the other hand, Phoenix knows what they are missing with Carcillo out.
Vancouver – V+

Anaheim at San Jose
This will be the 3rd meeting in the last 4 games for both teams.  So this is a rubber match or sorts as they have split the first 2.  Overall though, Anaheim has won 3 of the 4 this year.  Since Niedermayer’s return to the Anaheim lineup 3 games ago, the Ducks have given up 32, 20, and 12 shots respectively.  This Ducks defense will be a force when they start to gel again, and I see that starting to happen now.
Anaheim – V

My Proline Ticket
Nashville – H
Minnesota – H
Vancouver – V+
Anaheim – V

Read other people's picks, including Doulos, and/or make your own picks here…