Anthony bounces back 6-0 with his picks last week. How about sending some of that my way?? We had a little rough patch last week with only two winners, while Thunder managed an impressive 4-2 record with picking winners such as the Leafs and Jets. It's time to step up and answer the call. I was heading home from work Wednesday afternoon and wished my colleague, an avid Leafs fan, luck that evening as his team was going up against the Bruins.  I told him I thought the game would end 6-3 in Boston's favour, where he argued that the game would be closer with how well the Leafs have played as of late.  I agreed with him to an extent and conceded that the sixth goal would be an empty netter. Surely enough the B's pull out a 6-3 win with an empty netter to seal the deal. Hopefully some of that insight will rub off for this week, and/or I just wasted it all on a single game. Hope everyone enjoys this Saturday's action and a triple header on CBC for us hockey nut bags in Canada.

Canadiens @ Kings

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

Montreal has lost four in a row, and you can't really fault Carey Price (2.29 GAA) as he has stepped his game up since a slow start to the season.  It got ugliest Thursday night when the team blew three 1-goal leads, only to lose in a shootout to the Sharks. The Kings meanwhile have been rolling with the odd bump in the road here and there, mainly due to their lack of offensive contribution.  Any talk of a goalie controversy is dead in Hollywood as Quick picked up his 4^th shutout this past week and has started 21 out of 25 games (84%). Compared to last season where Quick only saw 60 (73%).

My Pick: H (Kings win)

Thunder's Pick: H

Senators @ Capitals

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

Another home game, and another 2-1 defeat for the struggling Caps.  Since Dale Hunter took over the team has managed to score twice in two games, but what is more troubling is they've only taken 36 shots in those two defeats. Nothing like having the worst defensive team in the league (3.35 GAA, 0.891 SV%) visit to try and break out of a scoring slump. The Senators usually need to pile on the goals to pull out the W this season.  Out of their 12 wins, zero have come while scoring 2 goals or fewer, and they have 3 wins when they've scored 3 goals.

My Pick: H (Capitals win)

Thunder's Pick:V

Penguins @ Hurricanes

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

The Penguins are atop the Atlantic Division and are happy to have their 3 star Centers in the line-up at the same time.  There is nothing better than a game against the Hurricanes to help Sid the Kid get back over 2.0 ppg on the season (currently 11 pts. in six games). The Canes were looking much better after winning back to back games against the Leafs and Flyers two weeks ago, but have managed to drop five straight while surrendering at least three goals against in each of those decisions. This is a no brainer, sorry captain Kirk, you'll have to wait a little longer for your first victory. On the bright side at least your team is averaging more than 1 goal for per game.

My Pick: V (Penguins win)

Thunder's Pick:H

Rangers @ Lightning

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

The Rangers are rolling right now.  All the talk has been about the Bruins and their 12-0-1 record in November, however the blue shirts haven't been slouches themselves. The Rangers are 11-1 since Halloween and trail the Pens by three points for the division lead with four games in hand. They have a +0.76 advantage of goals for over goals against on average this season, which is second behind Boston. The Lightning swept the season series last year, after going 1-7 the two years prior. The Bolts seem to have sacrificed some offense this season by placing St. Louis with Lecavalier instead of Stamkos.  Stamkos has still been scoring at a ppg clip, however St. Louis' production has faltered to bump up Vinny. Despite only winning 5 of 11 starts, Mathieu Garon's GAA is 1.09 better than Roloson not to mention his .920 save percentage compared to Rolly's .890. As long as it's a close on I like the Bolts as they're 6-0-2 in one-goal games. This team needs goaltending help in a bad way. This is the hunch game of the week. I like the Bolts to take the Rangers down a notch and give Tortorella something to get fired up about for the HBO 24/7 series.

My Pick: H (Lightning win)

Thunder's Pick: V

Islanders @ Stars

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

The Isles are the worst offensive team in the league.  I luckily don't own John Tavares, but am unfortunately stuck with Kyle Okposo, in a few leagues, and his horrid start this season. It's not because they don't shoot the puck much, they're ranked 21 in the league averaging 28.4 shots on goal per game, but their shooting percentage is a league worst6.8 % at the moment; better get out the shooter tutor. After surrendering 17 goals in 5 games, it seems that all Raycroft needed was a Lethonen injury to step up his game.  In two starts since, Raycroft has two wins, given up three goals, and stopped 68 of 71 shots he's faced. The Stars are ranked 5^th in the NHL with a .500 winning percentage when giving up the first goal, which shows great resiliency from the club and the way they've been coached so far this year.

My Pick: H+ (Stars win by 2 or more)

Thunder's Pick:H

Flames @ Oilers

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

The Oilers offense has seemed to hit a wall since the departure of Taylor Hall due to a shoulder injury.  The team has only dented the twine five times in their last three games, all losses. This latest losing streak combined with another four game losing streak during the month of November has seen the Oil drop from 1^st to 3^rd in the Northwest division. The Oilers lost to the Flames earlier this season in Calgary and will look to exact their revenge. The Oilers have come out strong in the opening period this year outscoring the opposition 23-16. The Flames continue to struggle offensively with only Alex Tanguay surpassing the 15 point mark, with 17 on the year. Kipper's stats this season of 2.35 GAA and .920 save percentage are much improved from last season, however he's only picked up 10 wins out of 20 starts due to the lack of offensive support from the rest of his team.

My Pick: H (Oilers win)

Thunder's Pick: T