Chicago’s ability to light the lamp is a throwback to the 1980’s

Winning % on the season= 50%
(Written during beginning of Friday night's contests)

We began righting the ship on my last column taking four of six, moving myself above the .500 mark for the first time in a month hovering around 50/50. This week we have yet another full slate ahead of us and I'm truly feeling the power of the road teams. For the first time in my three year history of writing this column bi-weekly, I have gone with all….and I repeat ALL Road squads!! Unheard of. So much so, that I urge you to consider making a side prop wager of Away teams total goals scored to beat home teams. Should be a virtual lock!

(~~ Follow Anthony Lancione on Twitter @Anthisdaman)

Los Angeles @ Ottawa (2:00pm ET)
By the Numbers – Frozen Pools

The Kings come into tonight's action as one of the NHL's absolute hottest teams going, with five consecutive victories. This includes merely a single regulation loss in their last 10 contests. With only 63 goals allowed thus far this season, through 11 weeks spread over 32 games is absolutely remarkable. The netminding specifically, has been sensational with three goalies all pulling their weight. Interestingly the order of success has been the reverse 1-2-3 hierarchy. Number three goalie, rookie- Martin Jones has truly had one of the best starts to an NHL goaltending career in history with consecutive shutouts in his first week. The Jennings trophy is next to a guarantee to come through Hollywood. In a stark contrast, the Sens rank 21st in goals against. That being said, Ottawa is surprisingly the fifth highest scoring team in the NHL (as shown in the Frozen Pools By the Numbers display below).

Pick
Los Angeles – Visiting Team Win– V(ProLine)

Dallas @ Winnipeg (3:00pm ET)
By the Numbers – Frozen Pools

Both squads are on the outside looking in, although the Stars have at least been wildly inconsistent, showing moments of extreme promise– noticeably through the performance of the amazing Tyler Seguin/Jamie Benn/Valeri Nichushkin line. Whereas the Jets have been painstakingly less than mediocre to put it very nicely, without many highs and outrageous lows. Evander Kane, with seven goals and seven assists so far, is on pace for his worst season in five years—when many thought this would be his true coming out party campaign. Didn't happen. He sits eighth in team scoring, astonishingly placing behind the likes of Devin Setoguchi and Olli Jokinen in the race. Time to step it up. Although Dallas has shown to be by far the better team, albeit in spades.

Pick

Dallas – Visiting Team Win – V(ProLine)

Tampa Bay @ New Jersey (8:00pm ET)
By the Numbers -Frozen Pools

Both the Lightning and Devils rank in the futile bottom six in the league as far as shot attempts on goal are concerned. The tempo needs to be picked up if both hope to make the playoffs. The Lightning at least have a heads up after nearly two months of excellence from Steven Stamkos before breaking his leg. The pace needs to be pushed and with a number of AHL call-ups from Syracuse by Stevie Y, you know there's a tonne of green eyes in St. Pete's forum dressing room these days.

Although, New Jerseys has had stellar goaltending for the vast majority of the season, their scoring has been anemic; still led by nearly 42-year-old legend, Jaromir Jagr; and by a healthy gap.

Pick
Tampa Bay – Visiting Team Win – V(ProLine)
 

Chicago @ Toronto (7:00pm ET)
By the Numbers – Frozen Pools

The Hawks have legitimately brought back the firewagon offensive hockey of the 1980's. They've added 19 markers in their last three games alone; none resulting in less than a six goal output, along with an overall goals-per-game-scored rate of 3.79 on the season. Simply unbelievable for this day and age. They roll into the Air Canada Centre bringing to the Leafs almost an air of invincibility Saturday night. The Leafs, meanwhile, are in a tailspin, having yet to win a single regulation game in their past dozen. The mixture of both boats sailing in completely opposite directions signifies gigantic warning signs for a potentially ugly night on home ice for Toronto.

Pick
Chicago – Visiting Team Win Plus – V+(ProLine)

San Jose @ Nashville (8:00pm ET)
By the Numbers – Frozen Pools

The Sharks have just snapped out of their worst stretch of the season by far – a four game slide – with a 3-1 tripling of Minnesota on Thursday night. Amazingly, despite the four game skid, the Sharks remain 6-3-1 in their last 10 and hold an overall glittering record of 20-6-6. Moreover, San Jose owns a plus-27 goal differential, a swing of 43 goals over their opponents tonight, as the Preds sit on a minus-16. The Sharks should roll through Tennessee with ease. San Jose currently has four players in the top 19 scorers in the game. Even third line pivot Joe Pavelski (whom I maintain is easily a number one centre in 80%+ of the NHL markets) is in the parade, for a league best depth of attack.

Pick
San Jose – Visiting Team Win – V(ProLine)

Minnesota @ Colorado (9:00pm ET)
By the Numbers – Frozen Pools

Despite posting a league best GAA of 1.52 along with the second-best Save Percentage of .938%, Minnesota STILL remains a hair out of the playoff picture. Talk about anemic scoring. The Wild have the second least number of goals scored in the Western conference; an absolute 100% waste of the fantastic string of successive starts put together by Josh Harding past the quarter pole of the season. Colorado, meanwhile, have only won back-to-back games twice in the past five weeks, without any three game winning streaks to boast in that span either. Semyon Varlamov has been epicly struggling in the meantime, having allowed 14 goals in his last three outings. This battle goes to the hotter goaltender.

Pick
Minnesota – Visiting Team Win – V(ProLine)

Good luck everyone!

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