Saturday Picks – November 8, 2014
Anthony Lancione
2014-11-08
Anthony makes his picks for a busy Saturday slate.
Pittsburgh @ Buffalo (7:00pm ET)
By the Numbers – Frozen Pools
David versus Goliath "Part Deux" is soon in session. Exactly a week ago Saturday, I actually took the Penguins in a survivor pool over Buffalo in an identical matchup…. Surprised? Didn't think so. Fleury came through with his second of consecutive shutouts and third in four starts. However, after his 150 minute plus shutout streak came crashing down Thursday evening after blowing a 3-1 (but settling for the W anyway), look for Fleury to get right back on track with this one being lobbed up nice and slow. Malkin's season-long point streak also came to a halt Thursday night, although by scoring a crucial shootout goal some sort of contributive streak peddles on for Geno. Pittsburgh has won six straight, showing they're the class of the East in 2014-15, and have scored nearly TRIPLE the goals as Buffalo this year (49 to 17) despite playing two LESS games thus far. Buffalo is going to get yet another rude awakening. Tack on the alternative RunLine for some extra juice in your parlay.
Pick
Pittsburgh – Visiting Team Win– H+(ProLine)
Tampa Bay @ Columbus (7:00pm ET)
By the Numbers -Frozen Pools
Folks, at 9-3-1 on the season, the Tampa Bay Lightning bring you a First vs Worst Battle in the East vs the hapless, beaten-up Bluejackets, still sans Sergei Bobrovsky. Two teams headed in polar opposite directions, combine for a 10 game mixed streak; The Lightning winners of four straight, while the Jackets have lost six in a row. Steven Stamkos is showing he's still a boss without Marty St.Louis teeing him up in fantastic spots on the regular. Although I maintain he will never hit 60 again without the latter. But what's wrong with 50? Or 55? That's right…. Stammer remains a Maurice Richard Trophy threat, perennially. Meanwhile, Curtis McElhinney isn't doing the Jackets any favors, ranked by Yahoo in last place among all NHL goaltenders. This one is also a wash.
Pick
Tampa Bay – Visiting Team Win – V(ProLine)
Pick
St.Louis – Home Team Win – H(ProLine)
NY Islanders @ Arizona (8:00pm ET)
By the Numbers – Frozen Pools
The New York Islanders have been a very pleasant surprise as well, sitting in 2nd in the Metropolitan Division, with an 8-5-0 mark. Captain, John Tavares has been solid as ever notching 15 points in thirteen games thus far & that's after slowing down!!
The Coyotes have been 'all over the map' this campaign. Their home record of 4-2 has been much better than expected, yet their 1-4 mark on the road has been exactly as expected. They will steal surprising games all year long with some nicer skill still spattered about. However, they'll lose more than their fair share. This one should be an extremely tight affair (as The Islanders begin to regress….right about now)
Pick
NY Islanders – Visiting Team Win – V(ProLine)
Vancouver @ Los Angeles (10:00pm ET)
By the Numbers – Frozen Pools
The Canucks have been playing above their heads so far with an excellent 10-4 start to the year. Or have they? Seems rather that they've won the off-season, with signings of Ryan Miller, Radim Vrbata and starting fresh in Management and Coaching Staff paying immediate dividends and then some. Meanwhile the Kings have been on a cup hangover it can be argued at 7-4-3 (or as I like to call it, .500 hockey!), however it can't last much longer. Jonathan Quick is giving them a chance to win every single night with a 1.93 GAA and .943% Save Percentage. Both marks are tops for anyone who's played at least the same amount of minutes as Quick has (715 min).
Pick
Los Angeles – Home Team Win – H(ProLine)
Good luck everyone!