Almost a perfect game for Anthony last week!  Unfortunately he was trying to give the Leafs a pity point, by calling the game a tie with the Wings winning the shootout.  Oh well, I've been burned by the pity point before.  That's why this week I'm giving the Leafs two of them, haha.  Last time I only managed two winners, however it was close to being a perfect week.  Just had the wrong team scoring in a shootout/overtime in three of the losses and I was 34 seconds away from the tie I had called in the CLB-MIN game.  Oh well, Thunder managed to capitalize picking four winners and improving her record to 11-13, while mine drops to 9-15.  Time for redemption and a perfect week could pull me to .500 to end the season.  Here goes:

Carolina @ NY Islanders

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

Al Montoya leads the Isles, a 30 win club, in wins this season with nine.  Pretty remarkable since his first start didn't occur until mid February.  He's given up more than three goals on only two occasions in 16 starts this season.  He's 7-2-1 at home this year with a 1.77 GAA and a .936 save percentage.  Never thought I'd be writing those kinds of numbers referring to an Isles goalie.  The Hurricanes have won five of their last six in trying to catch up to the final playoff spot in the East.  The Canes have a chance to sweep the season series on Saturday night, but could be overlooking this matchup in preparation for a battle with Buffalo the following day.  The Canes are winless in their last five Saturday matchups, while the Isles have won their last five Saturday games that I've done picks for.  Coincidence? I think not.

My Pick: H – NYI

Thunder's Pick: H – NYI

Atlanta @ Boston

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

Sure, the Bruins got points in 11 of 15 games in the month of March, but the truth is no matter how you look at it, they lost eight games.  That's unacceptable for a team contending for the Stanley Cup.  The Thrashers meanwhile have managed to flip flop wins and losses since March 9^th, which is a positive note since they won only two games in February.  The Thrashers have the 3^rd worst defence in the league and hold the lowest winning percentage when leading after the 1^st period.

My Pick: H – BOS

Thunder's Pick: V – ATL

Tampa Bay @ Minnesota

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

The Wild managed to snap an eight game losing streak earlier this week, and managed to win two in a row, however it's much too little and much too late.  In Thursday's win over Edmonton they were outshot by a fair margin, a little troubling coming against the worst team in the league, with very little offensive pop left up front.  Tampa Bay on the other hand is gunning for home ice advantage in the first round against the Pens, trailing them by three points with a game in hand.  The Bolts have won three in a row as they look to strengthen their position in the standings and chase after some personal accolades.  The Wild have a .195 win percentage when they don't score the first goal of the game, only Florida, Edmonton, and Ottawa are worse.

My Pick: V – TBL

Thunder's Pick: H – MIN

Pittsburgh @ Florida

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

The Pens offence has hit a stand still as the team has only managed to score eight goals in their last five games.  Trying to stay ahead of the Lightning they have an easier schedule facing the Devils, Isles, and Thrashers to round out the regular season after Saturday's game.  The defeated the Panthers 2-1 last Sunday.  Florida has managed to lose their last seven games after an impressive 4-0 thumping of the Leafs on St. Paddy's Day.  Scoring nine goals during that losing streak is not exactly the way to break out of a funk.  If one of these teams was to break out of their offensive struggles my money is on the playoff bound team.

My Pick: V+ – PIT by 2 or more (after stating this it will probably go to a shootout haha.)

Thunder's Pick: V – PIT

Toronto @ Ottawa

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

It's April, and the Leafs are still in the playoff hunt!!! Sure, they're hanging on by the thinnest of threads, but when the Rangers can only score five goals in their last five games yet still manage two victories (both 1-0) you know the hockey Gods are punishing the Leafs.  Nonetheless, leaf nation continues to carry on, and believe.  The Leafs are 13-5-4 in their last 22 games, however those 5 regulation losses came in March and if only they could have picked up a single pt. in a couple of those perhaps their playoff hopes wouldn't be a mirage.  If the Leafs can jump on the Sens early they'll have a great chance, as the Sens have a .150 win percentage when surrendering the opening goal.

My Pick: V – TOR

Thunder's Pick: V – TOR

Edmonton @ Vancouver

By the Numbers – Frozen Pool

The best team in the league faces off against the worst team in the league.  The Canucks have 56 more points in the standings than the Oilers, including 29 more wins.  Their GF – GA numbers mirror one another.  The Oilers have lost 11 in a row and things aren't going to get much better.  Even if Luongo gets the night off, Schneider is 15-3-2 with a 2.16 GAA and .930 SV%.  Not much left to say about this one. Not worth the 1.2 to 1.5 increase in odds to call this one by two or more in case the Oil get a lucky bounce

My Pick: H – VAN

Thunder's pick: H – VAN