NHL Weekend Preview – 12 Games for Sports Betting Fans
There are a dozen games on the NHL betting schedule on Saturday highlighted by three top-notch matchups as Detroit takes on Washington, the Rangers head to Boston, and Chicago faces off against San Jose.
The Red Wings were shorthanded in their first game after the All-Star break against Columbus with Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk forced to sit out after skipping the weekend’s festivities. Detroit lost in overtime to the Blue Jackets 3-2 with Rick Nash scoring all three of Columbus’ goals. Marian Hossa and Brett Lebda scored for Detroit in the loss.
The Capitals faced Boston in their first game after the break and also lost 3-2 in overtime. Mike Green and Michael Nylander scored for Washington, while Jose Theodore made 25 saves.
The Red Wings and Capitals haven’t met since last season when Detroit edged Washington 4-3. That was the Wings’ third straight win over the Caps and sixth in their last seven games against them.
The Rangers had a poor start to the second half of the season with a 6-2 loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. Nikolai Zherdev and Marc Staal scored for New York, while the Rangers blew any chance of picking up a win after allowing five goals in the third period.
Boston began the second half the same way they finished the first – with a win. David Krejci netted the game-winner against Washington. Marc Savard and Shawn Thornton also scored, and Tim Thomas made 34 saves to secure the victory.
The Bruins and Rangers clashed in November when New York got past Boston 3-2 in a shootout as a -125 favorite on the NHL odds. Boston jumped out to a 2-0 lead in that game, but third-period goals by Nigel Dawes and Markus Naslund sent the game into overtime.
Chicago continues a west coast road trip in San Jose on Saturday after playing in Anaheim on Wednesday and Los Angeles on Thursday. Against the Ducks Chicago escaped with a 3-2 win as Adam Burish, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews all scored. Nikolai Khabibulin was strong in net in the win, making 36 saves.
The Sharks blanked Colorado 3-0 on Tuesday, as Evgeni Nabokov stopped all 31 shots he faced. Milan Michalek had a pair of goals, and Patrick Marleau scored his 26th goal of the season into an empty net.
In two previous meetings this season the Sharks picked up a pair of wins. In November San Jose defeated Chicago 6-5 behind a pair of goals from Dan Boyle, and two weeks later they clipped the Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime.
