NHL Playoff Betting, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks

Apr 09, 2008 | By Stan Leung | Picks Articles Archive

NHL Playoff Betting

Colorado Avalanche (+170) vs. San Jose Sharks (-200)
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 10:05 PM EST
Over/Under: 5
NHL Betting Pick: Under

NHL Playoff betting at SBG Global

The NHL playoffs means one thing and that is close checking hard hitting tight hockey. Players will be shortening up their game and especially with these two NHL teams who will be playing tight tonight. Tonight will be a low scoring affair as Sharks head coach Ron Wilson will pull back the reigns and play tight defensive hockey. The flames head coach Mike Keenan will also have a tight leash on his team and will not rush his forwards up the ice to counter attack the attack the speedy Wild forwards. Also since this is the playoffs, the refs will let the play go and there will be less power play opportunities for both sides.

Captain Jarome Iginla told reporters, "We do expect to be physical and we have to play hard on their skilled guys," "We expect it to be similar to the other games we've played against them - close, and heated at times.” This statement leads me to believe that both teams will not take chances and as a NHL online sports bettor this is a clear sign that scoring will not be at a premium not only in tonight’s game but for the entire series.

Though the Sharks have had the offense all season long their top scorers and offense have not been very consistent all year long especially at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo have not been strong playoff point getters in past playoffs and will be playing a well disciplined team which means less scoring opportunities for them tonight.

Bottom Line: The flames are an Under team with an Under record of 16-6-1 in their last 23 overall and Under record of 8-3 in their last 11 games as an underdog and 10-4 in their last 14 road games have gone Under. Coupled with the Sharks team that has not played well all season long leads to be very low scoring game. There are a lot of expectations on the Sharks and the first playoff game will make them very tight and apprehensive.
Goalies and the nerves will make this a low scoring game

A few trends to consider:

The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Calgary's last 21 games
Calgary is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing San Jose
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Calgary's last 6 games on the road
San Jose is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
San Jose is 18-4 SU in its last 22 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Jose's last 6 games when playing Calgary
San Jose is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Calgary

NHL Playoff betting at SBG Global

NHL Playoff Betting, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks

NHL Playoff Betting

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