Nashville Predators at Detroit Red Wings Betting Preview
Opening Moneyline: Nashville +130 / Detroit -150 O/U 5.5 goals
Time: 7:30 PM EST Friday January 29, 2010
In a Central Division match up tonight of a couple of struggling teams the Detroit Red Wings host the Nashville Predators. Nashville leads the Red Wings by a scant 2 points in the division, as they are in 2nd place and Detroit is in 3rd place. However, both teams are slipping with the Predators losing 4 in a row and the Red Wings losing 3 in a row.
This season Detroit is 14-8-4 at home and Nashville is 15-10-2 on the road.
In their last games Nashville lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Tuesday night and the Detroit lost to the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Wednesday night.
These teams have split the two games they have played this season.
A starter in goal is up in the air for the Red Wings with (18 wins 2.30 GAA save percentage 92.4%) or Chris Osgood (7 wins 2.94 GAA save percentage 89.1%) getting the nod. Both teams have not played well this season, but Osgood has really struggled lately only going 1-6 in his last 7 starts and even though he made 20 saves in the Wednesday loss he had given up 11 goals in the previous 3 games, which the Red Wings lost.
The Red Wings' defense has been decent this season giving up an average of 2.60 goals per game. They have to especially worry about Predators' RW Patric Hornqvist, who leads the team in goals (21) and points (33).
The Predators' offense ranks a respectable 14th in the league averaging 2.71 goals per game. Nashville will have to play good team offense, as they do not have one player ranking in the top 30 in points or top 20 in goals.
Nashville has had no problem finding shots on goal, but they are simply not scoring as of late. They have out-shot their opponents by an average of 13.7 per game in their last 4 games, but they have lost every game. Not only that their power play has been horrid as of late only going 1/17 in their last 6 games including going 0/4 in their last game.
There's no place like home does not ring true for Detroit lately, as they have not won in their last 3 home games (0-1-2) and they have lost 2 straight there against Nashville.
Nashville has lost 4 games in a row, has an Under record of 5-2 in their last 7 road games, and have an Under record of 8-2 in their last 10 games against teams in the Western Conference. Detroit is 1-6 in their last 7 games, 1-4 in their last 5 games against teams in the Central Division, and has an Under record of 6-1 in their last 7 games against teams in the Central Division.
Future Betting Odds
NHL Handicapping
Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins 5-17
The Boston Bruins need to play much better in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins lost the opener 5-2 at home and can ill-afford to fall behind 2-0 to Lightning. Tampa Bay are on quite a roll, winning their last eight in a row in the playoffs. The oddsmaker at Bodog have the Bruins as a -145 favorite to even-up the series.