Ottawa Senators at New York Islanders Betting Odds
Opening Moneyline: New York +130 / Ottawa -150 O/U 5.5 goals
Time: 5 PM EST Sunday February 14, 2010
Today in an Eastern Conference match up on the day of love the New York Islanders host the Ottawa Senators. Today's NHL games are the last ones before the Olympic break and the Islanders could really use a win to gain some momentum heading into the break.
The Senators are in the playoff picture holding the 5th position while the Islanders are currently not in the picture in the 12th position, but their season is not a lost one since they are only 6 points out of the 8th and last playoff spot.
Even though Ottawa has 16 more points than New York this game is in the Big Apple where the Islanders are 5 games over .500 while the Senators are 3 games below .500 on the road this season. Add to the fact that New York is coming off a win and Ottawa is coming off a loss.
This season the Islanders are 16-11-2 at home and the Senators are 12-15-1 on the road.
Ottawa was beat by the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 yesterday while New York also played yesterday beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4.
A month ago these teams were even in the standings, but since Ottawa has been on fire while the Islanders have really been struggling.
The Senators had won 13 of 14 before Saturday night's 4-1 road loss to Detroit.
Ottawa needs to shore up their defense, as they have given up 16 goals in their last 4 games.
Ottawa has a good offense ranking 11th in the league in scoring (2.77 goals per game), so the Islanders defense, which is giving up an average of 3.03 goals per game, has to step it up.
New York G Dwayne Roloson (19 wins 2.83 GAA save percentage 90.9%) has to have a good game between the pipes for the Islanders to win. Roloson has lost his last 4 starts and his last 3 games against the Senators, but he is 11-4-2 with a GAA of 2.68 at home this season.
Even though the Senators won both games this season against the Islanders both of those games were in Ottawa and last season the Senators lost both road games to the Islanders.
Ottawa is 6-2 in their last 8 road games, has an Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 road games, and has an Over record of 5-2-1 in their last 8 games against teams with a winning home record.
New York is 8-3 in their last 11 home games and has an Over record of 4-1 in their last 5 games.
Our Selection : The Senators have won 13 of their last 15 but have struggled lately on defense, giving up 16 goals in their last 4 games. Ottawa has an Over record of 5-2-1 in their last 8 games against teams with a winning home record. The Islanders have an Over record of 4-1 in their last 5 games. New York will be pumped up after their 5-4 won over Tampa Bay last night. The Islanders look like decent value here as a home dog but we feel both teams we put on a offensive show and easily go over the posted total. Take Over 5.5 goals
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.