Toronto Maple Leafs at Montreal Canadiens (-140, 6)
The Montreal Canadiens showed a lot of resilience coming back from a 2-0 first-period deficit against the Washington Capitals Saturday night, but eventually suffered a 4-3 shootout loss. Montreal was 16 seconds away from escaping with a win, but a Paul Mara penalty for high-sticking led to a Caps power play goal with 11.4 seconds left in regulation.
โWe have to stay out of the boxโ, Hamrlik told the Montreal Gazette. โWe canโt take stupid penalties, especially against a team like this. We let them tie the game, and when it gets into a shootout, itโs 50-50.โ
The Habs, who had only managed one power-play goal in six games prior to Saturdayโs tilt, scored two on the man advantage in Saturdayโs loss. They also managed to contain one of the leagueโs best offensive teams and got a couple of incredible stops from goalie Carey Price.
Fortunately for the Habs, they face a Toronto team that owns the worst defense in the league allowing 3.62 goals per game and the worst penalty kill with a 72.9 percent efficiency rate.
Pick: Canadiens
Ottawa Senators at San Jose Sharks (-180, 5.5)
Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek will return to San Jose for the first time since being traded to the Senators for Dany Heatley almost three months ago.
โItโs going to be weird for sure,โ Michalek told the Ottawa Citizen. โItโs the first time, so it will be something special. I want to see how the fans are going to react. I was there for five years. Thatโs a lot of time, and I have good memories.โ
San Joseโs top line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Heatley has combined for nine goals and 24 points in the past five games.
The Sharksโ dominant offense has been kind to over bettors. Six of San Joseโs last seven games have exceeded the posted total.
Pick: Over