Friday (YTD: 35-14-2 +21.11u)

Pittsburgh (-157) 1u

Pittsburgh -1 (+110) 1u [Push]

I expected this line to get higher than it did once Fleury was confirmed the starter, but regardless I liked the play before he was the starter, so we'll just call it an extra insurance policy. Montreal has been my achilles heal this year where it seems that when I bet them they lose, and when I bet against them they win. Then again, everyone claims this about a specific team, so maybe it's just an excuse.

Montreal comes into this match up having struggled lately. Their offense isn't scoring many goals, and on top of that they will go with their back up Budaj tonight. Montreal's offense has been below average this year where they sit #22 scoring an average of 2.50 goals per game. On the road, we see a massive decline in production where they sit #23 scoring an average of 2.18 goals per game. The Power Play is so atrocious I can't even come up with an appropriate word to describe it. They rank dead last in the league in PP% at 12.3% and #24 having scored 22 PP goals so far this year. On the road, we see much of the same where they sit #27 in PP% at 12.0% and #23 having scored only 9 PP goals thus far. Although their offensive performance thus far has been absolutely brutal, their defense has actually played pretty well. Montreal sits # 19 allowing an average of 2.61 goals against per game. On the road, they stay consistent to this where they rank #20 allowing an average of 2.64 goals against per game. Their Penalty Kill has really been their only positive this season. Montreal sits #2 in the league in PK% at 88.8% and #27 having allowed only 20 PP goals against this season. On the road we actually see a rare improvement where they sit #1 overall in PK% at 92.5% and #30 having allowed only 7 PP goals against all year.

Pittsburgh comes into this game having been on a roller coaster ride lately. They were riddled by injuries and lost 4 of 5, then got some players back and have gone 4-0 since. As expected, Pittsburgh has been a great team once again this year despite the absence of the best player in the world. They find themselves ranked #8 overall scoring an average of 2.96 goals per game. At home, things stay consistent where they sit #12 scoring an average of 2.95 goals per game. The Power Play has been fairly average all year where they sit #11 in PP% at 18.8% and #6 having scored 33 PP goals so far. At home, the PP stays fairly consistent where they sit #16 in PP% at 17.2% and #13 having scored 15 PP goals thus far. Their defense has been awesome again this year thanks in large part to Marc Andre Fleury. They currently sit #22 allowing opponents to score an average of 2.52 goals per game. At home we see a slight positive improvement where they sit #17 allowing opponents to score an average of 2.48 goals per game. Their Penalty Kill, much like Montreal's has been superb where they rank #5 in PK% at 86.9% and #27 holding opponents to only 20 PP goals against this season. At home, we see another positive improvement where they sit #2 in PK% at a whopping 90.2% and #29 holding opponents to only 6 PP goals against.

There is a huge advantage in goal for Pittsburgh as they have announced Fleury as the starter. His stats this season are:

Overall: 23-12-2, 2.20 GAA, .915 SV%

Home: 12-6-1, 2.23 GAA, .915 SV%

vs Montreal: 2-0, 1.97 GAA, .927 SV%

Montreal has chosen to give back up Peter Budaj the nod in goal tonight. His stats this season are as follows:

Overall: 2-4, 2.51 GAA, .913 SV%

Away: 1-3, 3.00 GAA, .893 SV%

It's hard to believe that with Montreal struggling offensively lately that they will be able to get the goal support necessary in order to win this game. Montreal has dropped 6 of their last 7 road games overall. In these 7 road games, they have failed to score more than 2 goals 5 times, and have allowed opponents to score 3 or more 5 times. Pittsburgh on the other hand comes into this game on fire having won their last 4 straight to get back on track.

I was going to throw in a couple more things but I want to get thus up 30 minutes before puck drop and that is right now. Might have one more play later. As always, Good luck everyone.