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It's Saturday Night on the Ice and we shake things up a little bit here on the other side of the All Star Break with a bit of a different approach to this weekly article. Here we take a quick look at all the Saturday Night NHL action. This is short because it is intended to be a quick read. This is a sentence or two that pops into an NHL mind when looking at the Saturday Night card. The intent is to help you focus in on match-ups where you feel there might be enough value to put your hard earned money to work for you! Let's get to work:
Tor @ Mon - Montreal will be coming off of a battle at Buffalo the night before. Could there be value with Toronto as a result? Yes but the Maple Leafs are so hard to trust. No lead is ever safe with Toronto and they rarely play with a lead as it is. Perhaps the Over is worth a look here?
SJS @ CBS - No overnight line on this one and it will be tough to find any value here anyway. San Jose suffering some rare losses recently and should bounce back but we don't recommend big favorites!
Fla @ Was - The Caps are off of a loss and should bounce back but again you're looking at a big price if you want to back the Capitals. While we won't go against Washington off of a loss we will say that Florida is playing their best hockey of the season.
LAK @ NJD - Scappy Kings are off of an upset win at Washington on Thursday and would normally be worth a look. However, New Jersey will be off of a rather easy match-up at Atlanta and should be coming home confident and ready to make amends for their last home game. In that game on Tuesday, the Devils lost 5 to 2 to Washington at home. We would not play a big favorite like the Devils but we wouldn't go against them either when they're looking to make amends for a prior home loss.
Buf @ Ott - The Senators could be very dangerous in this spot. The Sens very nearly upset the Bruins on Thursday - they lost in shootout - and Ottawa is catching the Sabres in a tough spot. Buffalo is coming off of a big home game last night versus the Habs. That makes this a tough divisional back to back for the Sabres. Senators are playing hard and have been coming up just short. Could this be the game?
NYI @ TBL - Both teams have been much more competitive of late but we just don't feel very comfortable getting involved with either one of these clubs. Tampa Bay likely to be "out of range" in terms of the line once it comes out. They're playing their best hockey of the season but it's still hard to lay a price with Tampa Bay.
Col @ STL - Colorado seems intent on making a push for the playoffs despite their injuries. St Louis is coming off of a shootout loss and will be hungry here. Who's hungrier? Tough question! It looks like the value is with the road team and their more explosive offense.
Car @ Phx - Carolina dealing with some injury issues but off of huge upset win at San Jose. That makes this a potential flat spot for the Hurricanes but Phoenix is in a horrific slump!
Chi @ Van - The Blackhawks, after showing signs of complacency, seem refocused on this road trip. Chicago has been knocking down everything in their path. Vancouver finally back into the win column but they're still hard to trust right now. Hawks appear to be holding the value here and they're holding to their word of having a very strong road trip!
