Last Updated on February 20, 2011 8:31 am by nate
Sunday NHL Opening Odds
The Spread) – Five games are on the NHL schedule Sunday including a couple of nationally broadcasted contests.
Highlighting things is a battle between the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks and the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, which will air at 3:30PM EST on NBC. According to oddsmakers and online sports book Sportsbook.com, Chicago is a -175 moneyline favorite and the over-under is listed at 5.5.
Despite their status as the defending champions, it has been far from an easy road for the Blackhawks as they are currently 29-23-6 and on the outside looking in as far as the Western Conference playoff picture goes. Chicago is coming off a 4-3 defeat at home Friday against Columbus and has only won three of its eight games in February.
Pittsburgh (36-19-4) has performed admirably since the loss of star Sidney Crosby in early January due to a concussion, but the loss of fellow superstar Evgeni Malkin earlier this month to a knee injury has been tough for the Penguins to recover from as they are 2-3 since he went down.
According to the latest trends, Pittsburgh is 51-72 when playing on three or more days of rest since 1996. The Penguins are 1-1 versus Chicago over the past three seasons.
Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh’s goaltender, is 27-14-2 on the season with a 2.29 goals-against average. Countering that is numbers of 18-12-3 and a 2.16 GAA for Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford.
Elsewhere in the NHL, the Calgary Flames will host the Montreal Canadiens at 6:00PM EST on Versus. The Flames are -145 favorites and the over-under is 5.
Buffalo is home against Washington and the hosts are -130 favorites with an over-under of 5.5. The New York Rangers are home against the Philadelphia Flyers, where the Flyers are a -125 favorite and the over-under is 5.5. Detroit is at Minnesota with the Red Wings being a -140 favorite and an over-under of 5.5. All three of those games are at 12:30 PM EST and will air regionally on NBC.
For a complete list of opening odds for Sunday, February 20, 2011, see below.
NHL Opening Odds, Lines & Over/Under Totals
1 Washington Capitals +110 (5.5)
2 Buffalo Sabres -130
3 Philadelphia Flyers -125 (5.5)
4 New York Rangers +105
5 Pittsburgh Penguins +155 (5.5)
6 Chicago Blackhawks -175
7 Detroit Red Wings -140 (5.5)
8 Minnesota Wild +120
9 Montreal Canadiens +125 (5)
10 Calgary Flames -145
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