Last Updated on April 30, 2010 12:00 pm by drew
Pens-Canadiens Pick
The darlings of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Montreal Canadiens, look for another series upset when they face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round, beginning Friday.
Bet the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Penguins are the No. 4 seed in the East while the Canadiens are the No. 8 seed.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL have made Pittsburgh the favorites to win the series with a money line of -500 while the Canadiens have a line of +350.
In four meetings this year, the Penguins won three of the games. Montreal won the last contest, 5-3 on Feb. 6. The Penguins recorded more shots in all of the wins, out-shooting Montreal by at least 11 in all three victories.
In the regular season, the Penguins scored 257 goals on the season while allowing 237. Pittsburgh won 47 games for a total of 101 points and had a 25-12-4 record at home. Sydney Crosby led the Penguins this season with 51 goals and 58 assists in 81 games of action. Evgeni Malkin added 28 goals and 49 assists for Pittsburgh while Jordan Staal and Bill Guerin each had 21 goals on the year. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury won 37 games in net as he posted a 2.65 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. During the playoffs, Fleury has a save percentage of .890, making 154 saves. As a team, Pittsburgh is averaging 4 goals per-game in the playoffs along with 36.7 shots. The Penguins are allowing 3.2 goals and 28.8 shots per-game.
Montreal scored 217 goals in the regular season but allowed 223. The Canadiens won 39 games for a total of 88 points. Montreal was 20-16-5 at home this season. Tomas Plekanec scored 25 goals and had 45 assists to lead the Canadiens while Scott Gomez had 12 goals and 47 assists. Michael Cammalleri added 26 goals and Brian Gionta had 28 goals for the Canadiens. Jaroslav Halak won 26 games in net for Montreal as he had five shutouts and a goals against average of 2.40 with a save percentage of .920. During the playoffs, Halak has made 217 saves with a save percentage of .939. As a team, Montreal is averaging 2.9 goals and 27.7 shots per-game in the playoffs while giving up 3.1 goals and 41.7 shots per-game.
While the Canadiens had the major upset in the opening round, they will need to play better against Pittsburgh as the Penguins getting 40 shots per-game will spell doom for Montreal. Halak has played very well, but he will need some scoring support that he didn’t get much of in the opening series. Look for the Penguins to simply find ways to get the puck past Halak and win this series in five or six.
Our Stanley Cup Series Free Pick for this matchup is: PITTSBURGH -500
Stanley Cup Playoffs Betting Trends
All games in this series since 1996
MONTREAL is 33-27 (+2.4 Units) against the spread versus PITTSBURGH since 1996
MONTREAL is 30-25-7 straight up against PITTSBURGH since 1996
30 of 55 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL since 1996. (Over=+1.9 Units)
Games over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 7-5 (+1.0 Units) against the spread versus MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 7-5-0 straight up against MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
6 of 11 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.7 Units)
All games played at PITTSBURGH since 1996
MONTREAL is 18-12 (+7.8 Units) against the spread versus PITTSBURGH since 1996
MONTREAL is 15-12-4 straight up against PITTSBURGH since 1996
16 of 29 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL since 1996. (Under=+2.3 Units)
Games played at PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons.
MONTREAL is 3-3 (+1.2 Units) against the spread versus PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 3-3-0 straight up against MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
3 of 6 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-0.4 Units, Under=-0.2 Units)
Stanley Cup Playoffs Injury Report
MONTREAL
[D] 03/19/2010 – Paul Mara out for season ( Shoulder )
[D] 04/28/2010 – Jaroslav Spacek "?" Friday vs. Pittsburgh ( Illness )
PITTSBURGH
[D] 04/29/2010 – Jordan Leopold doubtful Friday vs. Montreal ( Head )
[C] 04/28/2010 – Tyler Kennedy "?" Friday vs. Montreal ( Lower Body )
[LW] 04/29/2010 – Chris Kunitz "?" Friday vs. Montreal ( Undisclosed )
Stanley Cup Playoffs Series Odds
Pittsburgh Penguins -500
Montreal Canadiens +350
Penguins vs. Canadiens Series Schedule:
Friday, April 30 at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. CBC, RDS, VERSUS
Sunday, May 2 at Pittsburgh, 2:00 p.m. NBC, CBC, RDS
Tuesday, May 4 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m. CBC, RDS, VERSUS
Thursday, May 6 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m. CBC, RDS, VERSUS
*Saturday, May 8 at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. CBC, RDS, VERSUS
*Monday, May 10 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m. CBC, RDS, VERSUS
*Wednesday, May 12 at Pittsburgh, TBD CBC, RDS, VERSUS
*If Necessary
Bet the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Posted: 4/30/10 12:00PM ET