Last Updated on April 14, 2010 8:00 am by drew
Penguins-Senators Pick
The 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs kick off with the Pittsburgh Penguins looking to begin their title defense from a year ago as they face the Ottawa Senators.
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The Penguins are the No. 4 seed in the East while the Senators are the No. 5 seed.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL have made Pittsburgh the favorites to win the series with a money line of -260 while the Senators have a line of +200.
The teams split the four meetings they had this season with the Senators scoring a total of 13 goals and the Penguins posting 15 goals. Ottawa posted more shots in the three of the four games.
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. Crosby had a plus/minus of +15 with a scoring percentage of .171. 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.
The Senators finished the year with 225 goals but allowed 238. Ottawa racked up 44 wins for a total of 94 points. The Senators were 26-11-4 on the year at home but struggled to a 18-21-2 record on the road. Mike Fisher led the team in goals with 25 while also dishing out 28 assists. Daniel Alfredsson led the team in points with 20 goals and 51 assists. Jason Spezza added 23 goals on the year while Milan Michalek had 22 goals. Brian Elliott won 29 games in net for the Senators. Elliott recorded five shutouts and had a goals against average of 2.57 while posting a .910 save percentage.
This series pick is about history and that is on the side of Pittsburgh. The Penguins have the championship pedigree of past seasons and the team hasn’t made many changes to weaken that core. Pittsburgh was a No. 4 seed in last year’s playoffs and still went all the way to win the Cup. Pittsburgh seems to have too much scoring for Ottawa which struggled to score more goals than it allowed this season. Look for the Pens to move on in this series.
Our Stanley Cup Series Free Pick for this matchup is: PITTSBURGH -260
Stanley Cup Playoffs Betting Trends
PITTSBURGH is 41-14 ATS (+21.7 Units) in a home game where where the total is 5.5 over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 43-19 ATS (+19.6 Units) after allowing 4 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 33-13 ATS (+13.0 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 63-23 ATS (+17.1 Units) in home games second half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 45-18 ATS (+20.3 Units) when playing with 2 days rest over the last 3 seasons.
OTTAWA is 9-3 ATS (+12.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
OTTAWA is 16-7 ATS (+8.6 Units) after a division game this season.
PITTSBURGH is 12-18 ATS (-18.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
PITTSBURGH is 8-8-0 straight up against OTTAWA over the last 3 seasons
8 of 16 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-0.4 Units, Under=-1.0 Units)
Stanley Cup Playoffs Injury Report
OTTAWA
[D] 04/03/2010 – Filip Kuba expected to miss at least a month ( Back )
[LW] 04/08/2010 – Alex Kovalev out for season ( Knee )
PITTSBURGH
[LW] 04/11/2010 – Chris Kunitz doubtful ( Shoulder )
[LW] 04/10/2010 – Alexei Ponikarovsky expected to miss ( Suspension )
[F] 04/10/2010 – Matt Cooke injured last game, doubtful ( Head )
[D] 04/10/2010 – Brooks Orpik injured last game, doubtful ( Leg )
Stanley Cup Playoffs Series Odds
Pittsburgh Penguins -260
Ottawa Senators +200
Penguins vs. Senators Series Schedule:
Wednesday, April 14 at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Friday, April 16 at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Sunday, April 18 at Ottawa, 6:30 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Tuesday, April 20 at Ottawa, 7:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
*Thursday, April 22 at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
*Saturday, April 24 at Ottawa, 7:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
*Tuesday, April 27 at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. CBC
*If Necessary
Bet the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Posted: 4/14/10 8:00AM ET