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#193916 - 01/14/10 02:20 AM Re: 1/14 NHL [Re: FREAK]
FREAK 2007 Bad Man Champion Freaks Forum Owner Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 69557 Loc: Time to play the Game	Dallas Stars at Montreal Canadiens (-145, 5.5) The Canadiens have had a couple days off to catch their breath before setting their sights on the NHL postseason. Montreal currently sits in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, heading into Thursday’s game against the Stars. The Habs are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils and have just one win in their last four games. "We have some time off and that will give the other teams a chance to catch up," Scott Gomez told the Montreal Gazette of the standings situation. Montreal has played 47 games, more than any other team in the NHL. Gomez expects the break to "help some of the guys who are a little nicked up." The Canadiens had played well defensively during this skid, allowing just under two goals per game. However, the offense has stumbled, netting a combined five goals in those four games. The break should get those goal scorers back on track. Dallas has given up more than three goals a game over their last five contests – in which they are just 1-4. Pick: Canadiens Philadelphia Flyers at Toronto Maple Leafs (+125, 6) The Maple Leafs wish they could rewind the clock back to 2009. While last year wasn’t great for Toronto, it was a lot nicer to the franchise than 2010 has been so far. The Leafs have won just one game this New Year, going 1-5 heading into Thursday’s home tilt with the Philadelphia Flyers. Toronto’s most recent loss was a 4-2 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes, the worst team in the NHL, Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs scoring must be still suffering from a hangover from New Year’s Eve. In those six games in 2010, the team is averaging only 1.83 goals per contest and has played under the total in four of those outings. Most of the fingers are pointing at slumping star Phil Kessel, who sparked the offense earlier in the season after coming over from the Boston Bruins in a trade this offseason. Kessel has just two assists during Toronto’s skid with a plus/minus rating of -2. "He wants to score more than anybody, that's a special art he has and when you're not doing it you tend to internalize and beat yourself up," coach Ron Wilson told the Toronto Star after the loss to Carolina. Wilson tried mixing up Kessel’s linemates in order to snap his scoring skid. He teamed with minor-league callup Tyler Bozak, who looked impressive with the big club. He set up Kessel up with three solid scoring opportunities, all of which were squandered by the fourth-year center. Kessel isn’t alone in blowing his chances. The Leafs have outshot their opponents in 12 of the last 14 games, including smothering the Hurricanes with 40 shots to Carolina’s 18 Tuesday. "You want to see more than two goals with the number of shots we had tonight," forward Lee Stempniak told the media. Pick: Under _________________________ Do not post any write ups from any newsletters. Also do not cut and paste any news stories or blog items from other websites. All of the preceding are copyright protected and unless you have written permission from the author it is considered copyright infringement. FREAK
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