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Vancouver Canucks at Nashville Predators
Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at 9:00 pm EST on Versus
Spread: Canucks -1.5
Money Line: Vancouver -125, Nashville +105
Over/Under: 5
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The best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal matchup between the top seeded Vancouver Canucks and the Nashville Predator shifts to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville this Tuesday night for Game 3. The puck is set to drop at 9 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on VERSUS.
Vancouver may have been considered the best team in the NHL in the regular season, but so far it has been living on the edge in the playoffs. The Canucks avoided a monumental collapse against Chicago in the first round by pulling out a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory in Game 7 as a 165 home favorite after blowing a 3-0 series lead.
They started the semifinals against Nashville on the right note with a 1-0 win as a 192 home favorite in Game 1 last Thursday, but gave up their home-ice advantage with a 2-1 double-overtime loss in Saturday’s Game 2. The total stayed well ‘under’ the five-goal line in both games.
The Canucks led the NHL in scoring in the regular season with 3.15 goals a game, but have only managed to average two goals a game in the playoffs. The Sedin brothers combined for five goals and seven assists against the Blackhawks but have been shutout in the first two games of this series. Chris Higgens scored the game-winner on Thursday and Alexandre Burrows scored the only goal in Game 2.
Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo appears to be back in form against the Predators after a less than stellar performance in the opening round. He has stopped a total of 66 shots on goal and now has a .921 save percentage and a goals-against-average of 2.29 in the playoffs. The defense has been able to kill off 84.2 percent of the power plays it has faced.
Nashville took out Anaheim in six games in the first round with a crucial 4-3 OT victory in Game 5 as a 130 road underdog and a series-clinching 4-2 win as a 141 home favorite in last Tuesday’s Game 6. The total went ‘over’ in five of the six games and was a ‘push’ in the Predators 4-1 win as a 118 road underdog in Game 1.
They have done a great job to spreading the puck around with eight different players scoring at least two goals. Center Mike Fisher and Right winger Joel Ward have led the way with three goals and three assists a piece. Matt Halischuk tallied his second goal of the playoffs with a game-winning wrist shot in the second overtime period on Saturday.
Much of Nashville’s chances in not only this game, but in this series still rest on the shoulders of goalie Pekka Rinne. He has been fantastic in the first two games against Vancouver with 61 saves on 63 shots. He has a GGA of 2.52 and a .903 save percentage in his last eight games. One area of concern has been the Predators’ play against the power play with a kill rate of just 71.4 percent.
Vancouver is 3-4 as a favorite in these playoffs and the total has stayed ‘under’ in five of the eight games. Nashville is 3-2 as an underdog and the total has gone ‘over’ in five of the eight games.
Head-to-head, these two teams have now split six games with the Canucks going 1-1 on the road. The total has stayed ‘under’ in all six games.
The odds makers have the Vancouver Canuks as a -1.5 point favorite with an over/under of 5.
Check out the latest NHL Hockey Odds here.
Prediction: Stick with Vancouver in this one as it finally finds some offense in a game that goes ‘over’ the five-goal total.
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