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Detroit Red Wings at Phoenix Coyotes
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 10:30 pm EST on Versus
Spread: Phoenix Coyotes -1.5
Money Line: Detroit +105 / Phoenix -125
Over/Under: 5.5
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The No.3 seed Detroit Red Wings can bury the No.6 seed Phoenix Coyotes in a 0-3 hole tonight with a victory in Game 3 of their Western Conference best-of-seven first round matchup. Game time from the Jobing.com Arena in Phoenix is set for 10:30 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast on VERSUS.
Detroit found itself down 1-0 at the end of the first period in Game 1 of this series last Wednesday night, but a three-goal second period led to a 4-2 win as a 159 home favorite. The Red Wings went on the offensive right from the start in Game 2 this past Saturday with a three-goal first period that resulted in a 4-3 victory as a 166 home favorite. The total went ‘over’ the 5.5 goal line in both games.
Center Pavel Datsyuk was third on the team in total points in the regular season with 59, but so far in these playoffs he has led the way for Detroit with two goals and three assists. Along with Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom, the three have more than made up for the absence of the team’s leading scorer Henrik Zetterberg, who remains sidelined with a sprained MCL.
Detroit handed the reins over to goalie Jimmy Howard earlier this year after Chris Osgood went down with a hernia. He went on to win 37 of his 63 starts in the regular season. Howard stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced in Game 1 and turned back 30 of 33 in Saturday’s contest. He has a save percentage of .918 which is slightly better than his .908 regular season percentage.
Phoenix finds itself in an early hole in this series after its furious comeback attempt in Game 2 fell just short. The Coyotes battled back from a 0-4 deficit with three unanswered goals but could not find the back of the net when they needed to the most. Their power play went 0-for-6 in Game 1 as they squandered the opportunity to build on a 1-0 first period lead.
Right winger Shane Doan led the Coyotes with 20 goals and 60 points in the regular season and continues to lead the way in this series with two goals and two assists. Radim Vrbata has two goals and an assist and defenseman Keith Yandle has three assists in the first two games.
Ilya Bryzgalov started 67 games in goal for Phoenix in the regular season and had a goals-against-average of 2.28 and a .921 save percentage. He stopped 32 of 36 shots in Game 1 and 27 of 31 shots in Saturday’s loss for a save percentage of just .881. Defenseman Ed Jovanovski remains questionable for this game after leaving Game 2 with an upper body injury.
Detroit is 11-9 this season as an underdog and the total has gone ‘over’ in 53.6 percent of its games. Phoenix is 22-17 as a favorite and the total has gone ‘over’ in 52.4 percent of its games.
Prediction: Head-to-head, these two teams split their four regular season games this year but the Red Wings have experience in ending the Coyotes’ season after eliminating them in the first round of last year’s playoffs with a 6-1 rout in Game 7 as a 108 road favorite. It is doubtful that this year’s series will go that far, but stick with Phoenix to make things interesting with a win tonight.
The odds makers have the Phoenix Coyotes as a -1.5 point favorite with an over/under of 5.5.
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Detroit Red Wings Betting Trends:
- Detroit is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
- The total has gone OVER in 7 of Detroit’s last 8 games
- Detroit is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Detroit’s last 5 games when playing Phoenix
Phoenix Coyotes Betting Trends:
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Phoenix’s last 6 games
- Phoenix is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
- Phoenix is 11-5 SU in its last 16 games at home
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Phoenix’s last 5 games when playing Detroit
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