Long Break Does Not Slow Down Penguins

Ottawa Senators @ Pittsburgh Penguins – Friday May 17, 2013 (Pittsburgh leads 1-0)

The online sports book experts are still trying to figure out how the NHL is determining breaks between games, but it is almost a futile effort. After a week of almost persistent back to back games with no travel days, the NHL has given the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators a three-day break between games one and two of their series. The inconsistent scheduling may affect some teams, but a veteran team like the Pittsburgh Penguins will have no problem maintaining its momentum going into game two.

The betting websites knew that whatever success the Ottawa Senators would have in the playoffs would come from hard work and gritty play. The Montreal Canadiens had no way of combating Ottawa’s aggressive style. Not to mention the fact that Montreal goalie Carey Price was not up to the task. But the Senators have a much different challenge with Pittsburgh. The Penguins can play that gritty game and Pittsburgh goalie Tomas Vokoun is showing that he is the veteran goalie that the Penguins have been looking for. Ottawa will not abandon its style of play, but it may find that it is not going to have the same level of success against the Penguins.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby will wear a protective shield over his jaw for the rest of the playoffs as a precaution, but it does not seem to affect his game at all. The sports betting sites have noted that Crosby is extremely effective, even with the added equipment on his jaw. Now that Pittsburgh has Crosby in place and protected, and Vokoun backstopping the team as he was expected to do, it is hard to imagine the Penguins not being competitive for the remainder of the playoffs.

Ottawa Senators

At some point in this series, the Ottawa Senators will win at least one game. The online betting experts expect Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson to steal at least one game in this series, almost on his own. But the Senators will have to start worrying more about scoring goals and less about hitting the opposition if it wants to have a chance in this series. The Penguins will not be rattled by the physical play of the Senators, as Ottawa saw in game one. The only way that Ottawa can hope to bring some balance back to this series is by looking to put pucks on net and trying to get physical with Vokoun.

The Bottom Line

The Pittsburgh Penguins were a preseason favorite to win the Stanley Cup and not much has changed in that respect. The addition of Vokoun is just another piece that made the Penguins a better hockey team. New additions such as JaromeIginla make the Penguins even stronger. Ottawa may be able to corral some momentum in its own building, but game two belongs to the Penguins.

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Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins