Ducks at Oilers Top Choice for Hockey Bettors

Frank Doyle looks back at the weekend hockey betting action, and thinks Mario Lemieux has more than fighting on his mind.

The game with the most NHL betting action this weekend wasn’t Toronto at Montreal, although that was close. Most interest was shown in Anaheim’s visit to Edmonton last night, when opinion seemed pretty much divided on how things would work out.

Some people thought that the Ducks would be vulnerable at the end of a long road trip and the Oilers could take advantage of that, while more people didn’t think the Oilers could have beaten the Ducks Anaheim suited Daffy and Donald on the wings.

Score this one to the pessimists. Anaheim won 4-0, Ducks’ goalie Jonas Hiller’s fifth shutout, and now sits at the top on an extremely competitive Pacific Division. Edmonton has lost seven of the last eight and sits at the bottom of the Northwest. Dallas comes to town on Tuesday. They’d better watch out.

Toronto at Montreal was the biggest game of the weekend of course, as Montreal ended a three game losing streak with a shutout win over the Leafs. If the Habs did have any ill-effects from that brawl in Boston Toronto was unable to take advantage.

Vancouver was a heavily backed home favorite against the Flames after the Canucks’ surprising home loss against Anaheim on Wednesday and Vancouver didn’t let its fans down, winning 4-2 to keep the Presidents’ Trophy dream alive. What happens to the Presidents’ Trophy winner in the playoffs lately isn’t something the Canucks want to think about but in the meantime, it’s good times as Vancouver gets set for a trip to St Louis tonight.

Pittsburgh owner Mario Lemieux caused something of a stir yesterday with his remarks on fighting in hockey, but Lemieux is a man under pressure. Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are still out, and the Penguins are beginning to show the signs of strain. Pittsburgh is 1-4-0 over its last five games. Fighting is the least of Lemieux’s concerns right now. Lemieux would like to win a game.

If Pittsburgh doesn’t beat Colorado on Wednesday, it’s hard to see the Pens win at Chicago, or at home to Washington – Washington! – or San Jose. If the losing streak continues, Super Mario might be thinking about throwing a punch or two himself.