NHL DUNKEL
Detroit at Chicago
The
Red Wings look to bounce back from their Game Three loss in overtime
and build on their 10-4 record in their last 14 games against Western
Conference teams. Detroit is the pick (-110) according to Dunkel,
which has the Red Wings favored by 1. Dunkel Pick: Detroit (-110).
Here are all of today's playoff picks.
SUNDAY, MAY 24
Game 13-14: Detroit at Chicago
Dunkel Ratings: Detroit 13.394; Chicago 12.255
Dunkel Line & Total: Detroit by 1; 6
Vegas Line & Total: Chicago (-110); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Detroit (-110); Over
NHL LONG SHEET
Sunday, May 24
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DETROIT (61-23-0-12, 134 pts.) at CHICAGO (55-30-0-12, 122 pts.) - 5/24/2009, 3:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 26-13 ATS (+39.8 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.
CHICAGO is 50-43 ATS (+5.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 11-16 ATS (-17.2 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 16-9-0 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
12 of 21 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+2.6 Units)
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NHL SHORT SHEET
Sunday, May 24th
Western Conference Finals
Game Four
Detroit Leads, 2-1
Detroit at Chicago, 3:05 ET
Detroit:
1-5 SU off division loss by 1 goal
3-8 SU Away as a #2 seed
Chicago:
24-8 SU as a home favorite of -200 or less
8-1 SU off BB division games
NHL WRITE-UP
Sunday, May 24
NHL Playoffs
Detroit
is 6-3 vs Chicago this year, splitting four games here, where the
Blackhawks are 6-1 so far in playoffs. Red Wings are 3-3 on road so far
in playoffs. Blackhawks' OT win in Game 3 keeps series interesting, and
was also second straight series game that needed extra time. Chicago
has a power play goal in all three series games (3-10, 18:18). Detroit
is 2-10 with man advantage (15:59). Huge game for Blackhawks here.
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NHL ADDITIONAL
Sunday, May 24
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Trend Report
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3:00 PM
DETROIT vs. CHICAGO
Detroit is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing Chicago
Detroit is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Chicago
Chicago is 15-7 SU in its last 22 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago's last 5 games
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Ice picks: Sunday's best NHL bets
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Detroit Red Wings at Chicago Blackhawks (-110, 5.5)
A
jarring hit from Detroit's Niklas Kronwall, one that flattened
Chicago's Martin Havlat, has put a new spin on the Western Conference
finals.
It most likely knocked Havlat, the Blackhawks' points
leader, out for Sunday's Game 4 and spiked emotions between the old
Original Six rivals.
''Marty didn't have the puck,'' Chicago
defenseman Brian Campbell said Saturday. ''If he hit Marty and hit him
clean, that's fine. That happens. ... It's just how he hits. You can
see his forearms coming up and his hands are coming up and he's lunging
forward and jumping into the guy.''
Kronwall received a
five-minute interference penalty and was ejected from Friday night's
Game 3 in which the Blackhawks pulled out a 4-3 overtime victory.
Campbell was asked if Kronwall should watch out Sunday for any retaliation.
''I don't know what will happen to him, but I'm sure there won't be one check not finished on him,'' Campbell said.
Not
only will the Blackhawks likely go without Havlat - who had 77 points
this season and has 15 more in the playoffs - they'll probably start
backup goalie Cristobal Huet in place of Nikolai Khabibulin.
Khabibulin
played the first two periods Friday before leaving with an injury. Huet
replaced him and was able to stop a Red Wings' surge that had produced
three quick second-period goals and wiped out Chicago's 3-0 lead.
Huet
held the Red Wings scoreless in the third, and Patrick Sharp's goal
less than two minutes into overtime gave the Blackhawks the win and cut
Detroit's series lead to 2-1.
Detroit coach Mike Babcock said
Kris Draper, hurt for most of the playoffs, would be out again Sunday.
And star center Pavel Datsyuk, who missed Game 3 with a sore foot,
would probably be a game-time decision again.
Pick: Under 5.5
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What bettors need to know: Red Wings at Blackhawks
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Detroit Red Wings at Chicago Blackhawks (-115, 5.5)
Injury report
Both sides are dealing with key injuries.
Hart
Trophy finalist Pavel Datsyuk missed Game 3 with a foot injury and is
day-to-day for Game 4. Kris Draper is also day-to-day after suffering
a pulled groin Friday.
Martin Havlat left Game 3 after a Niklas
Kronwall body check. Havlat?s condition improved after the game and
coach Joel Quenneville thinks Havlat may be able to play in Game 4.
Nikolai
Khabibulin left Game 3 after sustaining a lower body injury and did not
return. His status is unknown for Game 4. Cristobal Huet played well
in his absence, stopping all six shots he faced.
The Rivalry is back
Though
the Red Wings and Hawks have yet to drop the gloves in their nine
meetings this year, there was plenty of animosity between the teams
Friday night.
Niklas Kronwall received a five-minute major
penalty for his crushing body check on Martin Havlat, though neither
referee made a penalty call at the time of the hit. According to Wings
coach Mike Babcock, the penalty was ?absolutely the wrong call.?
Quenneville disagreed, saying: ?it?s a dangerous hit when you haven?t
touched the puck.?
Mental toughness
No lead is
safe against the defending champs and the Wings showed how dangerous
the can be coming back from a 3-0 deficit in a span of four minutes and
23 seconds.
What was most surprising was how the young Hawks responded in the third period.
"A
lot of teams probably would have gone the other way after giving up a
three-goal lead, but we stayed with it," Hawks forward Patrick Sharp
told reporters. "After they scored the third one, we played some of our
best hockey. When we needed to play our best period of the season we
did.?
Special teams
Both teams continue to play well with the man-advantage, averaging over 25 percent.
Detroit
continues to struggle on the penalty kill, having given up at least one
power-play goal in a team-record twelve straight games.
Chicago has averaged 4.5 power plays in the last two games after only having one in Game 1.
Star watch
Pavel Datsyuk: 0 goals, 2 assists, +1 (missed game 2)
Henrik Zetterberg: 1 goal, 1 assist, +3
Jonathan Toews: 2 goals, 0 assists, -2
Patrick Kane: 0 goals, 0 assists, -5
Other trends
- Blackhawks are 7-1 in their last eight home games
- Red Wings are 5-2 in their last seven vs. a team with a winning record
- Red Wings are 2-7 in last nine road games against a team with a winning percentage greater than .600.
- Home team is 4-0 in last four meetings
- Over is 4-1 last four meetings in Chicago
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POWER INDEX
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tba
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