NHL Betting Free Pick – Canucks vs Predators Preview
Tonight we present our NHL Betting Free Pick and Vancouver Canucks vs Nashville Predators Preview as the second round of the 2010 NHL Playoffs begins. The Canucks were once the favorites to win Lord Stanley’s Mug while the Predators look young and fearless.
NHL Betting Free Pick – Canucks vs Predators Preview: One half of the Western Conference semi-final series in the NHL 2010-11 Playoffs gets underway tonight in Vancouver as the Canucks host the Predators.
This is the lone NHL puck betting action for Thursday, April 28, 2011 with puck drop from Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC, Canada, scheduled for 9:00 PM ET.
Nashville @ Vancouver – Series Set Up & Game Preview
These two teams split their regular season series at two games apiece as they both won on the others teams pond.
In the two contests at Rogers Arena, the Predators won 3-0 on March 3, 2011 while the Canucks won 2-1 on March 29, 2011. The games in Nashville were both 3-1 finals with each team winning once.
In the regular season, Vancouver had a resounding 132-99 shots against advantage over Nashville. The Predators won 8-6 on the scoreboard though, good for an average of 3.5 goals per game in the series.
Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo had a 1.77 goals-against average against the Preds this season but was up and down in the first round of the playoffs including being benched for Game Six against the Blackhawks.
Nashville net minder Pekka Rinne, who is a Vezina Trophy finalist along with Luongo and Boston’s Tim Thomas, had a solid 1.26 GAA against Vancouver in the regular season but gave up 3.33 goals per game against Anaheim in the first round.
NHL Betting Lines & Free Pick: Predators vs Canucks Prediction
Todays NHL betting lines are courtesy of the bodog.com online sportsbook.
Nashville has been resting since their Game Six series win over the Ducks. Vancouver was pushed to the brink, and then some, by the Blackhawks and last played on Tuesday night at home.
Thought not spectacular, the Predators can roll out four solid lines, something Chicago couldn’t do against Vancouver.
They also get RW Martin Erat back after he missed the last two games with an upper body injury. Erat tied Sergei Kostitsyn with 50 points to lead the Preds in regular season scoring.
Take the Predators over the Canucks with +1.5 pucks (-200) at Bodog!
