Red Wings Go Up 2-1 On Blackhawks
The #1 seed in the Western Conference, the Chicago Blackhawks are down 2-1 in their conference semifinal series to the Detroit Red Wings. Chicago, who started the season on an NHL record unbeaten streak to start a season and stayed in the top spot all season, has now lost two straight to the Wings, who were in danger of missing the playoffs late into the regular season.
The Red Wings gained a split of the first two games in Chicago with a 4-1 win in Game Two. They scored two second period goals, one from Damien Brunner 2:40 into the period and the go-ahead goal from Brendan Smith at 16:08 into the period. The Wings got two more in the third period on goals from Johan Franzen and one from Valtteri Filpulla to steal the home ice advantage.
In Game Three, the Wings took advantage of the home ice back in Detroit, scoring two goals in a 31 second span to go up 2-0 and take a 2-1 series lead. Midway through the second period, Gustav Nyquist and Drew Miller each scored to give the Wings the lead. The Red Wings have scored seven goals in the last two games by seven different players. Pavel Datsyuk scored in the third period for the 3-1 final.
The President’s Trophy winners now find themselves reeling. They lost only 7 times all season and now have been dominated in two straight games. They now need a road win in either Game Four or Six or they will fail to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
The Los Angeles Kings lead their conference semifinal series against the San Jose Sharks 2-1. The Sharks avoided going down 3-0 with an overtime win in Game Three. Logan Couture scored on a power play 1:29 into the overtime to give the Sharks a 2-1 win and get back into contention against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Game Four is scheduled for tonight at the Shark Tank. A win by the Sharks will even the series at 2-2.
Bookmaker has the Sharks -135 and the Kings +115. 72% of the wagers on their site are on the Sharks. Over/Under is 4.5 with over -145 and under +125. 58% of the wagers are with the under. We are going to buck the trend and go with the Kings and the over.
