in NHL Free Picks

Toronto Maple Leafs (20-19-6)
Saturday, January 13th --- 7:00pm EST

It’s the battle of Swedish captains as Mats Sundin of the Leafs takes on Markus Naslund of the Canucks. The Leafs are coming off an uplifting victory over the Sabres on Thursday, while the Canucks had their recent winning streak snapped by the Minnesota Wild. Will the ‘Nucks get back on track against a beat up Leafs squad?

To say that the Leafs are thin right now is an understatement. They have five major stars out due to injury, but still managed to post an amazing 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Their play has been powered by Mats Sundin, Jeff O’Neil and youngsters Matt Stajan and Alexander Steen. The last two are names to remember. These kids can really play.

The Canucks have been relatively futile all year long, though recently they have played with more urgency. Goalie Roberto Luongo has played magnificently as of late and much of that is attributed to the Canucks finally learning how to play to his strengths. Still, the Canucks are having a lot of trouble finding offense. Forward Markus Naslund has been all but silent as of late and nobody has seriously stepped in to fill the void his stick usually provides.

This game will be decided, strangely, on defense. The Leafs have the 11th best defense when playing on their home ice, while the Canucks rank 23rd on road offense. Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo has finally stepped up to manage the blue-line much more effectively.

The x-factor is that the Leafs are rallying behind the inspiring play of Mats Sundin, while the Canucks are slugging it out at best. Nobody is stepping up to be a leader and that simply won’t suffice in the game of hockey.

Leafs – 4
Canucks - 2

Phoenix Coyotes (20-21-2)
Saturday, January 13th --- 9:00pm EST

The Sharks are one of the most difficult teams to score on in this league, but the dogs of the desert are red-hot right now. Hockey is a game of streaks, and right now the Coyotes are riding the coat-tails of goalies Curtis Joseph and Michael Tellqvuist. Will the Coyotes be able to hold off the steady offense of the Sharks and keep their hot streak alive?

The last time these teams played, the Coyotes stunned the Sharks with an 8-0 shutout victory. Both teams have won four of their last five. This time, you can expect the Sharks to not take the Coyotes so lightly.

The Coyotes have been rallying behind the valiant efforts of some unlikely heroes. Their pair of goalies have played amazingly as of late. Forward “No Panic” Yanic Perreault is still one of the best face-off men in the league, which has given his team a decisive edge in the circle. Perreault has also emerged as a point-per-game type player as of late and has powered the Coyotes recent surge.

The Sharks, however, have a pair of netminders that are simply much better. Vesa Toskola and Evgeni Nabokov spell each other quite well, with Toskola getting the edge. Their offense has come alive as of late, scoring an average of five goals in their last five games. Their defense remains the most difficult to score on in the NHL.

Look for the Coyotes to try too hard to overcome their loss to Detroit on Sunday, leading to more penalties than Coach Great One (Wayne Gretzky) would like. Phoenix has the worst penalty killing in the NHL at 78.4% and allows 1.3 power play goals per game. That’s also a league worst.

The bad news: the Sharks are the best power play team in the NHL, leading the league in both power play percentage (25.5%) and power play goals (1.3 per game).

You do the math.

San Jose - 5
Phoenix – 1

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