An 0-3? For me? NHL, you are so thoughtful! I had to take Halloween off due to the waves of trick or treaters at my work but I am back to address the league that I thought I had developed a good relationship with. Since lightening my pick load with the NHL, I had a brief spell of success. Thursday's three game menu flushed all that good will down the toilet. Every trend reversed itself. Each player who had been in good form decided that night was a good slacking off time. I know I am going to have bad days but hopefully no more of these abject failures can occur. Especially a team not covering against Buffalo! Hang your heads Boston. Hang them! Now it is time for me to go Mark McGwire and no longer talk about the past. On to the picks!
All picks are made with composite puck lines from ESPN.com. Home team in ALL CAPS.
NEW JERSEY -1.5 Columbus
The Devils may be inconsistent so far this year but they get a treat tonight. Columbus is quite the beaten up bunch and are in the midst of a five game losing streak. One of the wounded Blue Jackets is starting goaltender Sergei Boborovsky. The Devs aren't the highest scoring team, but a home game against a backup (Curtis McElhinney) or a NHL debutante (Anton Forsberg) should help them.
PITTSBURGH -1.5 Buffalo
Buffalo was able to get the game to overtime Thursday against the Bruins. I don't think the lowly Sabres will have the same luck with the Penguins. Pittsburgh decimated the champion Kings on Thursday and should be salivating at having the second worst team in the league coming to their building. With Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby skating on all cylinders, a 1.5 goal spread may not be enough to save Buffalo.
EDMONTON +1.5 Vancouver
Here is the gut play of the day. The Oilers take on the Canucks in the second to last game on the schedule tonight. If you look at the history, especially Canucks' goaltender Ryan Miller's, Edmonton is a lock to lose. I just think that the law of averages breaks in Edmonton's favor tonight and they hand Miller his first loss against the Oilers and their first win against the Western Conference.
Last Day's NHL Record: 0-3
NHL Record for 2014: 34-35
Last Day's All Picks Record: 2-4
All-Time NHL Record: 92-88
All-Time Picks Record: 258-215-5