Free NHL Picks December 11th

The Ducks came through for me posting a 2-1 win over the Oilers last night. I had seriously thought about betting the puck line on the Ducks last night, but I’m glad I didn’t because Nugent-Hopkins late goal would have made that selection a loser. As it stands though that was a good half unit win last night.

Tonight there’s 10 games on tap so I’m sure we will be able to find at least a couple sharp plays.

NHL Season Record: 49-62 for -2.21 units.

Calgary Flames @ Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres bounced back from their 5-0 and 3-2 losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers with a 1-0 win over the high powered Kings on Tuesday night. I’m starting to think that this team truly has bought in to Ted Nolan’s system and is now playing within themselves, which is allowing them to keep things simple and take care of the puck in their own end. Looking at their last 10 games the Sabres are 7-3-0 and have only allowed 19 goals in that span, which includes 5 against the Lightning in one game.

The Sabres have also won 5 of their last 6 home games.

The Flames have lost their last two games to the Sharks and Maple Leafs. I do think this Flames team is legitimate this year, but the Sabres are such big home dogs it’s hard not to take them when the team is playing such good defense and Enroth is playing some amazing goaltending.

Play: Sabres 2.46 @ 5Dimes.eu

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Washington Capitals

The Blue Jackets have won 4 games in a row and are playing the best hockey they have this year. Bobrovsky back between the pipes with the rust off is a huge reason for this. If he is in between the pipes again tonight I really like the Blue Jackets to pull off a win over the Caps.

Washington has won 3 straight themselves, but based on these odds I like the Blue Jackets as huge dogs.

Play: Blue Jackets 2.68 @ 5Dimes.eu

LA Kings @ Ottawa Senators

The Sens have had a huge shake up this week with Paul Maclean being fired on Monday and Dave Cameron taking over as the head coach of the team. The Sens have had a fair number of days off since the incident though, which was likely planned in order to allow them to transition to the new coach (although it’s doubtful many systems will change). The players will often come out with a big game after a coaching change in order to really impress the new bench boss. Once again, Cameron was already the assistant in Ottawa, but I still expect more of a commitment to the systems and defensive hockey by the Senators in this one.