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Boston got on form at the right time, but that was expected from a team of their rank. The season is coming to an end, they're still in the battle for the playoff, and playing against one of the weakest teams of the league in the last four rounds is not a chance you'd like to miss. The Bruins have four wins in a row, and the last two were against their direct opponents Detroit and FLorida, so I have no reason to not have faith in Boston against the weak Toronto today. Toronto are one of the weakest teams of the league, have another disappointing season behind them, and I simply can't respect them, at least not when they face a much stronger opponent. They even lost to Buffalo after two decently played matches. Boston are after the playoffs, and have a great chance to get two easy points. Toronto lost 22 out of 23 away matches, and most of those defeats were in this handicap. Details

Calgry are still being underrated as if they didn't make huge progress this season and as if they were not in the playoff zone. Moreover, Calgary are showing that they don't plan to stop, as teams mostly do after doing well during the season as the underdog. Calgary is in a very close race for spot 3 with the Kings, they have the upper hand now but the Kings are one game short and the race will clearly go on until the last minute of regular season. Calgary are in fine form, they have been consistent throughout the season and I don't expect St. Louis to win just like that. As for stats, Calgary lost only one out of the last 7 games in regulation time, while the Blues won only twice in regulation time in the last 10 rounds. The most important thing for this tip is the fact St. Louis will be without their two top players who lead in goals and points. That will be impossible to make up for. Calgary beat Boston, Detroit, Dallas and the Predators in the last month away and there is not reason not to trust they can win in this kind of a situation. The Blues almost secured playoffs, they're in bad form and without top two players, while Calgary need every point. That is why we should not see a one-sided win today. Calgary proved themselves and expecting them to get points here is quite realistic, regardless of the h2h record this season. The Blues were complete back then and had the duo that generated 133 points this season. They are not the same team without those two players. Details

The situation for Ottawa is now "do or die" because the season entered its finish, and they're still fighting Boston for the last place that takes them to the playoffs. After a great shape and a 7-game winning run Sens stopped a bit, but they returned on the right track with a huge win in an away game against Detroit where they've shown that they're not out of shape. Boston started playing the way they know how, they have three points of advantage, but Ottawa have one game less and the situation is far from any solution which will probably come in the last two rounds. Tampa, on the other hand, are a team who practically have the home match secured in the first round of the playoffs. First one will be tough because Rangers and Montreal are in front of them, and they have huge problems with injuries. Four standard defenders are out, among whom the important offense players Hedman and Garrison. To make things worse, their best player Tyler johnson, who is with 67 points in the season only one point behind the best Tampa's player Stamkos, is out. Ottawa has the bigger motive here considering Tampa's situation. Sens at home won 9 out of the last 13 times. Tampa aren't that good lately in away matches with only two wins in seven meetings, and Ottawa's final win doesn't look that bad, considering that they are in a situation in which they have to win. Without making a fuss from it, Tampa is missing their whole defense. Details

Boston beat the best team of the east yesterday, the Rangers. With the injured players back, and that win, their self-confidence is pretty high. They had six defeats in a row until yesterday, but it's not that they played badly. The Bruins are leading a dead race against Ottawa for the playoffs, and this is their chance against a team far from the playoffs, to get two new points, confirm yesterday's win, and keep the advantage over Ottawa who are playing a tough match against Florida who are breathing down their necks. Carolina's got two consecutive wins, one against Pittsburgh who're having problems with their roster, and against the Devils in a duel between the teams who'll watch the playoffs from home this year. If Boston want to play and not watch, they have to win, because their schedule is tough. Carolina aren't really motivated, and had a series of 11 defeats before the last two wins. Carolina will start the second goalie Khudobin today, since this is their second day in a row playing, so they're tired. Rask will tend the goal for Boston, and that's an advantage against Carolina. To keep it short, Boston are a strong team and we can't imagine them not being in the playoffs. They'll definitely get there before Ottawa. Boston had problems with their roster, and if not for that, they'd be 10 points ahead of where they're now, at least. Boston have the quality to stay in for the playoff, and Carolina are one of the weakest teams of the league who lost their chance for the playoffs a long time ago. Details

Although Edmonton fizzled the bet against Colorado, who were eliminated from the playoff race by that defeat, I believe it's a good idea to bet against them again. In the match against Colorado, Edmonton took a 3-0 lead very early due to unfortunate circumstances, and Colorado did manage a comeback to 3-3, but burned out in the end. After all, Colorado did beat the strong Canucks in an away match, but that's of little consequence for both them and me. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bet against Edmonton, far from it. This is betting on a team who won seven of their last eight games, and already beat Edmonton twice before this season. Dallas also have no room for error, as a fumble here would probably lose them the playoff, since there are background 'players' waiting for them to make a mistake. Calgary are playing a tough game today, and most likely won't take two points away from them, so Dallas might draw closer. They played one less match than the Jets and a win here would get them closer to the playoff. Likewise, a defeat would reduce their chances to pure theory. Edmonton took some points lately, but it's due to this part of the season, mostly in relaxed duels against teams who are out of the playoff race. I spoke of their roster issues in the last pick, they're missing captain and main defender Ference, and defensive center Gordon. To make things worse, defender Fayne also got injured in the last round, meaning they'll have to call fudge some solution, and have already called in a substitution from the AHL. Dallas are the team in best form in the league over the past 10 games, and playing great defense, which is important for this match. They also have quality and motivation on their side, which I judge to be crucial for this bet. Details

The situation here is similar to the one a few days ago when I bet on Colorado against Arizona away. Colorado are struggling to stay in the race for playoffs and that will be very difficult if they record third consecutive defeat. But, both previous defeats were close and they played tough teams and fought well. Calgray are playoff material and the other opponents Anaheim very powerful, which didn't stop Colorado from getting a point. The Oilers have two defeats lately, but against the horrible Colorado and the mediocre Philadelphia, whom them beat on account on amazing efficiency that day. They lost to the Jets last round when the Jets were motivated as much as Colorado are today. The defeat is not the worst thing that happened since team captain and key defenseman Ference and important defensive center Gordon got injured. That will leave a trace on their defensive performance, which is the worst one in the league anyway. I expect Colorado to score a few times because the absences will make Edmonton's defense much worse. Colorado are great stats-wise lately, they have 6 wins in the last 9 games, having recorded defeats only to tough teams. Edmonton lost 9 out of the last 11 games and I don't think they have a shot against Colorado today. The brilliant Varlamov (925) will start once again at Colorado today. Colorado have form, they're good and most importantly, great motivation. 2.13 give good value to this bet. Details

Vancouver yesterday made a huge job by winning against Kings in an away match, but that won't mean a thing unless they don't confirm those two points today against the desperate Arizona. In the fight for the playoffs, Vancouver still stands a chance in the West, especially after beating Kings so I expect an even bigger dose of self-confidence today and a new win against Arizona because that's going to be a huge step towards the playoffs. I said everything about Arizona in the last time when I played for Colorado, that's a team who only find this year's draft important, they traded two of their best players, Hanzal and now Erat are out, and they were very important players; their scores are desperate to say the least. They're in a 7-game losing run, and they have a total of 17 of them in the last 18 matches. What's interesting is that the only team they've beaten were Vancouver, but today I think the Canucks will build that into their revenge. The Canucks are looking powerful with their five clean wins in the last seven matches, and against strong teams. I trust them today. Their shape and quality are on their side, and when you add the motive, then it's a great bet on Canucks whom winning means a lot against Arizona who lost 15 out of the last 16 matches at home, out of which 13 were in regular time. Details

A victory today would place Tonsberg into the first league, and they hold their own fate in their hands. However, they have no room for error, as competitor for advancement Kongsvinger also face an opponent for whom the outcome of the match is irrelevant. Comet are bottom ranked in this qualification group for the Eliteserien, with just one point and five defeats so far, and realistically are the weakest team. Tonsberg lost only against the strongest, Manglerud, and by all accounts deserve to advance, which they will most likely secure today, as the chance is too good to pass. Tonsberg are the leader of the second league in front of Comet, with a better scoring ratio and stronger offense, meaning quality favors them as well. Tonsberg won the first, group match, though after extra time, but I believe this will not happen here, as two great victories against Kongsvinger speak against that. Strangely, both sides have similar statements, with even some Comet players saying they'd like Tonsberg to get to the first league, and I would not be surprised with a slightly more casual attitude on their behalf. Tonsberg would return to the first league with a victory here, they're highly motivated and the work of a season hangs on this one game for them, while Comet are casually going through the motions in the last match of the season after they weren't even close to rising to the next rank. Details

Ottawa are currently the 'hottest' team in the league. They are on a 5-game winning run, having won 8 out of the last 9 games. The Senators are in the race for a wildcard with Boston in the East. They beat Boston last round but still lag behind and cannot afford to slip today. Ottawa are a good team in both defense and offense, their goalie Hammon has never been better and I think they simply need to take advantage of this game to win. Toronto are bad, they have waster yet another season, they're doing bad lately and have only 2 wins in the last 11 games. Since there's no way for them to make it into playoffs, the motivation is questionable. They also struggle with injuries, Holland and Kadri are out, just like the important defensemen Polak and Robidas. There's not a single argument that could put me off this bet. Ottawa are in great form and on a roll, they're better than Toronto and have huge motivation to keep on racing for the playoff in a home game today. Details

Betting against Arizona will be popular in the final part of the season and when they meet a team in great form or the one that cannot afford to lose these kind of games, I definitely will not be missing out on those bets. Colorado are fighting for a wildcard in the West but the competition if fierce and they are facing a tough, but feasible task. But, in order to reach the goal, they absolutely need to winning these kind of games. Arizona are horrible to say least. They have 15 defeats in the last 16 games, having scored only 5 goals on the current five-game losing run. They traded their two top players, Hanzal is injured and the rest of the games they will play will be only about getting the season to its end. Colorado are doing great lately, I daresay Ottawa and them are in best form now. They won 5 out of the last 6 games and not against easy opponents (Pittsburgh, Minnesota away, and Calgary last round, all of which are better than Arizona). A month ago, Colorado beat Arizona 5-2 home and I expected them to win today as well. They got form, motivation and everything else going for them, with the home arena being of no help for Arizona. They lost 13 out of the last 14 games here, 11 in regulation time. Details

The season is coming to its end and the defending champions from L.A. are still not in playoff zone. I'm sure that will change soon because, no matter the regular season, they are the prime contenders for the title in the playoffs. Four wins in the last 6 games are a nice improvement and their last defeat to Nashville home won't stop me from betting, quite the contrary. The Kinds made improvements to get some two levels above Arizona. Arizona are among the worst teams in the league, with no chance of improving their ranking and with 14 defeats in the last 15 games. They had to let their top top players go and are no longer the same team. In two last h2h matches of the season, the Kings won 4-2 and 4-0 back when Arizona were complete and motivated. I expect a similar outcome today. The kings need to win this in order to reach playoffs and they know. Given their much better quality, there is no doubt they can in handicap. Details

This is the fourth game in a very even series, with the first three not going over three goals and considering the importance of this duel I see no reason for this one to do so. Both team's goalies are very high level players, and both teams are struggling to score, amounting to only four goals total in regular time over the three matches. Frisk are playing extremely defensively, handing over initiative to Valerenga on purpose in a tactic that's proven to work as it gave them a 2-1 lead in the series, and I see no reason they should change it today. The best part about all that is that such hockey does not produce high scores. If Valerenga lose, they'll be in a tough spot since they don't have the home ground advantage, and I don't expect them to go wild here as Frisk have shown they can punish them. Both games that ended 3-0 in this series had late-scored goals in the end of the match, so I find it very hard to imagine a six goal game here. It sounds much more realistic for that figure to stay at about three once again. Both teams are playing great defense, Frisk's goalkeeper Dahlberg saved over 95% of shots and we'll see another very tough game here with minimal chances for a high score. Details

This is a classical example of a clash between David and Goliath, only in this game, Goliath will emerge victorious. Dynamo have been founded this season, the team is made up of young players from Dynamo Minsk, who managed to make it into playoffs, which is not that difficult in Belorussian league. But, their season is probably going to end today. They opened the series with a lucky win because Yunost had a very bad day and a bad opening. It's also possible that they underestimated the opponent. But, the next two games proved that they are two levels above the opponent. They first equalized with 9-2 and then took a 6-2 lead yesterday. The difference in quality is huge, Dynamo are a team made up of young talents but Junos are one of the candidates for the title. They have a bunch of international players who scored 15 goals against Dynamo in the last 2 games. On top of that, the home team is having injury-struggles, their two forwards and a defender are injured and one of the top players Kaznadey returned to Dynamo Minsk. Yunost already beat Dynamo three times this season, all three times in regulation time and I don't think there could be any surprises today. A win would give them extra time for rest ahead of the semifinal, which they will reach today, I'm convinced, because the home team have nothing going for them in this game. I would not be surprised by another blowout. Details

We should have respect for Dynamo Moscow but they don't deserve to be the favorite based only on matches from before. The score is 1-1 after two matches in Moscow and we learned two important things from them. Injuries are one of them, because Dynamo lost Mosalov and Gorikov, both of whom are important players and both o whom scored in the first game. Second of all, Lokomoitv's game is not agreeing with Dynamo. Lokomotiv took the lead in the first match while managing to stay ahead till the end in the second. There is no difference between these two teams, I even consider Lokomotiv as the better quality team since they, lead by Kingom, knocked out Dynamo from the playoffs to play the Conference final in the end. They are even better this year. Not all opponents can be judged through their regular season games because Lokomotiv got complete only mid-season. Dynamo still struggle with injuries, the important Pestushko and Zherdev are still out and there's also Babenko, whose experience they can really use. Dynamo are not better at any of the positions and Dynamo do not have the upper hand today especially since Lokomotiv play home where they didn't lose the last 5 head-to-head games. This is not the kind of playoff duel in which either of the opponents can be considered a favorite home. I expect Lokomotiv to win the second game in a row because they are in a better situation now after gaining the mental upper hand after the win away. Home rink is great help for them too. Details

Krefeld have a good chance to secure playoff against Augsburg, who have long lost any chance to get it and have huge roster problems. In the last two weeks the home team let two players end the season in better teams, their first goalie is injured leaving them with Keller, who allows a goal more on average than their first pick Mason. They also lack experienced attackers Bayda and Connoly, as well as Trevelyan, who is one of the better scorers for the Panthers this season with 17 goals. They're also in poor form, losing seven of their last eight games in regular time, and winning only against even worse Schwenninger. Today Krefeld can secure 10th position and advancement, and all their camp talks about is victory and the fact they want to avoid last round drama against strong Wolfsburg, who could have a motive to win, as well as Koln just two points away, so this is a chance they cannot miss. They have three nice wins in a row prior to this and lots of confidence. Krefeld are 23 points ahead of Augsburg, in much better shape, and highly motivated. Augsburg have nothing to play for, while a win would secure Krefeld the playoff and lift the pressure off them prior to the last round. With all that in mind, this is a bet you must not miss today. Details

We're in the last round of KHL, and there's still one more ticket that brings a team into the playoffs. That ticket is currently in Sochi's hands, but the have to confirm it by beating Lada in today's match Severstal are only one point behind Sochi and overtime could be a big risk for the Olympic city team. Three points are imperative and today we're going to watch motivated Sochi against Lada who have long been out of any calculations for the playoffs, and this match means nothing to them. The whole hosts' season depends on this match, they will have their fans' support, and opponents who aren't much of an obstacle. Sochi beat Lada this season with 3-1 in a head-to-head, they're the better team, and I've said everything about motivation. They can be calm with three points, and I would expect a convincing win of the home team. Details

Let's start with the fact that Espoo are currently in a nine-game winning run and they are a team with the best shape in the league. If we look at longer periods, they won in 11 out of the last 12 matches which is respectable. Today they're playing in an away match against a team who stand no chance to reach the playoffs, and they confirmed it themselves by letting go their best players Repik and Redebach in the last three days. Two weeks ago Paakkolanvaara abandoned them, another important forward. Lahti seem to be in good shape, but two out of the last three wins, against TPS and Sport, are two worst of the league. Lahti don't have motive, and Espoo have plenty because the Top 6 brings the direct placement into the quarter-finals. In three head-to-head matches Espoo won all. Espoo have the class, the shape, the personal record and a big motive against the weakened Lahti. This one is definitely worth it. Details

Torpedo have the best form in the league, besides CSKA. Skudra's team have six wins in a row, but they still didn't secure the playoff, which is why they're so motivated here and can't allow a mistake, especially not at home, and against Medveščak in a situation like this. Torpedo are an elite team of the league who had crisis during the season, but their form was timed really well, and they caught the right rhythm now when they need it most. Medveščak have a four-defeats run, and their season will last four more matches. Players already started leaving. The Finnish star Leino left the club and Medveščak will finalize the season without him. I don't see the Bears do much without being motivated, because Torpedo play a great defense lately, and control the matches well. Torpedo defeated Slovan in the handicap in the last round, but Slovan played really well, and firm, which I don't expect Medveščak to do today. Everything's on Torpedo's side, they'll have a huge support, the class and the form are definitely on their side, which, with the huge motive against the written off Medvešak turns this bet into an excellent choice. Details

Traktor beat Ugra in overtime four days ago, but I don't think we'll be seeing more than 60 minutes of hockey today. Ugra let go Kaspar and Maxwell after that match, two of their best players, and that's going to be felt. But, that's not all, because they spared their important defender Sergeyev in the last couple of matches because of an injury. They've lost their chances for playoffs a long time ago and I see Traktor here in a cominant position. Traktor are motivated, they're fighting to earn a position in the playoffs. They're in good shape and have three wins. This pick has a statistical background although I'm not a fan of basing picks solely on that. But, Ugra lost seven out of the last eight away matches in a handicap, and they're not doing well outside of their own hall. Speaking of statistics, it's important to add that these two teams played two head-to-head here in Celjabinsk and Traktor won both with a handicap when Ugra were with three very important players who are no longer part of the team. Everything is on Traktor's side and I don't see a reason why not to take this because Ugra have given up the season and let their best players go. Traktor have been very good lately and have a great motive to win in front of their fans where they've won in seven out of last eight matches. Details

Severstal have a great chance to get important points for the playoff against the weakened Sibir. Sibir are pretty secure at the lead place of their division, playoff are long secured, and they'll have a few home matches to confirm it all, so they're not nearly as motivated as Severstal are here. Also, Sibir have lots of absences - the first goalie Salak, tri first line forwards, Ullstrom and Kuguryshev and Enlund who score the most in the team. Also the main defenseman Hersley who is in the Swedish national team, and that's a great handicap because he scored 16 goals this season, he's very important for both their defensive game and powerplay. They lost 7-3 in the last round against Sochi without all these players, and I don't expect them to concede seven again, but I'm convinced the chances are on Severstal's side here. The home team are fighting for the playoff at the West, they have their chance, and this is one that they just have to use. They're in good form, and rising, they have three wins in a row, and two in away matches against Ufa and Omsk, so there's no doubt they can win this. Severstal recently defeated Jokerit, too, at home, and I think they can play really well against the unmotivated Sibir. Severstal have the home ice advantage, huge motive, and a weakened opponent who doesn't care about the points. Don't miss this bet. Details