Posted on 1/18/2008 4:12:03 PM

Bet on NHL Action - Penguins prepare to host Bolts

By BetUS Staff

The Pittsburgh Penguins got off to a slow start to the season, but anyone doing any NHL betting on them over the past month has been very happy. Pittsburgh has lost just once since Christmas (in overtime versus the Thrashers on Saturday), and instead of toiling near the bottom of the standings they’re now fighting for first place in the Atlantic.

And while Sidney Crosby continues to light up the scoreboard (11 points in seven January contests), it’s been the surprisingly strong play of goaltender Ty Conklin that’s been a key to the team’s resurgence. Conklin, brought in to replace the injured Marc-Andre Fleury on the roster, now has an incredible 10-0-1 record on the season, with a 1.72 GAA. Conklin has allowed two or fewer goals in each of his seven January starts.

The Penguins will be looking to keep that hot streak alive when they take on one of the league’s coldest teams on Friday night – the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts also have a high-scoring forward in Vincent Lecavalier, but they’ve managed to go just 2-6-2 over their past 10 games and sport the worst record in the Eastern Conference. As well, Tampa’s goaltending duo of Johan Holmqvist and Karri Ramo both have GAA’s over 3.

There are six other games on the NHL’s schedule for Friday night, including Florida at New Jersey, Edmonton at Carolina, Atlanta at Buffalo, Anaheim at Minnesota, and Chicago at Colorado. As well, the Los Angeles Kings will be looking to pick up their fourth straight victory when they travel to Calgary to take on the Flames on Friday night.

Saturday sees the Penguins in action again, as The Wizard of Croz and company head north to Montreal to play the Canadiens. The Habs have played well in January, with forwards Alexei Kovalev and Tomas Plekanec leading the way on offense. As well, Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov was voted as an East defense starter for the All-Star Game.

There are three matinees on Saturday, with the Rangers at Boston, Columbus at Dallas, and Nashville at St. Louis. The day’s other seven contests take place in the evening, and include Buffalo at Toronto, Philadelphia at the Islanders, Florida at Washington, Tampa Bay at Ottawa, and Chicago at Phoenix. Late-night matchups out on the west coast on Saturday will include Los Angeles at Vancouver and then Detroit at San Jose.

Phil Kessel and the Bruins will play another early afternoon contest on Sunday to get out of the way of the Patriots game – they’ll play in New York against the Rangers starting at 12:30pm ET. Sunday’s other meetings include Edmonton at Atlanta, Anaheim at Dallas, Toronto at New Jersey, Ottawa at Philadelphia, and Columbus at Colorado.

Check the BetUS NHL betting lines section for all the latest odds and totals for these contests.

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