NHL Home Underdogs Must Win or See Ya

For lowered seeded Colorado and Ottawa the task is simple – Win or enjoy your vacation. The Senators have already survived one elimination contest going to the third overtime to keep the NHL grim reaper away, as Matt Carkner scored at 7:06 to give Ottawa a 4-3 upset win as whopping +255 money line underdogs.

“There’s a lot of belief and trust in this room,” said the Senators’ Matt Cullen who created the screen for game winner. “We maintain a positive attitude and good feeling in here that we’re still in it.” Ottawa is back on home ice where they have lost twice already to Pittsburgh and is 3-9 in home games after allowing three goals or more in three straight tilts.

Pittsburgh for the second consecutive year let a wonderful opportunity slip thru their gloves, losing a Game 5 home contest with 3-1 lead.

“A lot happened (in the overtimes) with penalties and chances and posts, but that’s just the way it works out,” Sidney Crosby said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done here, but we’ve got to find a way to regroup and be ready to go to Ottawa.” Pittsburgh is 26-8 off a home loss over the last two seasons.

Bookmaker.com has Ottawa as +150 home underdogs with Ov5.5 total and they are 12-18 in their own rink having lost two of three. The Senators are 8-2 OVER in all games this month.
This is Pittsburgh second chance to end this series and the last thing they want is a Game 7 off two losses and the Pens are 13-7 in road games revenging a loss where opponent scored four or more goals.

Colorado will try to live another day playing at the Pepsi Center, taking on San Jose who is starting to play like the top seed of the Western Conference. The Avalanche has two goals in the last three contests and things could be heading downhill.

San Jose's game plan for this series was to commence hitting the smaller and less experienced Colorado crew, with the hope of wearing them down physically. The Sharks have controlled the puck for long periods of time in winning three of the last four contests and in the 5-0 shutout in Game 5, they finally penetrated goalie Craig Anderson's armor.

Avalanche coach Joe Sacco doesn't want to believe that the Sharks have worn down his young team, which is missing several injured forwards, including Milan Hejduk and Peter Mueller.

"This is playoff hockey," he said. "We shouldn't be tired this time of the year. We should be re-energized. The level of play picks up in the playoffs, and at this time of the year you need to find a way to battle through it." Maybe the coach is right, nonetheless his squad is 10-20 home games after two or more consecutive losses.

Colorado is +160 underdog with the total hovering at Un5.5. The Avs are 8-3 revenging a zero on the scoreboard and San Jose has a long history of failure in Game 6 setting with 1-11 mark.
The Sharks will still be dangerous and are 17-4 after permitting two goals or less three games in a row and are 12-5 OVER off a home win by two goals or more this season.