NHL Matchup - December 7 and 8, 2007

The Minnesota Wild visit the Detroit Red Wings Friday night in a clash of “Hockeytown USA” past and present. The Motor City was considered “Hockeytown USA” up until Sports Illustrated bestowed the honor on Minneapolis-St. Paul this week.

However, the new handle may not help the Wild on the ice against the NHL-leading Red Wings, as Detroit has dominated the past 10 meetings, going 8-1-0-1 SU. Minnesota has not won at the Joe Louis Arena in nearly two years, since a 4-2 victory on Jan 3, 2006.

In their last games, Minnesota (15-10-2 SU) lost 3-1 to the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night, while Detroit (19-6-2 SU) beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Monday. Detroit has won four straight.

For over/under bettors, there is a significant Under trend between these two clubs. The total has gone Under in four of Minnesota's past five games against Detroit, and Under in five of Minnesota's past seven on the road against Detroit. The total also has gone Under in four of Minnesota's past six overall.

The Wild are expected to start Josh Harding in goal, while the Red Wings will go with
Dominik Hasek.

Sportsbooks are reporting that as of Friday afternoon, 63 per cent of bets were for a Detroit win.

Betting Line: Detroit is a 230-moneyline favorite at Sportsbook.com. The over/under is 5.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to stretch their winning streak to five games when they host the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Head-to-head, the Bruins have an advantage over the past 10 meetings, going 7-3 SU. The teams last met on Nov. 20, when Boston beat Toronto 4-2 on the road.

Boston has won the past three meetings since being humiliated 10-2 on home ice against the Maple Leafs on Jan. 4.

In their last games Thursday night, the Bruins (14-10-3 SU) lost 4-2 at home to the Montreal Canadiens, while the Maple Leafs (12-11-6 SU) thumped the New York Rangers 6-2 at Madison Square Garden.

For over/under bettors, there is a significant Under trend. In the past 37 games head-to-head, 26 have gone Under. The Under is 25-10-1 in Boston’s past 36 games overall. And the Under is 4-0-1 in the past five meetings.

The Leafs are expected to start Vesa Toskala in net, while the Bruins will likely go with Tim Thomas.
 
Betting Line: Toronto is a 170-moneyline favorite at BetUS.com. The over/under is 5½.