NHL Matchup - November 16, 2007

The Minnesota Wild battle the Vancouver Canucks at General Motors Place Friday night in the first of eight games this season between the Northwest Division rivals.

Minnesota holds the upper hand head-to-head, with a 6-2-0-2 record against Vancouver over the past 10 meetings. The teams have not faced each other since March 13, 2007, when the Wild won 3-2 in Vancouver.

Wild sniper Marian Gaborik was back in the lineup for Minnesota’s 4-2 win in Edmonton Thursday night, and picked up a goal and an assist. Pavol Demitra remains out with a groin injury. The Canucks are still missing three of their top six defensemen – Kevin Bieksa (calf), Sami Salo (nose) and Lukas Krajicek. Salo has missed four games and could return early next month, and Krajicek has missed 11 games and may return next week.

Winger Jeff Cowan returns to the Vancouver lineup tonight, and will take the sport of fourth liner Alex Burrows, who has been promoted to the third line.

The Wild are expected to start Josh Harding in net, while the Canucks will go with Roberto Luongo.

The total has gone Under in seven of Vancouver's past 10 games when playing at home against Minnesota.

Betting Line: The Canucks are 150-moneyline favorites at BetUS. The over/under is 5.

Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007

Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs

The first-overall Ottawa Senators will try to win their fourth-straight game against the Toronto Maple Leafs when the Northeast Division and provincial rivals clash Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre.

The Senators have won all three meetings between the teams this season, including a season-opening, home-and-home series (4-3 in Toronto and 3-2 in Ottawa). The Leafs last beat the Senators in the teams’ final meeting last season, a 4-3 home-ice victory on March 10, 2007. Ottawa is 7-2-0-1 SU against Toronto in the past 10 meetings.

The Senators beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 at home Thursday night, while the Leafs lost 5-2 on the road to the Boston Bruins Thursday night.

Ottawa welcomed Jason Spezza back from injury Thursday, and have a healthy line-up for the first time this season. The Leafs will be missing defensemen Pavel Kubina (knee) and Carlo Colaiacovo (knee).

Martin Gerber, who has established himself as the Senators’ No. 1 netminder ahead of Ray Emery, will get the start. Gerber recorded his league-leading 12th victory of the season against the Sabres Thursday. His .943 save percentage ranked third in the league going into Friday's games and his 1.75 goals-against average was good for sixth best.
The Leafs will likely have Andrew Raycroft in goal, as Vesa Toskala is still bothered by a throat infection.

Betting Line: The Senators are 155-moneyline favorites at BookMaker. The over/under is 6.