NHL Playoff Betting – Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators

Sidney Crosby was once again the big story in Game 3 as finished with a goal and an assist, earning him first star honors. More importantly, he helped his team stake a 2-1 series lead and will look to continue to build momentum against a pesky Ottawa Senators team.

Puckline: Pittsburgh -1.5 (+200) at Ottawa +1.5 (-240)
Game Time: Tuesday April, 20 (7:05 PM EST)

Alexei Ponikarovsky and Bill Guerin also chipped in for the Penguins and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has his second consecutive strong performance, turning away 20 of 22 shots after allowing five goals on 26 shots in Game 1.

While Pittsburgh’s main man, Sidney Crosby, has been playing like the team leader he is, it has been the Senators’ dynamic duo of Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza who haven’t done enough to lead their team to victory. Looking at the stats and you might question that as the two have a combined 6 assists, but when you dig deeper you see that they are a minus-4 and haven’t shown that desire to will their team to victory.

As I mentioned before, Sid the Kid has been up to his usual tricks. Crosby leads all postseason skaters with 7 points but it has been his play in other areas that is the reason his team is holding a 2-1 series lead. He has been dominant in the face-off circle and is always buzzing around in the defensive zone, causing turnovers and creating havoc.

Here are some NHL Playoff Betting Trends for this contest:

• Penguins are 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Ottawa.
• Road team is 9-4 in the last 13 meetings.
• Penguins are 6-1 in their last 7 vs. Northeast.
• Penguins are 24-6 in their last 30 playoff games as a favorite.

The Penguins are playing like the Stanley Cup defending champions and that’s not good news for Ottawa fans. With Fleury seemingly back on his game after a shaky Game 1 and Crosby playing like a man possessed, the Senators will be lucky to win another game in this series.

I think if Pittsburgh gets the first goal in Game 4, this series is as good as over. They have the more experience goaltender and the better supporting cast so playing the Penguins is the NHL Playoff Betting pick I would make on Tuesday night.

Take the Penguins at -135

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