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Championship Fr 20Nov 19:45

Middlesbro

v

QPR

	HOME	DRAW	AWAY
SS1		8/11	14/5	9/2	More markets

RECENT FORM	LAST HEAD-TO-HEADSAT MIDDLESBRO	RECENT FORM
ALAWAD*HWHWAL​ Most recent​	1 - 3 0 - 3 2 - 0 2 - 0	ALHDHWALALHD​ Most recent​

KEY STAT: QPR have failed to beat any of the seven top-half sides they have faced

EXPERT VERDICT: All the key form stats point to a Middlesbrough victory. Boro have lost only one of eight home games, scoring 15 goals and conceding just two in the process. QPR have conceded 13 goals and won two of their eight away games and the R’s have failed to score in their last three outings.

RECOMMENDATION: Middlesbrough
2

​

NHL notebook: All-Star Game goes 3-on-3
By The Sports Xchange

The 2016 NHL All-Star Game is undergoing a serious makeover.
The NHL officially announced Wednesday evening that it will transform the game into a 3-on-3 All-Star Tournament among players from each division.
The new format will divide the recently stale game into three 20-minute games, with players from each division making up the four All-Star teams: Pacific, Central, Atlantic, and Metropolitan. There will be a $1 million prize for the winning team in the inter-division tournament.

---The Los Angeles Kings suspended goaltending prospect Patrik Bartosak after domestic-related charges, the team announced.
Bartosak has been accused in Manchester, N.H., of 12 domestic-related charges involving his girlfriend, including a felony assault charge alleging he tried to strangle her at an apartment.
Bartosak played for the American Hockey League's Manchester Monarchs for two seasons. He moved with the Kings' farm team, now called the Ontario Reign, to California. Bartosak had been in Manchester on an injury rehab assignment and played Sunday night.

---Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta was released from the hospital and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks with an upper-body injury sustained Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.
Maatta was taken to a hospital during the game after he was hit from behind into the boards along the Wild bench by Minnesota right winger Nino Niederreiter at 10:09 of the second period.
Reports indicate that Maatta might have sustained a muscular injury in the collision, but there was no internal organ or bone damage, which was initially feared. In 18 games this season, Maatta has four points.

---Hall of Fame left winger Bert Olmstead has died from complications after suffering a stroke. He was 89.
Olmstead, a native of Sceptre, Saskatchewan, passed away Monday. He broke into the league with the Blackhawks in 1949-50 with a 20-goal, 49-point rookie season. He helped the Canadiens win four Stanley Cups, including a three straight from 1956 to 1958. Olmstead was picked up by the Maple Leafs in 1958 and won another Stanley Cup during the 1961-62 season, his last in the NHL.
Olmstead retired with 181 goals and 421 assists for 602 points in 848 games. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.

---The Anaheim Ducks reassigned defenseman Shea Theodore to the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League.
Theodore, 20, was recalled Tuesday from San Diego but did not make an appearance in Anaheim's 3-2 loss in Nashville. Theodore has earned eight points (one goal, seven assists), a plus-4 rating and eight penalty minutes in 13 games with San Diego this season. He has appeared in 26 career AHL games with San Diego and Norfolk, recording 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) and 10 penalty minutes.

---The Tampa Bay Lightning recalled forward Joel Vermin from the Syracuse Crunch, general manager Steve Yzerman announced.
Vermin, 23, has three goals and a total of 10 points in 12 games with the Crunch this season, in addition to two penalty minutes.

Preview: Stars (15-4) at Capitals (11-4)

Date: November 19, 2015 7:00 PM EDT

The Dallas Stars are tied atop the NHL's overall standings, and a large portion of their points have been earned in Eastern Conference arenas.

After nine of their first 10 away from home have come against teams in the East, the Stars face another when they visit the Washington Capitals on Thursday night seeking their longest road winning streak in two years.

Dallas (15-4-0) is tied with Montreal and the New York Rangers with 30 points, including a league-best 16 on the road built entirely on an 8-1-0 road record versus the East. The Stars extended their away streak to four with Tuesday's 3-1 win at Buffalo.

They haven't won five straight outside Dallas since taking six in a row Nov. 3-17, 2013, and their recent history against the Capitals (12-4-1) offers no reason to think they can't match that. Dallas is 14-1-2 in the last 17 meetings after winning seven in a row, including its previous four in the nation's capital.

Coach Lindy Ruff, however, isn't concerned with history.

"There's just not an easy game in this league. Everybody knows who we're going to have to deal with and what he can bring," Ruff said, alluding to Alex Ovechkin. "We know that (goaltender Braden) Holtby has been very good for them, whether we get him or not. I look at three real solid lines and an energy line that can give you some problems."

Holtby had 25 saves before Evgeny Kuznetsov scored 45 seconds into overtime to give the Capitals a 2-1 win at Detroit on Wednesday that improved them to 4-1-1 in their last six. Both of Washington's overtime wins have come on goals from Kuznetsov, who leads the club with 18 points.

"Kuzy in overtime has been outstanding," coach Barry Trotz said. "You give him some time and space and he's pretty good. He has that deceptive skating style. It doesn't look like he's moving his feet but he's going faster all the time."

It's unclear whether Trotz will turn to Holtby on consecutive days for the first time this season. Backup Philipp Grubauer's three starts have all come in the second game of back-to-backs, and he's 2-0-1 with a 2.59 goals-against average.

Ruff's focus is on limiting Ovechkin, who has no points while taking 26 shots over the last four games after getting eight goals and eight assists in the first 12. The star left wing has five goals and three assists in 10 career meetings with Dallas.

"His one-timer from that other side. He's a physical force, but our discipline and our penalty killing are going to be big," Ruff said. "We can't give him the one-timer or the shots from the flank. He can score from 50 feet above the line. He can score from five feet above the line."

Ovechkin's 483 goals are tied with Sergei Fedorov for the NHL's career lead among Russian-born players.

T.J. Oshie is dealing with a dry spell of his own, getting only one point in eight games after collecting eight over the first nine. The right wing, though, has 20 points in 22 career meetings with the Stars, including four in the last two.

Dallas' Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are second and third in the league in scoring with 27 and 26 points, respectively. Seguin's goal Tuesday was assisted by Benn, and they've combined for 28 points in the nine road games against the East.

Benn has seven points in the last five meetings with Washington, while Seguin has five in the past four.

Preview: Wild (10-4) at Bruins (8-8)

Date: November 19, 2015 7:00 PM EDT

Road games have been a big problem for the Minnesota Wild, while the Boston Bruins can't seem to get their act together on home ice.

One of those trends will continue when the Wild complete a four-game trip Thursday night against the struggling Bruins.

Minnesota failed to record a point for the first time in five games without star forward Zach Parise with Tuesday's 4-3 loss in Pittsburgh. The Wild went 3-0-1 in their first four without Parise, who sprained his MCL in a loss to Nashville on Nov. 5 but remains tied for the team lead with seven goals.

The loss dropped Minnesota to 1-3-3 in its last seven away games and continued a disturbing trend of slow starts.

The Wild haven't held a lead in regulation in their last three games and have led for just 1 minute, 12 seconds during that seven-game road stretch. They have conceded the first goal in all but one of their nine road games.

"It's a bad trait we have going right now," defenseman Ryan Suter told the team's official website. "Giving up the first couple of goals, and then trying to fight our way back."

Devan Dubnyk has clearly been more comfortable at home. He's 7-1-0 with a 2.14 goals-against average at the Xcel Energy Center and 3-3-2 with a 2.96 GAA everywhere else.

The four goals Dubnyk allowed Tuesday matched his season high and he's 0-4-0 with a 5.56 GAA lifetime against Boston. Backup Darcy Kuemper hasn't played since Oct. 25.

The Bruins, though, have lost five of seven and dropped to 2-6-1 at home following Tuesday's 5-4 defeat to San Jose. Loui Eriksson's goal early in the second period gave them a 3-2 lead before the Sharks went ahead for good with the next three scores, the last two on the power play.

'Sloppy tonight - sloppy. Really, that's the only word I can find right now,' coach Claude Julien said. 'We have to deal with certain things and I plan on dealing with internally, but certainly not going to start elaborating here.'

Boston's home record is its worst after nine games since it opened 1-5 with three ties in 1996-97.

After stopping 22 of 23 shots in a 3-1 win over Detroit on Saturday, Tuukka Rask was beaten five times on 28 shots. He's allowed five goals or more in five of his 13 starts and his 3.18 GAA is nearly a goal higher than last year's 2.30.

While Rask has been far from sharp, his penalty killers haven't provided much help. The Bruins have given up 12 power-play goals in the last nine games and rank last in the league by far with a 70.8 kill percentage.

'If we're going to start putting a few wins together we have to have everyone going every night," forward Brad Marchand said. "We can't have any passengers at all. If we have one then it's enough to cost us a game and right now we have way too many.'

The Wild are 4-1-2 in the last seven meetings and have won seven of eight in Boston since joining the league in 2000-01.

Preview: Sharks (9-8) at Flyers (5-8)

Date: November 19, 2015 7:00 PM EDT

Playing on the opponent's home ice has been a boon to the San Jose Sharks. That's long been the case in Philadelphia.

The Sharks haven't lost there in nearly 15 years as they enter Thursday night's visit seeking their longest road winning streak since 2011, and the Flyers are trying to avoid their worst stretch at home since that same year.

Being on the road has been much kinder to San Jose (10-8-0) than playing at home, where the club is 3-5-0. The Sharks are perfect halfway through a season-high, six-game trip and have posted four consecutive one-goal victories on the road overall.

They haven't had a longer win streak away from home since Oct. 21-29, 2011.

"Each night's important and so far on this road trip they've been good quality wins for us. Good team wins," captain Joe Pavelski told the club's official website. "A lot of guys that contributed and that's what you need. The biggest thing is guys are showing up. Everyone's contributing and we're getting that solid effort from everyone."

Seven players have scored during the trip and 15 have posted at least one point. Pavelski leads the way with five.

"We're talking about having everybody involved," Patrick Marleau said after scoring the go-ahead goal in Tuesday's 5-4 victory at Boston. "It takes everybody to win, and that's what you want. You don't wanna have some guys going and some guys not. You want everybody in it, pulling the same direction and getting those Ws."

They've gotten plenty against the Flyers. San Jose has won 12 of 13 in the series, including seven consecutive victories in Philadelphia - three in shootouts. Preceding that run, the Sharks played to a tie there, pushing their unbeaten streak on the Flyers' home ice to Dec. 21, 2000.

It's been a while since Philadelphia won there, mired in a five-game home losing streak which is the club's worst since a six-game skid March 12-April 3, 2011.

Yet, the Flyers (6-8-4) came away encouraged from their latest home loss, 3-2 in a shootout to Los Angeles on Tuesday. Coach Dave Hakstol said his team "played hard and we played well" after recording 38 shots - its most in three weeks - and taking only two penalties.

"That was the first time in 18 games that we played good hockey," winger Jakub Voracek said. He had a second straight two-point game after having only five points through the first 16 contests.

Steve Mason made a season-high 38 saves but suffered his fifth loss in six starts. He's dropped three straight to the Sharks, including a 3-2 shootout loss March 28 at Philadelphia in the clubs' last meeting.

Pavelski scored that night and has six goals in his last four games there.

Five of his team-leading 18 points have come on the power play, an area which further shows San Jose's propensity for better play outside northern California. The Sharks are 8 for 32 on the road after scoring twice Wednesday and remain the NHL's only team without a power-play goal at home (0 for 21).

That trend could continue against a Philadelphia penalty-killing unit which is among the league's worst (75.4 percent) after allowing power-play goals in five of its opponents' last 10 chances.

Preview: Avalanche (7-10) at Penguins (10-7)

Date: November 19, 2015 7:00 PM EDT

As Evgeni Malkin delivered a wake-up call to the desperate Pittsburgh Penguins this week, the Colorado Avalanche practically slept through their latest road challenge.

The Avalanche hope to answer the call on Thursday night when they visit the Penguins.

Malkin called out his team following a 4-0 loss at New Jersey on Saturday, Pittsburgh's third defeat in four games. A players-only meeting followed, and after two days off, the Penguins (11-7-0) looked like a different team against Minnesota on Tuesday.

Malkin backed up his words with two goals and a pair of assists during the 4-3 home victory after totaling just two points in his previous seven games.

"He's such a good player," goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury told the team's official website. "He's so dangerous, so good and he just showed what type of guy he is."

Malkin, who has at least one point in seven of eight games against Colorado, is hoping Tuesday's performance is more telling of the team's offense.

The Penguins averaged just 2.06 goals through the first 17 games despite a plethora of offensive talent. The power play looked better against the Wild with a pair of goals on six chances, but the Penguins' 14.3 percent success rate still lags toward the bottom of the league.

'It's still not perfect but it's a little bit better," Malkin said. "... and I hope we all understand what's starting to go on on the team and support each other and start winning.'

Pittsburgh did suffer the loss of defenseman Olli Maatta after he was drilled in the back by Nino Niederreiter midway through the second period. The 21-year-old, who played 20 games last season while fighting through a cancer scare and shoulder surgery, slammed through an open doorway and left the ice with help from trainers.

Maatta, who was released from the hospital Wednesday, is expected to miss 3-4 weeks with what the Penguins call an upper-body injury.

The Avalanche are 16-5-3 with three ties against Pittsburgh since moving to Denver in 1995-96, but 2-3-3 in the last eight meetings. The Penguins have won four of five in Pittsburgh.

The Avalanche (7-10-1) outscored opponents 13-3 during a season-high three-game win streak to open a seven-game trip, but their momentum came to a crashing halt with Tuesday's 5-1 loss at Toronto.

Reto Berra began the trip with 89 saves on 92 shots in place of injured starter Semyon Varlamov, but Berra was pulled in the third period against the Maple Leafs after allowing four goals on 26 shots.

The Avalanche surrendered four power-play goals on five opportunities and also gave up one short-handed.

'I guess we just had an off night,' coach Patrick Roy said. 'Tonight was one of our worst performances. They scored four power-play goals and one short-handed goal, and that was the story of the game.'

Varlamov, who is 3-6-1 with a 3.26 goals against average, is day to day with a groin injury he suffered in practice in Philadelphia last week. Berra has a 1.86 GAA during a stretch of five straight starts.

Fleury is 7-3-0 with a 2.12 GAA against the Avalanche for his career, stopping 29 shots in a 1-0 victory Dec. 18 in the most recent matchup in Pittsburgh. Blake Comeau, now with Colorado, scored the lone goal in that contest.

This has been a very good matchup for Penguins forward Phil Kessel, who has seven goals and nine points in his last seven games against the Avalanche.

Preview: Rangers (13-2) at Lightning (8-9)

Date: November 19, 2015 7:30 PM EDT

The New York Rangers have hardly been dominant for the first five-plus weeks. Perhaps that makes their current situation all the more impressive.

The Rangers can match the team record with a 10th consecutive win Thursday night when they visit offensively challenged Tampa Bay, with the teams meeting for the first time since the Lightning's victory in the Eastern Conference finals.

New York (14-2-2) has struggled at times this season against opponents it should handle more easily, but the story in the early going for the Rangers has been their ability to keep coming up with victories. That was the case in their most recent game Sunday, when they finally put away last-place Toronto on Mats Zuccarello's rebound goal with 53.8 seconds to play in a 4-3 home win.

The Rangers blew two leads but extended their point streak to 11-0-2.

"We've got nine in a row right now and you feel it in the room, everyone is comfortable," Zuccarello told the team's official website. "It was not our best game, but we found a way to win again, so that's nice."

Zuccarello has five goals and seven assists in the past eight games. His nine goals and nine assists lead the team.

"There's no doubt that he's on top of his game and he's finding a way to make a difference in games," coach Alain Vigneault said. "Again tonight he comes up at a huge time and give us the game-winner. He's playing real well."

The biggest reason for New York's fast start is goaltending. Backup Antti Raanta made 23 saves Sunday to give him four wins in as many starts to go with a 1.25 goals-against average and .955 save percentage - both of which would lead the league if he qualified.

Those categories are led by Raanta's teammate Henrik Lundqvist, who's expected to be back in net as New York looks to match the franchise's longest winning streak, set from Dec. 19, 1939-Jan. 13, 1940, and matched from Jan. 19-Feb. 10, 1973.

" ... we have to give ourselves credit here for finding ways to win," said Lundqvist, who has a 1.69 GAA.

Some of the good feelings might dissipate at the sight of the Lightning (8-9-3), who beat the Rangers 2-0 in Game 7 of the East finals at Madison Square Garden in May.

That loss stood in stark contrast to New York's results in the last two games at Amalie Arena in that series. The Rangers won Game 6 by a 7-3 score and Game 4 by a 5-1 margin.

The 2015 Stanley Cup finalists haven't been able to carry that form into this season, going 3-7-2 in their last 12 and scoring one or no goals nine times so far. The Lightning lost 1-0 to Florida on Monday as the Panthers completed a home-and-home sweep.

Tampa Bay is averaging 2.30 goals after leading the league with 3.16 in 2014-15.

"Guys are crushed after the defeat. Guys are ticked off because they're working hard and the puck is not finding the back of the net," coach Jonâ??Cooper told the team's website after Aaron Ekblad scored with 20.2 seconds left. "They got the fortunate break at the end, but we still didn't score a goal."

The absence of Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Drouin and Cedric Paquette due to injury Monday didn't help matters. The status of all three for Thursday is uncertain.

"We're happy with the effort tonight," defenseman Victor Hedman said. "If we keep playing like that, good things will happen."

The Lightning have won the last four regular-season matchups with New York.

Preview: Blue Jackets (7-12) at Senators (5-5)

Date: November 19, 2015 7:30 PM EDT

Despite the efforts of two-way star Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators coach Dave Cameron is questioning his team's physicality as it continues to let points slip away.

Ottawa's homestand isn't getting any easier against the resurgent Columbus Blue Jackets.

A red-hot Karlsson and the Senators hope to avoid a third straight loss and eighth in 11 home games Thursday night against the Blue Jackets, who have won a season-best three in a row.

Ottawa (8-5-5) hoped to make a positive push during a season-high five-game stay. But after a 3-2 win over Vancouver in the opener, it suffered a 2-1 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday and a 4-3 overtime defeat to Detroit on Monday.

The Senators rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period against the Red Wings as defenseman Chris Wideman scored and Bobby Ryan had a tying goal with less than three minutes left. Tomas Tatar, however, scored for Detroit just over two minutes into overtime.

"You've got to block shots, you've got to win your battles on the wall," Cameron told the team's official website. "We're trying to do it stick-checking and finessing it in. That don't work in this league."

While Ottawa has gone 5-2-1 on the road, it's 3-3-4 at Canadian Tire Centre. Karlsson has been a bright spot with a six-game point streak (two goals, five assists) at home and three goals and three assists over his last four overall.

The reigning Norris Trophy winner, who ranks near the top of the NHL among defensemen with 15 assists and 18 points, had a career-high four assists in a 7-3 win at Columbus on Oct. 14. He has five goals and seven assists in his past eight meetings.

Columbus, however, appears to be a much different team than the one Ottawa faced in that game. Following a forgettable 0-8-0 start, the Blue Jackets have won seven of 11 after Tuesday's 3-1 home victory over St. Louis.

Brandon Saad had his first two-goal game and moved into a tie with Boone Jenner for the team lead with nine. Cody Goloubef also scored as Columbus (7-12-0) outshot the Blues 38-20.

'As we're stringing more wins together, we're feeling more confident,' Saad said. 'It shows out there.'

The Blue Jackets have fought off 18 consecutive power plays. Sergei Bobrovsky has played a role in that effort and is 7-3-0 with a 2.26 goals-against average since posting a 4.72 mark in an 0-6-0 start.

He's expected to get a chance to avenge last month's loss to Ottawa. Bobrovsky allowed six goals on 26 shots after going 4-2-1 with a 2.13 GAA in his previous seven meetings.

The Senators have excelled on the power play, converting 7 of 14 opportunities over their last five games. Milan Michalek has a team-high three goals with a man advantage.

Craig Anderson has given up four or more goals twice in his last three starts, but he's likely to get the nod after going 7-1-0 with a 2.51 GAA in his last eight against Columbus.

Defenseman Jared Cowen could return after missing the last two games with a foot injury for Ottawa, which has gone 7-2-1 in the past 10 meetings.

Preview: Ducks (5-9) at Panthers (7-7)

Date: November 19, 2015 7:30 PM EDT

A four-game win streak to open November gave off the impression that the Anaheim Ducks had started moving past an ugly start to the season.

Four losses in five games since have somewhat dulled that sentiment for the Ducks, whose next opponent is feeling good following a home-and-home sweep of its in-state rival.

Anaheim plays its third on a four-game Eastern trip Thursday night against a Florida Panthers team that has won three of four.

The Ducks (6-9-4) were outscored 26-10 during a 1-7-2 start before putting in 12 goals to win their next four games. However, a three-game home skid followed - though Anaheim did pick up a pair of points with two overtime losses - leading into this trip.

The club got off to a strong start with Monday's 4-1 win at Carolina and its second straight road victory after dropping its first six, but Anaheim couldn't get much past Pekka Rinne the next night despite a season-high 40 shots in a 3-2 loss at Nashville.

Frederik Andersen gave up each goal on 10 shots and was replaced in the second period by Anton Khudobin, who stopped all 11 he faced. Anderson fell to 0-1-2 in his last three starts with a 4.44 goals-against average.

He has twice allowed four goals on less than 30 shots during his three-start slump, and it's anyone's guess as to who will start against Florida (8-7-3) after coach Bruce Boudreau expressed some displeasure with how Andersen carried himself on the ice.

"I didn't think he was very sharp, it's as simple as that," Boudreau said. "The body language on his third goal wasn't very good at all. We were still in the position, I thought, to win the game. We were playing like we could win the game."

Rickard Rakell and Mike Santorelli, who spent two-plus seasons with the Panthers from 2010-2012, scored Tuesday for the Ducks, but the team went 0 for 5 on the power play after converting three times over its previous nine opportunities with the man advantage.

"At the end of the day, we have to get pucks in," center Andrew Cogliano said. "Rinne played good, we give him that, but we lost the game, so it doesn't really matter."

Anaheim is 7-4-0 in its last 11 meetings with Florida, though the Ducks have lost on their last two trips to Sunrise, including a 6-2 defeat in the most recent visit Feb. 10.

Roberto Luongo had 31 saves in that contest and enters this one coming off his first shutout of the season and 69th of his career. He stopped 39 shots Monday in a 1-0 home victory over Tampa Bay to bounce back after giving up four goals on 28 shots in Saturday's 5-4 shootout win against the Lightning.

Luongo, who tied Glenn Hall for eighth all-time with 407 wins, was 2-3-1 with a 3.14 GAA in six starts prior to the shutout.

"It was better," Luongo told the club's official website. "I haven't been too happy with the way I've been playing the last few games, so it's nice to give the boys a good performance after they bailed me out on Saturday there."

Aaron Ekblad got the lone goal on a deflection off the skate of defenseman Victor Hedman which went over the shoulder of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and into the net.

"Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky. Good screens in front and just lucky - can't say anything else," said Ekblad, who has three goals in four games.

Preview: Coyotes (9-8) at Canadiens (14-3)

Date: November 19, 2015 7:30 PM EDT

Carey Price has returned to practice, but the Montreal Canadiens will lean on Mike Condon for at least one more game.

The rookie makes his ninth straight start Thursday night against the visiting Arizona Coyotes, and while he hasn't exactly dazzled recently, his teammates just showed they have the ability to turn deficits into wins.

Montreal (14-3-2) trailed Vancouver 3-0 early in the second period Monday before recovering for a 4-3 overtime victory in the second of a three-game homestand following two losses.

"It was important," said Lars Eller, who scored the first Montreal goal and also had the winner in a 2-0 victory in Arizona on March 7. "We'd rather be up 3-0, but it was the first time this season we came back from being down like that, so it's very satisfying. It builds confidence in the room.

"You don't think about scoring three, you think about scoring one. When it's 3-1, there's half the game left and you don't think it's so much if you just go one at a time."

Slow starts, however, are beginning to pile up. The Canadiens have fallen behind in the first period in four straight games, and they've allowed 12 goals in their last three.

Condon, who hadn't given up more than two goals while posting a 1.57 goals-against average and .940 save percentage to open 6-0-1, has 3.56 and .859 marks over a 1-1-1 stretch. The team's confidence in him remains.

"He's done a great job," forward Max Pacioretty told the Canadiens' official website. "He's kept us in every game. I think the greatest thing I've seen from him is his ability to bounce back, whether it's after a loss or after a goal.

"He's a strong-minded player, and it's important in that position, especially in this market. No matter the outcome of the game, he always came to the rink the next day and did the right thing."

The Canadiens and Coyotes (9-8-1) split two games last season with the road teams winning, but Montreal has taken 10 of the last 12 meetings.

Arizona's four-game road trip has started with consecutive 5-2 losses with the latest stop against the New York Islanders on Monday. The Coyotes have given up 3.56 goals per game over a 4-5-0 span, and they've fallen behind in their last six with a 72.7 percent penalty kill.

"We're making mistakes, plain and simple," coach Dave Tippett said. "We're making mistakes that cost us early in the game. We have to wipe those mistakes."

They could also use some scoring from Antoine Vermette. The veteran, who returned to Arizona in the offseason after winning the Stanley Cup in Chicago, is yet to score in 12 games and doesn't have a point in his last five against Montreal.

Scoring has instead come from a pair of 20-year-olds. Max Domi leads the team with eight goals, and Anthony Duclair has seven after managing one in 18 games with the New York Rangers last season.

Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has chipped in with a career-best six-game point streak.

Anders Lindback faced the Islanders, and Mike Smith is expected to start in Montreal. Smith gave up five goals on 21 shots Saturday in Columbus and has a 3.83 GAA and .872 save percentage while going 4-5-1 in 12 games since the club's season-opening three-game winning streak.

The veteran has been far more consistent against the Canadiens, going 3-2-3 with a 2.06 GAA and .932 save percentage in nine games.

Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury.

Preview: Sabres (7-9) at Blues (12-6)

Date: November 19, 2015 8:00 PM EDT

Evander Kane has missed 55 games over the last two years, and his debut season with the Buffalo Sabres hasn't gone as planned after suffering another injury.

That's precisely the reason why the former 30-goal scorer is excited to be back earlier than anticipated.

The winger is expected to play for the first time in 11 games Thursday night as the visiting Sabres try to avoid dropping a seventh straight meeting with the St. Louis Blues.

Kane appeared in only 37 games for Winnipeg in 2014-15 because of various ailments ranging from a hand infection to a shoulder surgery that ended his season in February. The Jets dealt him to Buffalo (8-9-1) that same month in a seven-player deal, and the Sabres are hoping he'll be a big part of their rebuilding project.

A sprained MCL suffered Oct. 24 in a loss to New Jersey originally was expected to keep him out four to six weeks, but Kane is prepared to come back in about three after participating in practice Wednesday. He has one goal, two assists and a minus-5 rating while Buffalo has gone 2-6-0 in the games he's played.

"I think you'll probably have a good chance of seeing me in the lineup," Kane told the team's official website. "Things went well as I expected and like I said, I thought I had a chance to play on the trip and it looks like that's going to be the case."

Coach Dan Bylsma confirmed Kane is a good possibility to play in this contest and at Dallas on Saturday. The Stars dealt the Sabres their second straight loss, 3-1 on Tuesday.

Ryan O'Reilly has scored both of Buffalo's goals in those defeats, and the Sabres also could find it difficult to get chances against the physical Blues (12-6-1), whom they face again Monday at home.

"Big, heavy offensive zone, forwards forechecking - it's a big man's game and that's what they present," Bylsma said. "I don't think we've seen a team like that so far this year through the 18 games."

St. Louis has struggled lately, though, allowing 15 goals while dropping three of four. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored the lone goal in the first period in a 3-1 loss at Columbus on Tuesday that was the club's third game in four nights.

"We didn't have any energy, so I don't know what to chalk it up to," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "If you don't have any energy, you come in second place everywhere."

Brian Elliott made 35 saves, but it's likely Jake Allen will be back in net. Allen, who has a 1.91 goals-against average in 12 starts and one relief appearance, shut out the Sabres in his only start against them Feb. 5 to help St. Louis extend its series streak.

St. Louis won the other matchup last season 6-1 with Jori Lehtera recording the first hat trick of his career. Lehtera, though, is a game-time decision for this one after taking a high stick to the throat and leaving in the second period against Columbus.

It's unclear if Chad Johnson or rookie Linus Ullmark will get the start in net for Buffalo. Ullmark has a 2.07 GAA over his last six after losing to Dallas, and Johnson has stopped 70 of 73 shots over his last three appearances.

The Sabres will be without forward Zemgus Girgensons for at least the next two because of an upper-body injury.

NHL

Hot teams
-- Dallas Stars won six of their last seven games. Washington won three of last four at home.
-- Sharks won last three games, allowing seven goals.
-- Avalanche won three of their last four games.
-- Rangers won last nine games, allowing 13 goals.
-- Blue Jackets won last three games, allowing four goals.
-- Florida won three of its last four games.
-- Canadiens won three of last four home games.
-- Buffalo won its last three road games.

Cold teams
-- Bruins lost five of last seven games. Minnesota lost four of its last five road games.
-- Flyers lost eight of their last ten games.
-- Penguins lost three of their last five games.
-- Lightning lost four of their last five games.
-- Senators lost four of their last five games.
-- Ducks lost four of their last five games.
-- Arizona is 4-5 in its last nine games.
-- St Louis lost three of its last four games.

Series records
-- Dallas Stars won last seven games with Washington.
-- Bruins lost seven of last ten games with Minnesota
-- Sharks won nine of last ten games with Philadelphia.
-- Penguins won six of last eight games with Colorado.
-- Rangers lost seven of last ten games with Tampa Bay.
-- Senators won six of last eight games with Columbus.
-- Ducks won five of last eight games with Florida.
-- Canadiens won eight of last ten games with Arizona.
-- Blues won their last six games with Buffalo.

Totals
-- Five of last six Dallas games stayed under total.
-- Three of last four Boston games stayed under.
-- Over is 6-2-1 in last nine San Jose games.
-- Six of last eight Colorado-Pittsburgh games stayed under.
-- Under is 6-2-2 in last ten Tampa Bay games.
-- Five of last seven Ottawa-Columbus games stayed under.
-- Over is 3-0-1 in last four Florida-Anaheim games.
-- Over is 7-1-2 in last ten Arizona games.
-- Under is 6-3-1 in last ten St Louis games.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews

I can honestly say I didn't expect to type this sentence at all for the 2015-16 NHL season: the Dallas Stars are your Stanley Cup betting favorites.

With the Stars at +700, just ahead of the New York Rangers and Montreal (both +800). Dallas enters Tuesday's game at Buffalo with 28 points (14-4-0, best 18-game start in franchise history), which gives the Stars the lead in the Central Division. Behind Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, who are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the NHL in points, the Stars are No. 2 in the NHL with 65 goals. The offense will be there all season, but I still don't trust that team's goaltending. Kari Lehtonen is 8-1-0 despite a 2.38 goals-against average that's just 21st in the NHL. He splits time with Antti Niemi, who is 6-3-0 with a 2.80 GAA.

The Stars will get some reinforcements on Tuesday. Forwards Patrick Eaves and Travis Moen are ready to return from injury. Eaves missed 15 games with a lower-body injury. Moen missed 14 games with an upper-body issue. The game I'm looking forward to this week involving the Stars is at Washington on Thursday. Here are some other games to watch this week:

Chicago at Edmonton, Wednesday: Your Hart Trophy favorite for NHL MVP has to be Chicago's Patrick Kane. Kane, who no longer has to worry about those sexual assault charges in Buffalo, leads the league with 28 points, with 13 goals and with a plus/minus of plus-14. Think he's playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder after those accusations? Kane has scored at least one point in 13 straight games, one shy of his career-best mark, and has a goal in seven in a row -- that's the longest streak by a Chicago player since Joe Murphy found the net in nine straight in 1995. Kane has been held off the score sheet only twice this season and has eight multipoint games. Predictably, the Oilers have gone into a funk since losing former Calder Trophy favorite Connor McDavid to a broken collarbone. Chicago beat visiting Edmonton 4-2 on Nov. 8. Kane had a goal and three assists and rookie Artemi Panarin had two goals.The Hawks opened as -147 favorites for this one.

Colorado at Pittsburgh, Thursday: What is going on with the Penguins? No team has the forward depth they do, but Pittsburgh ranks just 27th in the NHL with 2.06 goals per game and dead last in power-play percentage at 12.3. Evgeni Malkin was asked what was wrong with the offense and he simply said: "Everything. ... We don't play right, we don't work hard." Malkin has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 17 games while Sidney Crosby has been limited to two goals and seven assists, easily the worst start of his career. The only reason this team is above .500 has been the goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury. The Avalanche are going to be without goalie Semyon Varlamov for a while as he was placed on injured reserve Sunday retroactive to Nov. 10. That might actually be a good thing considering he is just 3-6-1 with a 3.26 GAA and .890 save percentage. The Avs are playing much better with Reto Berra in net.
He struggled for most of last season as the Avs' backup.

New York Rangers at Tampa Bay, Thursday : A rematch of last season's Eastern Conference Finals and the Rangers bring an NHL-best nine-game winning streak into it. It's the longest for the team in 43 years and one shy of the franchise record. During that run, the Rangers have trailed in only three games. Right now, they have both the league's best shooting percentage (10.7) and save percentage (95.9) at even strength. Henrik Lundqvist is 10-2-2, including a 1.69 goals-against average,.947 save percentage and one shutout. Make sure to always bet on the Blueshirts in the second of a back-to-back as well. They are 5-0-0 in those situations this season and 15-1-1 in the past 17 such occasions. Of course the Lightning won a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden last spring to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Los Angeles at Detroit, Friday: It's the only trip to Motown this season for the Kings, who have taken their rightful spot atop the Pacific Division and have played better on the road than at home, where they used to be nearly unbeatable. The Red Wings are largely treading water and need to get more out of Darren Helm. He has only one goal and no assists after 15 goals and 33 points last season. In Monday's win over Ottawa, the Wings used Helm on a checking line with Luke Glendening and Riley Sheehan. An injury at the start of camp sidelined Helm until the fifth game, and he hasn't seen the power-play time he saw last season. Monday was the first time in seven games the Wings scored more than two goals in a game and only the second time all season they had 30 or more shots on goal.

Anaheim at Tampa Bay, Saturday: Many national publications had this as the Stanley Cup Finals matchup this season. Right now, neither the Ducks nor Lightning would even make the playoffs. The Bolts have been outscored by three goals this season as guys like Tyler Johnson (who currently out with an upper-body injury), Ondrej Palat (out 2-4 weeks with an ankle problem) and Valtteri Filppula have struggled, among others. Anaheim has been fine defensively, leading the NHL in penalty-kill percentage and allowing the fewest power-play goals. The Ducks aren't scoring themselves with only 33 goals, tied with Philadelphia for the fewest in the league. Star Ryan Getzlaf scored an empty-net goal Monday; it was his first goal of the season in his 14th game.

Injury Report

Montreal goaltender Carey Price hasn't played since Oct. 29 due to a lower-body injury and it's not likely he will this week, either. He did take some shots at practice on Monday for the first time since the injury. Backup Mike Condon started off really well in Price's spot but has been shaky in his past three outings.

Islanders winger Mikhail Grabovski left Monday's victory over the Arizona Coyotes after suffering an upper-body injury and did not return. He has registered three goals, five assists and is a plus-5 through 19 games.

Minnesota star Zach Parise hasn't played since Nov. 5 because of an MCL injury but has resumed skating. There still remains no timetable for his return and it won't be until the weekend at the earliest. In 12 games this season, Parise has seven goals and two assists.

Philadelphia's top defenseman, Mark Streit, was to have surgery on Tuesday to repair a pubic plate detachment -- it hurts me just typing that -- and will miss six weeks. Streit has three goals and six assists while playing more than 22 minutes per night.

Columbus center Brandon Dubinsky will miss 2-3 weeks with an elbow injury. In 16 games this season, Dubinsky is second on the team in scoring with 11 points (four goals, seven assists). He leads the team's forwards in average ice time (18:46). Very little has gone right for the disappointing Blue Jackets this season. Nick Foligno will center the second line between Matt Calvert and Cam Atkinson in Dubinsky's spot.

NBA notebook: Rockets oust McHale
By The Sports Xchange

The Houston Rockets fired head coach Kevin McHale on Wednesday after a 4-7 start this season.
General manager Daryl Morey also announced that assistant J.B. Bickerstaff will take over as interim head coach. Houston hosts the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
"The team was not responding to Kevin," Morey said. "There is no time in the West."
The Rockets, with the league's second-worst defensive team, are currently on a four-game losing streak that prompted a players-only meeting on Tuesday morning, after a 111-95 loss to the Boston Celtics on Monday night. The 57-year-old McHale signed a three-year contract extension last December, worth more than $12 million guaranteed.

---Guard Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs will miss at least two games because of hip tightness, the team reported.
San Antonio (8-2) will be without the veteran for Wednesday night's home game against Denver and Friday night's game at New Orleans. He will be re-evaluated before Saturday's game against Memphis.
Ginobili is averaging 11.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals in nine games this season.

---Charlotte Hornets forward Marvin Williams was $15,000 for making excessive contact with his elbow to the head of New York Knicks forward Louis Amundson.
Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA executive vice president of basketball operations, announced the penalty. The incident, for which Williams was assessed a flagrant foul 2 and ejected, occurred with 7:45 left in the fourth quarter of New York's 102-94 win over Charlotte on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Amundson left the game after the foul. Williams had two points and one rebound in the game.