Premium NHL Picks: Jan 28 Double Pick Pack

These are the second and third picks of the day:

Chicago Blackhawks @ San Jose Sharks:

When the Blackhawks started to play with Marian Hossa and when they started to play excellent hockey, it was the day they met the San Jose Sharks at the HP Pavillion. They demolished the Sharks with a 7-2 score and three of those goals came on shorthanded situations. That was the biggest defeat Sharks had this season on home ice.

Now the Sharks are playing their best and they are on a winning streak. Sharks met the Buffalo Sabres in their most recent game on Saturday. 5-2 score was just another Sharks victory with two or more goal differences. They have outscored their opponents 26 to 7 in their last 5 games! That's as good as a hockey team can be in this league. They had a 4 day break and they are all fresh now to face the Hawks for the fourth time this season. Sharks lost the first two games but they managed to beat the Hawks at the United Center last month.

Hawks are not doing so great as they have dropped two of their last five games. They were beaten twice on a five game road trip when they visited the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and finally the Edmonton Oilers. This is getting harder and harder for them on the road as they finally meet the San Jose Sharks.

Sharks powerplay was stunning in Los Angeles last week when they beat the Kings 5-1. Sharks scored three powerplay goals on three attempts but they have gone 0 for 4 against the Buffalo Sabres. It could be a key point in tonight's game as this is going to be a very physical game and we will see players in penalty box for several minutes. Whoever takes advantage of the powerplays might find a way to win this game.

Sharks were outshot by the Hawks in the most recent game at the United Center. 47-14 shots dominance was not enough for the Hawks to win the game as the Sharks ended up with a 3-2 victory and all two points.

This will be the most entertaining game of the week and we are all looking forward to it. These teams are both offensive teams and Hawks have been allowing way too many goals of late. They are the second best team in the league when it comes to allowing goals but it surely wasn't the case in their last 5 games. Considering the 26 goals in last 5 for the Sharks I don't see any reason why this game wouldn't go OVER.

PREMIUM NHL PICK: OVER 5,5 GOALS

2.00 @ Bodog.com

NY Islanders @ Carolina Hurricanes:

The Hurricanes have won three of their last five games and more importantly, they won another game on road. That's two road wins in a week for them and it was their 6th road win this season. Canes played two excellent games first on home ice against the Boston Bruins and then last night in New York against the Rangers. They won both games with the same scores, 5-1. It's the first the Canes scored 5 or more goals in two games in a row. They surely have had an offensive explosion in these games.

And what about Cam Ward! He has been phenomenal in almost every game he has played lately. He made 37 saves last night to help the Canes win their second game in a row.

Islanders have lost two in a row and two games on home ice. They were first beaten by the Devils 4-2 and then the red hot Washington Capitals handed them a tough one, a 7-2 home defeat.

Islanders have beaten the Canes twice this season in as many games and both games ended with same scores. 4-3. First one was in New York and the second one was at the RBC Center.

In the last one Canes had Manny Legace in goal and he had allowed 3 goals on first 7 shots. Canes had tied the game later but the Islanders still managed to take two points from that one.

We will see Cam Ward starting again for the Carolina Hurricanes and he will try to help his team beat the Islanders this time at the RBC Center.

Carolina is still without forwards Erik Cole, Ruutu, Walker and defenseman Joe Corvo but they didn't seem to be bothered too much in their latest games.

If Canes can keep up playing like they did in last two games, I believe they will be able to beat the Islanders in regulation time. Islanders are having a performance drop and the rising form of the Carolina Hurricanes doesn't look like it will come to and end any time soon. They still need to win many points to have a shot at the playoffs.

PREMIUM NHL PICK : CAROLINA HURRICANES TO WIN [MONEYLINE]

1.71 @ Bodog.com

Outcome: