Premium NHL Picks: April 16 Double Pick Pack

Playoff quarter finals continue as we have five games today.

Philadelphia Flyers @ NJ Devils:

Flyers may be without their top goaltenders and playing with Boucher may seem as a disadvantage on paper but it was not the case on the first match day of the playoffs. Flyers shocked the Devils 2-1 at the Prudential Center on Wednesday.

Boucher made some impressive saves when the Devils threw everything at him in the final period trying to tie the game at 2-2. 23 saves by him and Martin Brodeur allowed 2 goals on only 14 shots.

It was a classic game plan by Flyers coach Laviolette. He loves containing opponent offense and he was successful stopping the likes of Elias, Kovalchuk and the rest of the Devils offense.

It was not the first time Flyers won at the Prudential Center this season. In regular season Flyers had beaten the Devils 3-2 after a similar game play-wise. Back in February Devils had outshot the Flyers 23-15 but lost the game 3-2 in the end. It is not about the number of shots but the number of quality scoring chances. Will the Flyers be able to repeat it tonight? I doubt it.

Devils are 27-10-4 this season on home ice and they are 15-4 against the Flyers at home. They simply can't let the Flyers take a 2-0 advantage back to Philadelphia so this game is a must win for the home side. They may be 1-7 in their last 8 matchups against the Flyers but I am expecting a very good performance from them tonight. Take the Devils!

PREMIUM NHL PICK: NJ DEVILS TO WIN [Moneyline]

1.50 @ Bodog.com

Nashville Predators @ Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks will face the Predators in the first match of this series. They are 4-2 against the Predators in regular season but the Preds won one of those matches at the United Center in December with a 4-1 final score.That was only one of  8th regulation Hawks suffered on home ice this season.

Blackhawks played most of the season perfect but they were sloppy in the last month of the regular season. Only before the playoffs they started to play as well as they are expected to play. They won 4 of their last 5 games with the single defeat coming at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings last week. Predators are a good road team, going 23-15-3 in regular season.

Denis Grebeskhov, Patric Hornqvist are listed as day to day while the Hawks are without Brian Campell and another defenseman Kim Johsson. Other than these two players, they are a healthy team that is one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

Hawks are 4-1 against the Predators in last 5 matches at United Center.

I can see the Hawks trying to score an early goal in this first match. They will want to show how good they are in the first game. Predators are not going to make this an easy task. The last match back in December was a high scoring game. Hawks had won that one 5-4. The odds for Hawks regulation victory is only 1.65 and it is not worth the risk. Predators had won once at United Center this season and they are capable of doing it again.

I will go with OVER 5 Goals on this one.

PREMIUM NHL PICK: OVER 5 GOALS [including OT AND SO]

1.71 @ Bodog.com

PUSH

Outcome: