It's a pretty busy night in the NHL for a Monday as the start of the week usually means a lower amount of games. I wanted to break down a couple of hockey games, but also wanted to touch on the Monday nighter in the NFL as we see a great NFC East rivalry renewed in the U.S. Capital.
Philadelphia Eagles (-3) vs. Washington Redskins
I just see this being a case of too much talent on the side of the Eagles combined with too much drama on the other side for the Redskins. Just on paper, the Eagles have the more complete roster and know how to play within the system preached by coach Andy Reid. On the other side, the Redskins are still learning the ropes of the system being implemented by Mike Shanahan.
I also think that the Donvoan McNabb vs. Mike/Kyle Shanahan saga from two weeks ago is something that's going to hang on to this team until McNabb is no longer a member of the Redskins. Not having McNabb out there for the final 2 minutes of a ball game just signalled to everyone that the Shanahan's do not believe in him. The problem is McNabb is so respected around the league and in the Redskins' locker room, the Shanahan's may have lost the room by making such a terrible error in judgment. All this negative talk surrounding the Redskins makes it easy to take the Eagles.
Vancouver Canucks vs. Buffalo Sabres (over 5.5, even)
The knock on the Canucks in the past was that they had the goaltending and the defence, but a glaring weakness when it came to scoring goals. Many nights, it was the Sedins with Alex Burrows and that's it. But the Canucks have proven over the first quarter of the season that they have the depth now at the forward position to get good production from at least two, if not three, lines per night.
On the other side, the Sabres were really hurt at the defensive position this off-season because of free agency. Buffalo has proven that they are going to have a hard time coping with the loss of Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman. The Sabres staff was hoping that Tyler Myers would step up even more from his Calder-winning campaign, but it hasn't quite worked out that way.
St. Louis Blues vs. Colorado Avalanche (over 5.5, +105)
The Blues were on fire to start the season thanks to improvement on defence and some guy named Jaroslav Halak. The Blues only gave up 17 goals in their first 12 games, but with injuries and a crash back down to earth, St. Louis has given up 16 goals in their last three. The injuries are plenty for the Blues defence right now as Carlo Colaiacovo, Roman Polak and Barrett Jackman are all out of the lineup.
As for the Avalanche, their up and down style leads to high-scoring games. In 16 games this year, they've scored 53 times and given up 50. That just about 6.5 goals a game on average. It makes for some exciting hockey for the fans, but I'm assuming some nightly mini heart attacks for Joe Sacco.