Wednesday, April 9, 8:00 PM on NBCS, TSN2

CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

If the rest of the season plays out as-is, Wednesday night's tilt between Detroit and Pittsburgh will likely foreshadow a 1st round playoff rematch. The Red Wings will be playing the game immediately after a Tuesday night game but its against last place Buffalo. The Penguins will have had two full days of rest and will likely break the 1-1 series tie this season.

It was a little over two weeks ago that Detroit found themselves on the outside looking in for the postseason, battling with about 4 teams for 1 spot. They've not only firmly entrenched themselves in the playoff picture but jumped into the 7 spot to avoid a first round matchup with the league's #1 team the Boston Bruins. What's even more impressive about Detroit's surge is that they've only been favored 2 times out of 10 games between March 20th and April 5th.

The Penguins will have the 2 seed for the postseason as they finish up with 3 straight home games to finish out the year. Pittsburgh was trying to chase down Boston for the top spot but the Bruins have been the cream of the crop this year. With no real sense of urgency Pittsburgh has faltered a bit lately going 5-5 in their last 10 including a 3 game stretch of being upset.

The teams have both captured a win against each other in two trips to Detroit. The Penguins won 4-1 on December 14th as underdogs while the Red Wings got an overtime win on March 20th to cash out at +130.

ATS Trends

Detroit is 19-19 straight up on the road this season

Detroit is 17-19-2 against the over/under on the road this season

Pittsburgh is 27-11 straight up at home this season

Pittsburgh is 19-17-2 against the over/under at home this season

Injuries to Watch

Detroit 

03/19/14 D Jonathan Ericsson Finger expected to miss 4-6 weeks
03/06/14 C Stephen Weiss Hernia out indefinitely
03/04/14 RW Daniel Cleary Knee out indefinitely
02/21/14 LW Henrik Zetterberg Back out for regular season

Pittsburgh 

12/23/13 RW Pascal Dupuis Knee out for season
04/06/14 D Brooks Orpik Lower Body questionable Wednesday vs Detroit
04/06/14 LW Chris Kunitz Lower Body questionable Wednesday vs Detroit
04/06/14 D Olli Maatta Upper Body questionable Wednesday vs Detroit
04/01/14 C Joe Vitale Undisclosed out indefinitely
03/29/14 C Marcel Goc Foot expected to miss 3 weeks
03/25/14 C Evgeni Malkin Foot expected to miss 2-3 weeks
02/25/14 RW Chris Conner Foot out 4-6 weeks
02/07/14 D Kris Letang Heart out indefinitely

Tony's Pick: Take Pittsburgh

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