Chris Clegg
NPHL.com Writer
Happy New Year to all! What a way to end the year! HP’s home-and-home sweep of GRIM sent me to an 0-2 record ATL. David Temple, former NPHL linesman and avid NPHL fan, sets the lines.
Manning at Falher [Thu., Jan. 3]
LINE: Falher by 5 1/2
This is the fourth of six meetings this season. FAL has won two of three vs MAN this season with the loss coming in OT, so FAL has claimed five of a possible six points. FAL [21 points] leads MAN [14 points] by seven points so a win all but sews up first place in the East.
FAL has whipped MAN 11-4 at home and 8-2 at MAN, hence the large line. Both teams are hot. FAL has won seven straight while MAN has won five of seven after a 2-5 start. MAN does have better special team units than FAL, ranking third in PP and fourth in PK while FAL is fourth in PP and sixth in PK. However, MAN is the league’s most penalized team at 27.64 PIMs per game while FAL is fourth at 24.21 PIMs per game. With that said, FAL ranks second in PIMs per game for and against at +40 to MAN’s +22, which ranks fifth. Scoring first doesn’t seem to matter: MAN and FAL are both .500 when scoring first. However, FAL is an outstanding 7-1 when allowing the first goal; MAN is 3-3. MAN has won twice when trailing after two periods, FAL has not done so yet this season. MAN still struggles to score goals. MAN ranks fifth to seventh in goal scoring in each period while FAL thanks first to third. FAL gets the job done early – they rank first in goals for and against in the first and second periods. FAL has also come from behind to win half of its games to rank first while MAN has blown leads in 28.57% of its games to rank fifth. MAN has lost four straight in FAL but MAN won three straight before. FAL’s eight goals vs MAN earlier this season at home was the first time in 12 games they scored that many goals. In fact, in that span, FAL has scored more than five goals only three times. For that reason, the line may be too high. Or is it? MAN is definitely stronger when they get players from Edmonton but this is a Thursday game. FAL to win and cover, going with the recent one-game history and ignoring the 12-game history overall.
The season series
1. Fri., Nov. 9 – Manning 4 at Falher 11
2. Fri., Nov. 23 – Falher 5 at Manning 6 (SO)
3. Fri., Dec. 14 – Falher 8 at Manning 2
4. Thu., Jan. 3 – Manning at Falher
5. Fri., Jan. 11 – Manning at Falher
6. Fri., Jan. 18 – Falher at Manning
The Stats Pack
[Ranking in Parenthesis]
Category Manning FalherRecord 7-7-0-0 [2-East] 10-3-0-1 [1-East]
Power Play 14-59, 23.73% [3] 18-81, 22.22% [4]
Penalty Kill 15-63, 76.19% [4] 21-75, 72.00% [6]
Shots For 30.57 per game [7] 42.50 per game [3]
Shots Vs 44.43 per game [7] 38.43 per game [5]
Shots Diff -194 [7] +57 [3]
PIM For 27.64 per game [7] 24.21 per game [4]
PIM Vs 29.21 per game [7] 27.07 per game [5]
PIM Diff +22 [4] +40 [2]
Scoring 1st 57.14% [3] 42.86% [T6]
Record Scoring 1st Goal 4-4 [4] 3-3 [5]
Record Allow 1st Goal 3-3 [3] 7-1 [1]
Lead After 1 Period 2-1 {6] 6-3 [4]
Trail After 1 Period 4-4 [2] 2-1 [1]
Lead After 2 Periods 5-0 [T2] 9-2 [6]
Trail After 2 Periods 2-7 [1] 0-1 [3]
Goals Scored in 1st 0.86 per game [7] 2.50 per game [1]
Goals Scored in 2nd 1.50 per game [6] 2.71 per game [1]
Goals Scored in 3rd 1.21 per game [7] 2.07 per game [3]
Goals Allowed in 1st 1.79 per game [5] 1.36 per game [2]
Goals Allowed in 2nd 1.57 per game [5] 1.14 per game [3]
Goals Allowed in 3rd 2.14 per game [T5] 2.00 [T3]
Goal Diff in 1 -13 [7] +16 [1]
Goal Diff in 2 -1 [5] +22 [1]
Goal Diff in 3 -13 [6] +1 [T3]
Come From Behind Wins 35.71% [2] 50.00% [1]
Blown Leads 28.57% [5] 21.437% [4]
Team Stick Fouls 3.79 PIM/Game [4] 4.57 PIM/Game [6]LAST WEEK’S RECORD STRAIGHT-UP: 1-1
LAST WEEK’S RECORD AGAINST THE LINE: 0-2
SEASON RECORD STRAIGHT-UP: 30-17
SEASON RECORD AGAINST THE LINE: 28-19