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Coochie vs The Bookie | DaCoochieCoo | Substack
Daily Plays and Betting Tips from the Danny Ocean of Sports Handicapping. Click to read Coochie vs The Bookie, by DaCoochieCoo, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
coochievsbookie.substack.com
Coochie vs The Bookie | DaCoochieCoo | Substack
Daily Plays and Betting Tips from the Danny Ocean of Sports Handicapping. Click to read Coochie vs The Bookie, by DaCoochieCoo, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
coochievsbookie.substack.com
Ottawa Senators vs New York Islanders
Puck Drop: 7:35 PM EST
Play — Under 5.5 (-110)“We have set ourselves up for the future today” those were the words that Senators GM Pierre Dorion responded with to questions about how he felt the franchise did over the course of the past weekend as the trade deadline came —- seeing the Senators make a plethora of moves —- all in apparent effort to strengthen their future.
Well, this evening game isn’t the future Dorion was talking about, as the Senators travel to the Island to take on Barry Trotz’s Islanders; who themselves have one eye on the off-season as the playoff hockey is now 19 points beyond their reach. Not exactly a battle of the titans, hell not even two teams with a whole lot to play for.
So I expect a low-scoring affair; the Islanders will be playing 4 in 6 nights, aren’t a particularly high event team, to begin with, and face the Senators who (like the Islanders) rank in the bottom 3rd for both goals scored, and powerplay conversion rate.
Both teams are projected to have their starting goalie in the net, and neither team could be classified as offensive juggernauts at the best of times, with both teams ranking in the bottom quarter of the league in scoring chances created per 60. So I fully expect this game to be one that is painful on the viewing audience's eyes —— with much of the game played between the blue lines and very little to cheer about, back the total to go under the number on the Island.
New York Rangers vs New Jersey Devils
Puck Drop: 7:05 PM EST
Play —- Rangers Win in Regulation (+100)In the tail of two teams who’ve are seemingly headed in opposite directions as the season winds down and playoffs approach, the Devils and Rangers renew old acquaintances as New Jersey hosts big city boys New York. In a game with the Rangers fighting for playoff seeding, and the Devils jockeying for lottery odds it’s really no wonder I’m backing the hungry dog to run faster.
The Devils have not had a year worth remembering, struggling with injuries mightily, which has meant Jersey has struggled to score goals dearly. Though that has stopped of late, with the Devils scoring 40 goals over the last 8, they only managed 8 points (4 wins 4 loses) over that stretch of games and come into tonight’s fixture with the inner-division rivals on the back of 3 straight losses. And while the goal-scoring hasn’t been brilliant, it’s been better than the goaltending for the Devils —- Who for years relied on the steady netminding of Corey Schneider, and before him, the Legendary Marty Brodeur, has struggled mightily at stopping the rubber regardless of what guy they put between the red bars of the potato sack.
On the other side are the Rangers; who is currently playing some very inspired puck; winning 5 of 6, and 8 of their last 11, are licking their chops at the prospect of facing this Devils defense who have given up 5 goals, 4 times over their last 10 games, as they push for that 1st seed in the Metro. The Rangers — having already won the last 8 meetings between the two teams, and with much left to fight for on the season —- will get it done tonight in regulation time over the lowly Devils.
Vegas Golden Knights vs Winnipeg Jets
Puck Drop: 8:00 PM EST
Play — Jets -1.5 (+167)Sometimes in professional sports, it’s travel and schedule that has much to do with the result as personnel does. The margins of victory are so slim that an extra night’s rest or night without plain flights can mean the difference between victory and defeat —- and unfortunately for the Golden Knights circumstances have lined up directly against them with regards to this evening tie against the Winnipeg Jets. The Golden Knights played late last night in Nashville, got on a plane, had to go through customs on both sides of the border, get to the hotel and sleep all before a relatively early start time in Winnipeg of 8:00 EST —- all to face a team whose been waiting at home for them since Sunday and whose offense is rolling of late.
The Jets have seen the lamp go red three more times in six out of the last 10 games, and now have themselves inside the top 12 in both goals per game and shots per game. Led by forward Kyle Connor, whose 39 goals on the season rank 4th in the league, the Jets will look to take advantage of the netminding of the Golden Knights that’s been struggling since Lehner’s injury early in the month, seeing the Golden Knights lose 3 consecutive games in regulation for only the second time all year.
With the Knights are on tired legs, and the Jets in desperate need of the win here tonight in order to keep the playoff aspirations within touching distance, I’m backing the Jets to outlast the Golden Knights —- scoring a pair of third-period goals to cover the puck line.
Atlanta Hawks vs New York Knicks
Tip Time: 7:30 PM EST
Play — Knicks MLIn a matchup of two teams who played each other in the playoffs last year, but wouldn’t find themselves there this year if not for the play-in games, the New York Knickerbockers play host to the Atlanta Hawks in a tie that sees two teams battling disappointing seasons. If only you could take the strengths of the Knicks and Hawks and make them one team; then perhaps the East would have a 5th contender, but such is only the thing of fairytales (for now).
Instead, both teams are forced to play with the team they have; meaning the Hawks will struggle to stop a nose bleed, while the Knicks will continue to be the highest-paid bricklayers not named Russell Westbrook in the world. All jokes aside in a matchup of bad defense vs bad offense I’m usually inclined to take the bad defense —- most of the time it’s more a sign of effort than it is scheme or personnel in the NBA regular season. Most of the time is not all the time though, and this Hawks team is truly incapable of defending. Hampering things is their leading player (Trae Young) who I genuinely believe would struggle to guard the Knicks’ best point guard this season Deuce McBride every time down the floor. Now it would help if the Knicks played him in New York and not Westchester, but I digress.
I’m backing the Knicks on the ML to handle the Hawks at home; sweeping away Trae on the season and earning a minor moral victory in response to last year's playoff defeat.
This is the stat I’ll leave you with: In games against the bottom-10 defenses in the league, the Knicks are 16-9 straight-up and are scoring 113.8 points per 100 possessions compared to 110.2 points per 100 on the season.
Vanderbilt Commodores vs Xavier Musketeers
Tip Time: 9 PM EST
Play — Vanderbilt ML +148 + +3.5This is not the same Vanderbilt team we saw throughout the course of the season, as they were formerly without two of their current starters for much of the season in Liam Robins and Rodney Chatman. Robbins provides some needed size and shooting to a squad that is still very much led by Scottie Pippen Jr., whose 20 points per game is top 15 in the country, and will look to continue his parade to the free-throw line against a Xavier team that ranks in the bottom half in terms of foul rate.
Speaking of Xavier, the Musketeers have had a busy couple of weeks both on and off the floor with the search for a new coach ending with the hiring of Sean Miller (for the second time), and while a new man’s now in charge the interim guy will still have all of the same players who started the season for the team. But perhaps the firing of Travis Steele should be pointed to as the reason for the Musketeer’s late-season defensive failures —- which saw the team defense crumble. Allowing at least 68 points in 11 of their last 12 games while Vanderbilt has scored at least 69 points in 14 of their last 16 games.
Beyond this, look for the Commodores to feast upon Xavier’s mistakes, as Vanderbilt forces a turnover on 20.4% of opponents’ possessions, which is 43rd in the country. This should allow them to turn up the heat on a Xavier team that has covered just five of their last 19 games —- and will fail to do so here tonight as the Commodores beat the Musketeers and continue dancing for a few more nights.
