RANDALL THE HANDLE
Boston +1.00 over ST. LOUIS
The Bruins pretty much have a full, healthy team, as Marc Savard will come off the IR today and play in this one. The Bruins have a little momentum going with back-to-back road wins in Atlanta and Buffalo and they’re sure not taking a step up in class here. Savard could be a bit rusty but then again he’s one of the hardest working players in the league and just his presence alone gives the team a boost and instantly makes them a whole lot better. The Blue Notes have back-to-back wins also, however, it came against two teams, the Coyotes and Islanders that were both dead tired. In fact, when the Islanders came to St. Louis it was the their sixth consecutive road game and when the Coyotes visited it was their fifth game in seven days, its third in four days and the tail end of back-to-backs. Prior to those two very winnable games, the Blue Notes had lost six of seven and over those seven losses they scored six lousy goals. St. Louis is dead last in the NHL in power-play percentage, which now stands at 12.7%. It’s also worth noting that the Blues have been at home for an extended amount of time (14 days) and that’s never beneficial. The Bruins are in the more favorable spot, they’re hungrier, healthier, superior and so ready. Play: Boston +1.00 (Risking 2 units).
NASHVILLE –1.06 over Detroit
They have recent wins over Columbus, New Jersey and San Jose. They’ve won five in a row and six of its last seven games. They play as good or better defensively than anyone in the business and nobody spends less time in the box than these Predators. Nashville plays a strong, disciplined and aggressive style and they’re also getting tremendous goaltending. At home, the Preds have won seven of 10 games and right now they’re on a serious roll. Meanwhile, the Red Wings will play its third game in four days against this extremely tough team. Detroit is warm with four wins in its last six but over that stretch they’ve had a few soft games that includes wins over Anaheim and Montreal. The Red Wings last two road games came in Toronto, where they lost 5-1 and in Montreal where they needed OT to win 3-2. Now Detroit will take a huge step up in class minus Niklas Kronwall among others, thus, this has to be considered an underlay. Play: Nashville –1.06 (Risking 2.12 units to win 2).
Milwaukee +9½ over SAN ANTONIO
Man, this line seems rather high when you consider that the Bucks are playing tremendous basketball with Brandon Jennings become front page news in every sports section in the land. The kid has been unstoppable and has led the Bucks to three straight wins, seven wins in its last eight games and an overall record of 8-3. The Spurs are just 5-6 with losses in three of its last four and its only won over that stretch coming against the Wizards. In three meeting last year between these two the Bucks won twice and lost the other by a single basket and this year the Bucks are so much better and confident and the Spurs are worse. Perhaps the general consensus is that the Bucks are just an aberration and they’ll come back down to earth at some point. Perhaps this is the sucker bet of the night. After all, if the Bulls are getting 8 in Portland how can one justify the Bucks getting 9½ in San Antonio minus Ginobili? In any case, if it is the sucket bet of the night shame on me. However, it’s also quite possible that the Spurs are just way overvalued in this one based on each teams past and I’ll gladly go with that. Play: Milwaukee +9½ (Risking 2.2 units to win 2).