DAVID GLISAN SPORTS:
NHL:
(2) NY Rangers -130 over NY Islanders
(7) Colorado +110 over Carolina
(12) Nashville -150 over Vancouver
(14) St. Louis -280 over Edmonton
(15) Florida +120 over Winnipeg
NBA:
(508) Phoenix -5 over Cleveland
(509) Golden State -8 over Utah
CBB:
(531) VCU -3' over Rhode Island
(552) Boise State -5 over UNLV
NHL:
(2) NY Rangers -130 over NY Islanders
(7) Colorado +110 over Carolina
(12) Nashville -150 over Vancouver
(14) St. Louis -280 over Edmonton
(15) Florida +120 over Winnipeg
NBA:
(508) Phoenix -5 over Cleveland
(509) Golden State -8 over Utah
CBB:
(531) VCU -3' over Rhode Island
(552) Boise State -5 over UNLV
Sportswagers
Colorado @ CAROLINA
Colorado +122 over CAROLINA
OT included. The Hurricanes have scored nine times in the past two games but trust us when we tell you they ran into two cold goalies. Against the Blue Notes on Saturday, Carolina scored on their first three shots to knock Brian Elliott out of the game. Up 3-0, the ‘Canes lost in OT 5-4. The game before that, the Hurricanes scored four times on the Sabres. So, while those nine goals look pretty on paper, the fact remains that it is a rare night when the ‘Canes score more than two goals. In fact, prior to scoring those nine goals combined in two games, Carolina scored two goals or less in 17 of its previous 18 games. That goes under the “hard to believe but true” category. The Hurricanes are not an easy out because they play a pretty decent defensive game but as the chalk, they offer up nothing but a huge risk.
Colorado played in Washington last night and deserved better but ran into a hot goaltender in Braden Holtby. That’s no surprise, as Holtby is carrying the Caps on his back these days. Still, we have to like the Avs effort, especially in the third period when they were all over Washington and outshot them 18-6. Now Colorado will play the second game of a crucial five-game trip and anything resembling last night’s effort will very likely get us to the cashier’s booth. We also like that Calvin Pickard is in goal for Colorado, as this kid is a #1 NHL caliber goaltender. Pickard has posted save percentages of .971, .966, .979, .929 and .971 in five of his past seven games. Three of those games were against Pittsburgh, Detroit and St. Louis and after facing that trio, not to mention Chicago twice, facing the ‘Canes should appear in slow motion for Pickard. Definite overlay.
Our Pick
Colorado +122 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 2.44)
Minnesota @ PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH/Minnesota over 5½ +120
We were actually looking for a way to bet the Penguins but couldn’t because they are a 2-1 favorite on the money line and -½ -130 on the puck line. We were even tempted to spot 1½-goals and take back +144, which wouldn’t be a bad wager either. However, spotting 1½-goals when the total is 5½ is not the prudent play but going over this number is. You see, Minnesota has the mindset of a team that has to score at least four times to win because its goaltending is so bad. In fact, the Wild have allowed four goals or more a remarkable 10 times over their past 17 games and four times over their past five games. Over its last five games, Minnesota has allowed 22 goals against and there is absolutely no defense for poor goaltending. Niklas Backstrom has a save percentage of .892 but since Darcy Kuemper was injured, his save percentage as the teams’ starter is .868. If the Wild choose to go with recent call-up John Curry, that’s an option that may be worse than Backstrom. Curry is a 30-year-old career minor-leaguer that has played in seven career NHL games and every single one of those games went over 5½. Curry’s save percentage in one game played this year was .826.
Pittsburgh’s offense needs no introductions. They can score with the best of them and while their scoring has tailed off a bit, they can explode at any time. Pittsburgh is coming off games against Montreal and Boston in which they scored just four times combined but don’t let that fool you. They created a ton of chances and ran into two hot goaltenders in Carey Price and Tuukka Rask. The Penguins fired away 39 and 37 shots respectively and anything close to that here and they’ll score at least four times. Minnesota has to score goals. They cannot win games 2-1 anymore and therefore has to attack and get away from their conservative style of play that has served them well over the years. Without screaming at the top of his lungs “WE NEED A DAMN GOALTENDER”, Mike Yeo has subtlety stated that his team has to start scoring more. The entire organization is frustrated, the goaltenders are playing scared as hell and that is certainly not the time to be going under the number.
Our Pick
PITTSBURGH/Minnesota over 5½ +120 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 2.40)
Florida @ WINNIPEG
WINNIPEG -½ +120 over Florida
Regulation only. The Jets have lost five of their past seven games but they’re still in a decent position to make the playoffs. We’re not going to put a lot of emphasis on the Jets’ recent run because they’ve been dealing with serious injuries to very key players. In fact, Winnipeg played a long stretch of games without their top four defensemen, not to mention Evander Kane, and that’s almost impossible to overcome. Winnipeg has gotten almost all of its bodies back with the only casualty now being Jacob Trouba. Healthy and with the best young goaltender in the game in Michael Hutchinson, Winnipeg is back on our radar as an undervalued team and we’ll put that to the test here with Hutchinson in goal.
A popular angle among sports bettors is to fade teams in their first game back after a long road trip. It’s an angle that has some merit but we’re looking at something different here. What we’re seeing from several teams this season is a lethargic effort in the last game of a long road trip. The thinking is that the team is greatly anticipating coming back home and their focus and energy for the last game is zapped. Well, that may even apply more so for the Panthers, as they return to sunny Florida after the conclusion of this game, the last one of their six game trip. It’s also the fourth stop in Western Canada for the Panthers after playing in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and that four game swing through Western Canada is one the players have called the toughest road trip of the season. Well for Florida it’s not four games, it’s six after they started out in Buffalo and Washington. Furthermore, temperatures in Calgary and Edmonton were frigid (-16 C and -24 C respectively) and it’s -25 C in Winnipeg today. Incidentally, the temperature in Florida is +23 C, so yeah, we’re pretty sure the Panthers are looking forward to getting home. Lastly, this trip for Florida has been a highly successful one with four wins in five games so it’s not like they are desperate for a road win. We trust the Jets to be the much hungrier bunch here in a very winnable game while the assignment for Florida is an extremely tough one.
Our Pick
WINNIPEG -½ +120 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 2.40)
Colorado @ CAROLINA
Colorado +122 over CAROLINA
OT included. The Hurricanes have scored nine times in the past two games but trust us when we tell you they ran into two cold goalies. Against the Blue Notes on Saturday, Carolina scored on their first three shots to knock Brian Elliott out of the game. Up 3-0, the ‘Canes lost in OT 5-4. The game before that, the Hurricanes scored four times on the Sabres. So, while those nine goals look pretty on paper, the fact remains that it is a rare night when the ‘Canes score more than two goals. In fact, prior to scoring those nine goals combined in two games, Carolina scored two goals or less in 17 of its previous 18 games. That goes under the “hard to believe but true” category. The Hurricanes are not an easy out because they play a pretty decent defensive game but as the chalk, they offer up nothing but a huge risk.
Colorado played in Washington last night and deserved better but ran into a hot goaltender in Braden Holtby. That’s no surprise, as Holtby is carrying the Caps on his back these days. Still, we have to like the Avs effort, especially in the third period when they were all over Washington and outshot them 18-6. Now Colorado will play the second game of a crucial five-game trip and anything resembling last night’s effort will very likely get us to the cashier’s booth. We also like that Calvin Pickard is in goal for Colorado, as this kid is a #1 NHL caliber goaltender. Pickard has posted save percentages of .971, .966, .979, .929 and .971 in five of his past seven games. Three of those games were against Pittsburgh, Detroit and St. Louis and after facing that trio, not to mention Chicago twice, facing the ‘Canes should appear in slow motion for Pickard. Definite overlay.
Our Pick
Colorado +122 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 2.44)
Minnesota @ PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH/Minnesota over 5½ +120
We were actually looking for a way to bet the Penguins but couldn’t because they are a 2-1 favorite on the money line and -½ -130 on the puck line. We were even tempted to spot 1½-goals and take back +144, which wouldn’t be a bad wager either. However, spotting 1½-goals when the total is 5½ is not the prudent play but going over this number is. You see, Minnesota has the mindset of a team that has to score at least four times to win because its goaltending is so bad. In fact, the Wild have allowed four goals or more a remarkable 10 times over their past 17 games and four times over their past five games. Over its last five games, Minnesota has allowed 22 goals against and there is absolutely no defense for poor goaltending. Niklas Backstrom has a save percentage of .892 but since Darcy Kuemper was injured, his save percentage as the teams’ starter is .868. If the Wild choose to go with recent call-up John Curry, that’s an option that may be worse than Backstrom. Curry is a 30-year-old career minor-leaguer that has played in seven career NHL games and every single one of those games went over 5½. Curry’s save percentage in one game played this year was .826.
Pittsburgh’s offense needs no introductions. They can score with the best of them and while their scoring has tailed off a bit, they can explode at any time. Pittsburgh is coming off games against Montreal and Boston in which they scored just four times combined but don’t let that fool you. They created a ton of chances and ran into two hot goaltenders in Carey Price and Tuukka Rask. The Penguins fired away 39 and 37 shots respectively and anything close to that here and they’ll score at least four times. Minnesota has to score goals. They cannot win games 2-1 anymore and therefore has to attack and get away from their conservative style of play that has served them well over the years. Without screaming at the top of his lungs “WE NEED A DAMN GOALTENDER”, Mike Yeo has subtlety stated that his team has to start scoring more. The entire organization is frustrated, the goaltenders are playing scared as hell and that is certainly not the time to be going under the number.
Our Pick
PITTSBURGH/Minnesota over 5½ +120 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 2.40)
Florida @ WINNIPEG
WINNIPEG -½ +120 over Florida
Regulation only. The Jets have lost five of their past seven games but they’re still in a decent position to make the playoffs. We’re not going to put a lot of emphasis on the Jets’ recent run because they’ve been dealing with serious injuries to very key players. In fact, Winnipeg played a long stretch of games without their top four defensemen, not to mention Evander Kane, and that’s almost impossible to overcome. Winnipeg has gotten almost all of its bodies back with the only casualty now being Jacob Trouba. Healthy and with the best young goaltender in the game in Michael Hutchinson, Winnipeg is back on our radar as an undervalued team and we’ll put that to the test here with Hutchinson in goal.
A popular angle among sports bettors is to fade teams in their first game back after a long road trip. It’s an angle that has some merit but we’re looking at something different here. What we’re seeing from several teams this season is a lethargic effort in the last game of a long road trip. The thinking is that the team is greatly anticipating coming back home and their focus and energy for the last game is zapped. Well, that may even apply more so for the Panthers, as they return to sunny Florida after the conclusion of this game, the last one of their six game trip. It’s also the fourth stop in Western Canada for the Panthers after playing in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and that four game swing through Western Canada is one the players have called the toughest road trip of the season. Well for Florida it’s not four games, it’s six after they started out in Buffalo and Washington. Furthermore, temperatures in Calgary and Edmonton were frigid (-16 C and -24 C respectively) and it’s -25 C in Winnipeg today. Incidentally, the temperature in Florida is +23 C, so yeah, we’re pretty sure the Panthers are looking forward to getting home. Lastly, this trip for Florida has been a highly successful one with four wins in five games so it’s not like they are desperate for a road win. We trust the Jets to be the much hungrier bunch here in a very winnable game while the assignment for Florida is an extremely tough one.
Our Pick
WINNIPEG -½ +120 (Risking 2 units - To Win: 2.40)
