SPORTS WAGERS
BUFFALO -½ -1.02 over Dallas
The Stars picked up a very unlikely win in its last game when they went into Washington and beat the Caps in OT 4-3. However, they were outshot 52-26 and Marty Turco was the reason for the win, as he put forth a rare, brilliant performance. The three games prior to that the Stars went 0-3 and were outscored 17-5. That’s the Dallas Stars team you can expect to see tonight, as the Sabres will not allow any soft goals like Pittsburgh and Washington did and Buffalo has its swagger back. The Sabres are coming off back-to-back OT wins over the Flyers and Rangers in two gritty and disciplined efforts. Defensively, Buffalo gives up nothing and in this contest they’re very likely to outhit, outplay, outwork, out-goaltend and outscore this very beatable guest. Incidentally, this is the third game in a row for Dallas and they’ll return home to play the Kings on Friday. This is also its first trip to Buffalo in five years and after games against Washington and Pittsburgh, this one will not have the same intensity level for them. Play: Buffalo -½ -1.02 (Risking 2 units).
NY Rangers +1.44 over NEW JERSEY
The Devils are simply not playing well and they haven’t been for some time now. In fact, the Devils have the NHL’s worst record over the past 20 games, in which they’ve gone 6-14. Incidentally, of those six wins, two were against the Maple Leafs. They also have just two wins over its last 11 games and it’s a rare feat these days when the Devils allow less than three goals in a game. To make matters even worse, the Devils were shutout by the Oilers in its last game and they return home from a four-game trip for this one and frankly, things couldn’t get much worse for this team. The Rangers have dropped three straight but they played Pittsburgh, Washington and Buffalo and two of the three games went into OT. They always play the Devils tough and have split four meeting with them this season. One of those losses was a 1-0 defeat in which the Rangers poured 51 shots on net. The bottom line here is that the Devils offer up absolutely nothing as heavy chalk and one has to believe that the Rangers chances of winning are just as good and perhaps even better than the Devils chances. Overlay. Play: N.Y. Rangers +1.44 (Risking 2 units).