Mike Lundin
Panthers vs. Lightning
Play: Over 5½
The over is 12-4 in the last 16 meetings at Amalie Arena, and I think we'll see another high-scoring affair here in the season opener for both teams.
The Tampa Bay Lightning averaged 2.80 goals per game last season, despite the fact that Steven Stamkos played just 17 games (nine goals, 11 assists) because of a knee injury. The captain is reportedly ready for the upcoming season, and odds are he'll get on the score-sheet right away in the season opener. Andrei Vasilevskiy opens the season as a No. 1 goalie for the first time, he posted a mediocre 2.61 GAA in 50 games last season which is also very close to his career GAA.
The Florida Panthers averaged just 2.50 goals per game last season and five of their top eight scorers are gone. That might be a good thing though as first-year coach Bob Boughner get to implement some fresh ideas with younger and faster players, and I expert the Panthers to bring some offense here in the season premiere.
Scott Rickenbach
Islanders vs. Blue Jackets
Play: Blue Jackets -135
The Blue Jackets are expected to have Joonas Korpisalo between the pipes. Why would coach John Tortorella go with the back-up goalie for this game? Well, not only is this a back-to-back spot for Columbus (they are at Chicago tomorrow) but Korpisalo has earned this start against the Islanders! Last season he went 3-1 in divisional starts and that included a 2-0 versus the Isles. Korpisalo allowed just 2 goals on 46 shots in those two starts. Overall the Blue Jackets are a younger team this season but also a faster team and that speed is going to test New York early and often in this match-up. I do respect the Islanders and I know they were a better team under coach Doug Weight in the latter half of last season. However, goalie Thomas Greiss certainly did not "stand out" last season on the road or in divisional games. That said, the Blue Jackets are the better team, have a favorable goalie situation, have home ice, and are offering additional line value here because of a downward line move as of gameday morning from the 160 range down to the 135 range. Take advantage of the value!
Cappers Club
Boise St vs. BYU
Play: BYU +8½
The Boise State Broncos and the BYU Cougars face off on Friday night, and the Cougars at this line have some value.
In years past people would think you were crazy to bet against the Broncos, but this isn't the same Boise State team as in years past.
The offense isn't as crisp and the defense has really struggled and that has led to a 2-2 record. They are coming into this game off a really disappointing loss to the University of Virginia. They were only 13.5 point underdogs but ended up losing by 19 points.
On the other side of this match up is the Cougars who's main problem this year has been on the offensive side of the ball.
Against the Broncos though they should be able to get the offense clicking early and at least have some success through the air.
Some trends to note. BSU are 4-12 ATS in their last 16 games overall.
Andre Ramirez
Golden Knights vs. Stars
Play: Over 5½
A very exciting day for the Vegas Golden Knights as they are making their league debut, but I don’t feel it will be a good. The Knights have very little offense and a goalie that is aging and didn’t have a great year for Pittsburgh a year ago. The Dallas Stars missed the postseason a year ago after posting the most points in the Western Conference the year before. The Stars have re-loaded and are ready to challenge for the top spot in the Central. They had the most active offseason of any team (other than Vegas) and they should be ready to get off to a fast start this year. It begins with a blowout win over the Knights.
Jimmy Boyd
Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers
Play: Over 7
Anytime Clayton Kershaw is on the mound the public will look to take the UNDER, but I think the value here in Game 1 of this NLDS is on the OVER. We have seen a number of how scoring games already in the postseason, as the ball continues to fly out of the park. Both of these teams are capable of eclipsing this total on their own.
Arizona is forced to send out Taijuan Walker, as they used up Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray in their Wild Card game Wednesday against the Rockies. Walker was just 9-9 with a 3.49 ERA and 1.328 WHIP in 28 starts and finished the season in poor form, posting a 5.27 ERA and 1.683 WHIP in his last 3 outings. The Dodgers should be able to get to Walker for a few runs and continue to add to their total once they get to Arizona's bullpen.
As for Kershaw, there's been something about the postseason that has made him vulnerable. He's just 4-7 with a 4.55 ERA in 14 starts (18 overall appearances). Arizona's offense is swinging a confident bat after putting up 11 in the Wild Card game and I look for them to push across a few runs here to send this well over the mark set by the books.
OVER is 4-1 in the Dodgers last 5 playoff home games and 4-1 in Kershaw's last 5 home starts against the Diamondbacks.
Dave Price
Yankees vs. Indians
Play: Indians -1½
Corey Kluber dominated in the postseason last year, going 4-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 6 starts. That success carried over into the regular season this year as Kluber went 18-4 with a 2.25 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in 29 starts, and 10-2 with a 1.81 ERA and 0.81 WHIP in 16 home starts. Kluber is 5-1 with a 1.98 ERA and 0.80 WHIP in 7 lifetime starts vs. New York. C.C. Sabathia is 0-1 with a 6.43 ERA in his last 3 starts against Cleveland.
Frank Sawyer
Yankees vs. Indians
Play: Indians -218
Cleveland (103-60) won the opening game of this series last night with their 4-0 score and they have then won 44 of their last 54 games after a win. The Indians have also won 36 of their last 52 home games against teams with a winning record. New York (92-72) has now lost 4 straight games against the Indians. And in their last 7 playoff games, the Yankees have lost 6 of these games.
Frank Jordan
New York vs. Cleveland
Play: New York +201
Cleveland continued their dominance of the Yankees shutting them down 4-0 allowing just 3 hits. The bright side for the Yankees is they only allowed five hits, but they were bunched together with some walks (six were issued). Bruce was the player of the game for Cleveland offensively as he was part of all four runs scoring two and had all three RBIs. The Yankees hitters had trouble putting the ball in play striking out 14 times with their 2-3-4 hitters Judge, Sanchez and Gregorius combining for seven strikes. There were a couple of bright spots for the Yankees which were Castro getting two hits and the bullpen wasn’t spent despite Gray only going one out into the fourth as Warren pitched an inning Garcia really saved it going 2 2/3 innings of no runs and just two walks and Betances pitched the 8th and struck out the side. Friday doesn’t get any easier for the Yankee bats with Corey Kluber on the hill who is the favorite to win the Cy Young in the American league having gone 18-4 with a 2.25 ERA. Kluber was near unhittable at home going 10-2 with a 1.81 ERA and three complete games. Kluber went 2-0 against the Yankees with a 1.59 ERA allowing just six hits in 17 innings and 18 strikeouts. In seven career starts against the Yankees Kluber is 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA. CC Sabathia had a resurgence this year going 14-5 with a 3.69 ERA and was strong on the road going 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA. Sabathia is 4-3 in 11 starts against his former team with a 3.65 ERA. Look for CC to be hyped up and be on point as well as Kluber through five but it will be Kluber to blink first as the Yankees line up runs into one to put the Yankees up 2-0 in the sixth with an eventual win 3-1 to even this series 1-1.
SPORTS WAGERS
Vegas/DALLAS Over 5½
We’re going to approach today’s small NHL card a little differently and play all three games over the total. What we’ve noticed in the preseason and the first two nights of the regular season is that there is a big emphasis on higher scoring games. It would appear to us that the refs have been put on notice to call everything. With very few exceptions, we’re seeing 12 to 15 minor penalties being called per game. The skill level, the speed and the talented playmakers and goal scorers has never been higher. Combine that with all those PP’s and the result is a ton of goals being scored.
5-4 games sell tickets while 2-0 games do not, at least to potential new fans. Americans love NBA, football and baseball and part of the reason is all the scoring. Soccer doesn’t sell in the US and the NHL gets less coverage in many US markets than the cooking channel. What those two games have in common is not enough goals being scored and Bettman is trying to change that. There is about to be an entirely new wave of NHL first-time watchers this year, as the NHL will be featured in Las Vegas. Gary Bettman wants to desperately sell this game in US markets and this is his latest attempt to do so. On opening night, three of the four games went over the total. Last night, six of eight games went over the total with one game being a push. Thus, 9 of 12 games have gone over the total with one game being a push. The totals are still at 5½ so the oddsmakers have not made adjustments yet. Expect to see more 6’s than 5½’s real soon and we’ll try to take advantage of it. Thus, we’ll put this same writeup in all three games tonight and expect the penalties and goals to keep coming.
Florida/TAMPA BAY Over 5½
We’re going to approach today’s small NHL card a little differently and play all three games over the total. What we’ve noticed in the preseason and the first two nights of the regular season is that there is a big emphasis on higher scoring games. It would appear to us that the refs have been put on notice to call everything. With very few exceptions, we’re seeing 12 to 15 minor penalties being called per game. The skill level, the speed and the talented playmakers and goal scorers has never been higher. Combine that with all those PP’s and the result is a ton of goals being scored.
5-4 games sell tickets while 2-0 games do not, at least to potential new fans. Americans love NBA, football and baseball and part of the reason is all the scoring. Soccer doesn’t sell in the US and the NHL gets less coverage in many US markets than the cooking channel. What those two games have in common is not enough goals being scored and Bettman is trying to change that. There is about to be an entirely new wave of NHL first-time watchers this year, as the NHL will be featured in Las Vegas. Gary Bettman wants to desperately sell this game in US markets and this is his latest attempt to do so. On opening night, three of the four games went over the total. Last night, six of eight games went over the total with one game being a push. Thus, 9 of 12 games have gone over the total with one game being a push. The totals are still at 5½ so the oddsmakers have not made adjustments yet. Expect to see more 6’s than 5½’s real soon and we’ll try to take advantage of it. Thus, we’ll put this same writeup in all three games tonight and expect the penalties and goals to keep coming.
N.Y. Islanders/COLUMBUS Over 5½
We’re going to approach today’s small NHL card a little differently and play all three games over the total. What we’ve noticed in the preseason and the first two nights of the regular season is that there is a big emphasis on higher scoring games. It would appear to us that the refs have been put on notice to call everything. With very few exceptions, we’re seeing 12 to 15 minor penalties being called per game. The skill level, the speed and the talented playmakers and goal scorers has never been higher. Combine that with all those PP’s and the result is a ton of goals being scored.
5-4 games sell tickets while 2-0 games do not, at least to potential new fans. Americans love NBA, football and baseball and part of the reason is all the scoring. Soccer doesn’t sell in the US and the NHL gets less coverage in many US markets than the cooking channel. What those two games have in common is not enough goals being scored and Bettman is trying to change that. There is about to be an entirely new wave of NHL first-time watchers this year, as the NHL will be featured in Las Vegas. Gary Bettman wants to desperately sell this game in US markets and this is his latest attempt to do so. On opening night, three of the four games went over the total. Last night, six of eight games went over the total with one game being a push. Thus, 9 of 12 games have gone over the total with one game being a push. The totals are still at 5½ so the oddsmakers have not made adjustments yet. Expect to see more 6’s than 5½’s real soon and we’ll try to take advantage of it. Thus, we’ll put this same writeup in all three games tonight and expect the penalties and goals to keep coming.
MLB Houston
Harry Bondi
MEMPHIS -14.5 over Connecticut
Huskies have the unfortunate task of having to face a explosive Memphis team off their 1st loss and worst performance of the year. Connecticut has been abysmal all year beating only Division 2 Holy Cross straight up and going winless ATS. Memphis had been averaging 43 points per game before being shut down last week by Central Florida and should score at will against a husky defense that is allowing 45 points per game. Take the Tigers in a rout!
Bob Balfe
Cubs +135
Home teams are cleaning up to start the postseason, but this is a series in which I think will be the most competitive. The Cubs are trying to defend their World Series crown and they have a great shot to steal game one with Hendricks on the mound. The Nationals bullpen is suspect so keep your eye on the later innings.