Jimmy the Moose
Carolina Hurricanes at NY Islanders
The road team has been the victor in six of the last eight meetings between these two clubs, and that trend will continue when the Carolina Hurricanes blow into Long Island.
The Hurricanes haven't gotten off to the start they would have liked and tonight they face a New York Islanders team that is young and rebuilding, and looking for a win.
Carolina comes into this game having lost three straight to sit 2-5 on the season. The Hurricanes are still looking for their first road win of the year having dropped their first three away from home. They have a solid goaltender in Cam Ward between the pipes and he keeps them in most games, but this team's problem is finding ways to score more goals. The Hurricanes have scored a total of four goals over their last three games; no wonder they have lost them all.
The Islanders are still looking for their first win of the year. New York has lost three games in overtime or the shootout and is off to a 0-6 start to the year. Everyone figured this team would go throw a lot of growing pains before they get better and it's really looking like it will be a long year on the island. The play of John Tavares is a good sign that this team is headed in the right direction.
The road team has won six of the last eight meetings between the clubs. Carolina has won their last four trips to Long Island and have also won the last four meetings overall between the clubs. The Hurricanes are the more complete team at this time and they'll get their first road win of the year tonight. Play on Carolina.
Pick: Hurricanes -140
Yankee Capper
Los Angeles/Philadelphia Under 8.5
Vancouver/Chicago Over 5.5
Dallas/Anaheim Under 5.5
Bob Balfe
UTEP +7.5 over Tulsa
UTEP won a huge game a few weeks ago against Houston and then had a let down against Memphis the next week. The Miners had 15 days to prepare for this game which was circled on the calendar at the beginning of the season. Tulsa crushed UTEP last year after scoring the final 35 points in a blowout embarrassing the Miners. Last week Tulsa looked horrible against Boise in a huge game at home that they did not show up for. This line is set high based on last years result. Tulsa has a good defense, but on the road UTEP should keep this game close. Take the Miners.
Rocketman
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Play: Philadelphia Phillies
Two very evenly matched teams here with the Dodgers having a 99-70 record and the Phillies at 99-71 on the season. Phillies are the hotter team right now winning 5 of their last 6 while Dodgers have lost 3 out of their last 4 and home field will have a big role in who wins this one. Philadelphia is 10-4 at home vs LA Dodgers the past 3 years. Padilla is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA overall vs Philadelphia since 1997. Hamels is 5-0 with a 2.19 ERA overall vs LA Dodgers since 1997. I feel like Hamels will shine in this game tonight. We'll recommend a small play on Philadelphia tonight!
Jeff Benton
Tulsa -8 at UTEP
For Tuesday’s free play, I’ll back Tulsa minus the points against UTEP in a midweek Conference USA battle.
Like most college football matchups, this one will come down to which team’s defense can slow the other team’s offense. I don’t think it’s much of a reach to predict that Tulsa has an edge in this situation – a massive edge.
The Golden Hurricane just held fifth-ranked Boise State to three touchdowns and 28 points in a hard-fought 28-21 home loss. The Broncos had arrived in Tulsa averaging 40.2 points per game, including scoring 34, 49, 51 and 48 in their previous four games. Take away a 45-0 loss at Oklahoma – I think we can all agree that, even without Sam Bradford, the Sooners are a slightly better team than UTEP! – and Tulsa has surrendered just 12.8 points per game in its last six contests (five this year, plus a 45-13 bowl win over Ball State to end last season). And this year, the Hurricane are yielding just 312.7 total yards per contest, including 111.3 rushing ypg (3.1 per carry).
Meanwhile, the Miners are surrendering an average of 34.8 points and 492 yards per game, including 214.7 rushing yards (5.3 per carry). Going back to last season, UTEP has allowed 42, 53, 23, 34, 12, 64, 41 and 35 points in its last eight games. That 12-point aberration came against New Mexico State, one of the worst teams in all of college football.
I haven’t even mentioned the fact that exactly one year ago, Tulsa hung 77 points and 791 total yards on UTEP in a 77-35 victory as a 20½-point favorite. In six meetings since 2003, here’s the Hurricane’s offensive output versus UTEP: 56, 37, 38, 30, 47 and 77.
Tulsa is the type of team that feasts on lesser opponents. Since the 77-35 rout of UTEP last year, the Hurricane are 8-4 with those eight wins coming against Central Florida (49-19), Tulane (56-7), Marshall (38-35), Ball State (45-13), Tulane again (37-13), New Mexico (44-10), Sam Houston State (56-3) and Rice (27-10). Their four losses came to Arkansas, Houston, Oklahoma and Boise State. See the pattern?
UTEP just got drubbed 35-20 at Memphis (which stinks) and is 2-6 in its last eight games, with four of the last five being double-digit defeats. I know this is a rare prime-time home game for the Miners, and I’m sure they’ll be jacked up for it. But they’re not in Tulsa’s league, and considering UTEP has failed to cover in five of its last seven overall and seven of its last 10 at home – while the Golden Hurricane are 4-0-1 ATS in their last five as a favorite – I’ll lay these points with confidence.
6♦ TULSA
Michael Cannon
LA Dodgers at PHILADELPHIA -140
I’m on a 9-1-1 clinic with my last 11 overall free plays!
Take the Phillies for the win tonight in Game 5 of the NLCS.
I don’t care what kind of season Cole Hamels has had, you give me last year’s World Series hero a chance to close out a series at home and I’m all over him.
It helps that the left-hander is 5-0 with a 2.19 ERA in seven career starts against the Dodgers, including three in the playoffs.
The Dodgers just don’t have what it takes to get by the Phillies, and with the way Ryan Howard is swinging the bat it probably wouldn’t matter if they did.
Howard is 5 for 13 with two home runs and eight RBIs in this series and has driven in 14 runs this postseason.
Too much going in Philly’s favor tonight.
Take the Phillies as they close out the series with the home win.
4♦ PHILADELPHIA
Jimmy Boyd
Tulsa vs. UTEP
Play: Tulsa -8
Both teams are coming off losses in their last game, but I give the edge to Tulsa tonight as its narrow loss to Boise State gives it a great deal of confidence moving forward, especially against a team it defeated by 42 points last season. I don't see this one getting out of hand like that, but I do think the Golden Hurricane are capable of a 10-14-point win. The Miners pass defense has been very susceptible, giving up 321 yards to Kansas, 335 yards to Texas, and 536 to Houston. I like Tulsa QB G.J. Kinne, who has thrown for 1,296 yards and 12 touchdowns against only two interceptions, to have a big game tonight. Over his last three games he has 7 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. I expect him to continue to make good decisions with the football and to lead the Golden Hurricane to a double digit win. He is also dangerous because he has the ability to make plays with his legs. The Golden Hurricane are 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite while the Miners are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 home games. Lay the points.
John Ryan
Nashville Predators vs. Boston Bruins
Play: Boston Bruins
Ai Simulator 3* graded play on Boston as they face Nashville set to start at 7:00 EST. Yes, a very rare favorite here as I am sporting a 10-4 mark making 44.49 units to date with 13 of these plays DOGS. Supporting this graded play is an angle that has shown Boston to be a perfect 12-0 against the money line (+12.1 Units) when playing against a bad team sporting a win percentage of 25% to 40% in the first half of the season over the last 2 seasons; 29-9 against the money line (+13.1 Units) against horrible power play killing teams with opponents scoring on >19% of chances over the last 2 seasons. Boston HC Claude Julien is a solid 18-2 against the money line (+16.9 Units) when playing against a bad team sporting a win percentage of 25% to 40% in the first half of the season during his tenure in Boston.
Lee Kostroski
Carolina Hurricanes @ New York Islanders
PICK: Carolina Hurricanes
1) The Hurricanes are on a three game losing streak but they are 9-4 their last 13 games played when on a losing streak of three games or more. Also, the Canes are playing a NY Islanders club that is still winless this season. Six games and no wins for the Isles so far this season!
2) The odds of the Islanders snapping their losing streak really aren’t that good here. They are on a 12-32 run when playing with a losing streak of three games or more. In other words, this team doesn’t exactly have a knack for being able to snap a losing skid in recent seasons. They got crushed in their last game (4-1) by the Sharks. After that beating at the hands of San Jose you might also think they would be primed for a bounce back. However, the Isles are 22-47 after a game where they allowed four goals or more!
3) The Hurricanes have won four straight match-ups with the Islanders. Carolina has also won each of it’s last four visits to the Nassau Coliseum. The Hurricanes are 11-3-1 their last 15 games against the Isles and 16-5-2 in games played on Long Island! Canes goalie Cam Ward is 9-2 with a 2.34 GAA in his career against the Islanders. He also is off to a great start this season with a 2.42 GAA.
4) Note that Carolina hasn’t lost four straight since January and they will take advantage of an Islanders club whose confidence continues to get beaten down. They got up on the Sabres in their last game but then got totally outplayed in the last two periods to lose 4-1. Speaking of being outplayed, the Islanders have been outshot 124-68 in their last three games against the Hurricanes. Carolina comes into this game hungry after a 2-0 shutout loss at the hands of the Devils and, like the Islanders, they are well-rested.
5) Unlike the Canes and goalie Ward, the Islanders have not been getting good goaltending this season. Rick DiPietro has been out since his surgery and that has left the goaltending duties to Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron. Both have struggled and Roloson has a 3.77 GAA and Biron has a 3.16 GAA.