The Los Angeles Kings are a perfect 3-0 on the road but that will be in jeopardy tonight when they travel to Scotiabank Arena to face the Toronto Maple Leafs. Are the Leafs a true Stanley Cup contender? The answer is yes. Toronto is 5-2-1 overall and 3-1-1 on their home ice. They have arguably the best player in the NHL, Auston Matthews, and tonight Joseph Woll is confirmed to be between the pipes. Woll has been outstanding with a record of 3-1-0, a GAA of only 1.33 and a .961 SV%. The 4-2-2-Kings will begin a 4-game road trip and the Leafs are not the team you want to face for game 1. LA has not fared well in Toronto, going 1-4 in their last 5, and the home team usually wins between these two clubs.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Month: October 2023
Monday NHL Pick
Year after year, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been tough to beat at home and this year is no different. Tampa is 4-0-1 at Amelie Arena and that is where they will be tonight when they host the Seattle Kraken. The Bolts are hot, winners of their last two, both at Amalie, blanking the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, 6-0, and prior to that shutting out a really good Carolina Hurricanes team, 3-0. The Kraken’s struggles continue. After Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, they are now 2-5-2 overall and 1-3-2 on the road. The Lightning have faced the Kraken four times since Seattle entered the NHL in 2021, and they have won all 4 meetings, outscoring them 17-4.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Sunday NFL Pick
Two Black and Blue Division rivals will face each other today when the Minnesota Vikings visit Lambeau Field and the Green Bay Packers. The Vikings will go for their third straight win and are coming off a huge upset victory over the heavily favored San Francisco 49ers on Monday so they will have plenty of swagger going into this one. Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins has thrown for 2,057 yards with 16 TDs and has found a new favorite target in rookie, Jordan Addison, who had 7 catches and 2 TDs against the stout San Francisco defense. On the flip side, Matt LaFleur’s team has lost 3 straight and it appears rookie quarterback Jordan Love might not be the answer. He has thrown for just 1,263 yards with 10 TDs and 7 interceptions. The line opened at Green Bay -1 and has flipped to Minnesota laying 1. The Vikings have had issues with turnovers but if they hang onto the ball, they win.
TODAY’S PICK: MINNESOTA VIKINGS M/L
Saturday NHL Pick
Despite being without some of their key weapons, the Florida Panthers are still 3-3 on the season and could see the return of some of their heavy hitters tonight when they host the struggling Seattle Kraken in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers center, Sam Bennett, has yet to take the ice this year but did practice on Thursday. He says he feels great and is a game time decision for tonight. When the line of Bennet, Tkachuk and Verhaeghe get together they are a scoring machine. Florida could also see the return of captain Aleksander Barkov, who has been out with the flu among others. Seattle is off to a slow start. They are just 2-6 thus far and 1-4 on the road.
TONIGHT’S PICK: FLORIDA PANTHERS
Friday MLB Pick
The World Series will kick off tonight in Arlington and in case you didn’t know, the Texas Rangers will be pitted against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Tonight’s expected starters will be Zac Gallen for the D-backs and Nathan Eovaldi for the Rangers. Eovaldi is the reason the Rangers are where they are. He is a perfect 4-0 in the postseason with a 2.42 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP, and is 3-0 in his career against Arizona with a 2.78 ERA. Gallen has struggled this postseason. He is 2-2 with an elevated ERA of 5.24, a 1.48 WHIP, and was shaky at best in his last two turns in the NLCS, yielding 9 runs on 14 hits and 5 homers to the Phillies with both starts resulting in losses. Texas just knocked off the World Champs, which carries a lot of weight. They have Nathan Eovaldi getting the nod and the best skipper in the business, Bruce Bochy, calling the shots. What more could you ask for?
TONIGHT’S PICK: TEXAS RANGERS
Thursday NCAA Football Pick
The Syracuse Orange will look to get back on track tonight when they visit the Virginia Tech Hokies. The 4-3 Orange have lost 3 straight but they were idle last week so coach Babers has had plenty of time to iron out their issues. The 3-4 Hokies were also idle last week and are coming off an impressive 30-13 win over Wake Forest so they will have confidence going into this one. However, the Q can move the ball and are averaging 413 yards per game. They score more the VT, give up less, have won the last two meetings, and are getting 3 points.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SYRACUSE ORANGE +3
Wednesday NHL Pick
The struggling 1-3-1 Washington Capitals will look to get back on track when they visit The Rock tonight and the 3-1-1 New Jersey Devils. After last night’s 4-1 home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington has now lost 3 straight and have been outscored 13-4 over that span. The Devils took care of business last night, downing the Montréal Canadiens, 5-2, north of the border and have now won 2 straight, finding the back of the net 10 times over the 2 wins. Washington is expected to have Hunter Shepard between the pipes. He will be making his NHL debut and that could be a problem the way New Jersey is scoring. The Caps are not the dominant team they use to be and the Devils have won the last three meetings. It’s never a walk in the park when you have to face the great Alex Ovechkin, and the Devils won’t come cheap, but they are the better team and should come out on top.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW JERSEY DEVILS