The Edmonton Oilers are hot, winning four in a row, and will host the New Jersey Devils in an early one today at Rogers Place. New Jersey can be a pesky team but are just 8-20-2 on the road, have lost two straight, and Edmonton will have payback on the minds today after falling to the Devils on New Years’ Eve, 6-5.
TODAY’S PICK: EDMONTON OILERS
Friday Men’s NCAA Basketball Pick
The NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament will take us to Greenville South Carolina tonight where the Michigan State Spartans will face the Davidson Wildcats. The Wildcats are currently a 1-point dog and that is just fine. Davidson is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 overall, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 at a neutral site, and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 as an underdog. The Wildcats average more points per game than the Spartans, give up less, and are better beyond the arc.
TODAY’S PICK: DAVIDSON WILDCATS +1
Thursday Men’s NCAA Basketball Pick
The #13 seed South Dakota State Jackrabbits will face the #4 seed Providence Friars in a matinée today at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The Jackrabbits had a season like no other. They set a Summit League record by running the table in the regular season and then winning the conference tournament. Since losing four non-conference games, the Jackrabbits have won 21 straight heading into the tournament. South Dakota State accomplished this by being a scoring machine. The Jackrabbits averaged 86.7 points per game and were the best team in the nation beyond the arc, which could be a problem for the Friars. Providence was blown out in their last outing by Creighton, 85-58, and you know what the Bluejays do well is nail 3-pointers. The Friars are currently laying 2 and are just 3-7 ATS in their last 10 as a favorite and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 NCAA Tournament games. The Jacks are worth considering.
TODAY’S PICK: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS +2
Wednesday Men’s NCAA Basketball Pick
The NIT Tournament takes us to Chaifetz Arena where the St. Louis Billikens will be on their home court to take on the Northern Iowa Panthers. St. Louis held their own in a tough Atlantic 10 Conference. They were 14-4 on their home court and should cruise to a victory tonight. The Panthers finished first in the Missouri Valley Conference but the level of competition is not what it is in the A-10. The Billikens have the edge tonight in Points Per Game, Points Allowed Per Game, Field Goal %, 3-Point Field Goal %, Total Rebounds Per Game and Blocks Per Game.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ST. LOUIS BILLIKENS M/L
Tuesday NHL Pick
The Anaheim Ducks 5-game road trip has not been going their way. Anaheim has lost the first four by a combined score of 18-8 and now they have to face the New York Rangers at MSG before heading home to So Cal. Good luck. The Ducks will be without some of their key players, Ryan Getzlaf, Jakob Silfverberg, Sam Steel and possibly Rickard Rakell, and the Rangers have had their number. New York has won 4 of the last 5 meetings and they are 6-0 against Anaheim in their last 6 at The Garden. The Rangers are 19-5-3 in Manhattan and are expected to have one of the best guarding the cage, Igor Shesterkin. He is 29-7-3 with a GAA of 2.07 and a .938 SV%. The Rangers will not come cheap tonight but are still worth considering.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK RANGERS
No Blog Today
We will be back on tomorrow.
Sunday NHL Pick
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s current road trip is not going well, losing again last night to the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1, but I expect they will get back on track tonight when they visit the Vancouver Canucks. Tampa is playing back-to-back games which is always tough but they will have a well-rested Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes and that is a good thing. Vasilevskiy is 30-11-4 with a GAA of 2.43 and a 0.917 SV%. Tampa won the first meeting this year with Vancouver, 4-2, are 5-1 in the last 6 meetings overall, and 6-1 in their last 7 at Rogers Arena.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING