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**Udog** · 03-20-2015, 08:29 AM

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

-- Every baseball game the last day of the season starts at 3pm, supposedly to add drama to pennant races. Guys in the replay office should have fun that day.

-- James Harden scored 50 for the Rockets in a win over Denver.

-- Hey the Knicks were favored last night; of course they lost, to Minnesota in OT.

-- If I owned an NBA team and that team was an underdog to the Knicks, someone would have a lot of explaining to do.

-- Patti Austin's version of the song "Someone to Watch Over Me" is tremendous.

-- When the kid on VCU got the layup at the buzzer to cover the 3.5 point spread against Ohio State, there was loud roar where I was, at South Point's grand ballroom. Guess not too many people had the Buckeyes.

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Armadillo: Friday's List of 13: Wrapping up a full Thursday of hoops

Notre Dame 69, Northeastern 65-- First three games of the tournament were all 3-14 games; Irish were only 3-seed of the three that won their game and Northeastern had ball with chance to tie at end, but never got a shot off, turning ball over with 0:03 left.

UAB 60, Iowa State 59-- Blazers led 31-28 at half; they were 12.5-point underdogs. Halftime line was Iowa State -10, meaning if they won by 8, you won your secoond half bet, so you could basically re-bet the game at halftime, this getting Iowa State -7, but you would've lost if you did. Start of a very bad day for the Big X. .

Georgia State 57, Baylor 56-- Not good when one of your Final Four teams is the 7th team to lose in the whole tournament. Complete collapse by the Bears, who led at 2:40 mark 56-44 but never scored again (nine possessions).

Arizona 93, Texas Southern 72-- Joe from Philly texted me to let me know that after the afternoon card, out of 11 million+ entries in ESPN's bracket pool, 4,155 were still perfect. After eight freakin' games. I was not one of those 4,155.

At the end of the night, 273 brackets remained unscathed. Out of 11 million-plus.

Butler 56, Texas 48-- Bulldogs were +10 in turnovers, -13 on boards, blew most of a big lead at the end of the first half, but came through when it mattered most. Teams in Texas were 0-5 Thursday. Butler has an in-state game with Notre Dame next.

UCLA 60, SMU 59-- If Larry Brown is such a great coach, why didn't his point guard get the ball in the backcourt when UCLA was pressing in the last 0:30? The kid had almost single-handedly brought them back from a 10-point deficit. Bryce Alford has to be a shameless gunner for UCLA to win. I'm not going to mention the terrible call on the last 3-pointer, because SMU should've had the game in the bag before that- they led by seven with 1:24 left.

Xavier 76, Ole Miss 57-- Teams who win play-in games shouldn't have to play day games less than 48 hours later; it is bad enough they have to play an extra game. Ole Miss had nothing in this game. Now Xavier plays a 14-seed for the right to go to the Sweet 16.

Ohio State 75, VCU 72 OT-- This offseason I'm re-doing how I analyze college ball; one of the things I'm doing is identifying what type of coach each of the 247 teams I follow is. Is he a tactician? Recruiter/ Motivator? Shaka Smart is a recruiter and he gets kids to play hard for him. As a tactician in close games, he is putrid.

Two years in a row now he a lost a first round game in OT; he lost his last three OT games this season. The big $$$ schools who chase him better be careful.

Villanova 93, Lafayette 52-- Of the last 11 national champs, they were 20-2 vs spread on the first weekend of the tournament that year. This is a good thing for Villanova.

North Carolina 67, Harvard 65-- Roy Williams wouldn't play Paige at the point in this game while he had a big lead and it damn near cost him the game. How do the Tar Heels blow a 16-point lead to a team that can't shoot 3's? Wesley Saunders scored 26 points; he averaged 16 in the freakin' Ivy League!!!!

Cincinnati 66, Purdue 65 OT-- Boilermakers led by 7 with 0:48 left and lost, on a day when teams gagged away big leads left and right. Why can't teams play with a lead anymore? At one point, Cincinnati scored six points in seven seconds.

Utah 57, Stephen F Austin 50-- Utes' first tournament win in ten years. Not a great game to watch; teams played similar styles, so team with better athletes won without a whole lot of problems. SF Austin is not the pro wrestler or the Bionic Man but the guy considered the founding father of Texas way back when.

NC State 66, LSU 65--- Another tremendous gag job on a day where five games were decided by a single point each. LSU led 65-60 with 3:59 left, never scored again, which covered six empty possessions. No excuse for them losing this game.

Arkansas 56, Wofford 53-- Wofford is the gritty underdog who hangs tough but can't get a win; they're 0-4 under Mike Young in this tournament, with this being the closest they've come to a win. Pretty good game, but teams were combined 19-32 on foul line.

Kentucky 79, Hampton 56-- Pirates played hard down stretch and covered the huge 34-point spread easily. Was in food line behind couple of Kentucky fans who were crowing about the demise of the Big X yesterday. Wait until calipari has had enough of Lexington and bolts for a different job; those guys won't be as cocky then.

Georgetown 84, Eastern Washington 74-- Big Sky teams just don't have the athletes to compete with the big boys, even a team with as putrid an NCAA portfolio as the Hoyas have had recently. Eastern has some good shooters, not much else. Big Sky is now 1-15 in its last 16 first round games and the win was over Nevada.

**Udog** · 03-20-2015, 08:39 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Friday, March 20

New Jersey Devils vs Buffalo Sabres

Game 51-52
March 20, 2015 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
New Jersey Devils
10.251
Buffalo Sabres
11.706
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Buffalo Sabres
by 1 1/2
6
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
New Jersey Devils
-185
5
Dunkel Pick:
Buffalo Sabres
(+165); Over

Detroit Red Wings vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Game 53-54
March 20, 2015 @ 7:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Detroit Red Wings
11.731
Tampa Bay Lightning
10.444
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Detroit Red Wings
by 1 1/2
6
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Tampa Bay Lightning
-160
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Detroit Red Wings
(+140); Over

Colorado Avalanche vs Anaheim Ducks

Game 55-56
March 20, 2015 @ 10:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Colorado Avalanche
10.947
Anaheim Ducks
12.841
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Anaheim Ducks
by 2
4 1/2
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Anaheim Ducks
-180
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Anaheim Ducks
(-180); Under

NHL
Long Sheet

Friday, March 20

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NEW JERSEY (30-29-0-11, 71 pts.) at BUFFALO (20-43-0-7, 47 pts.) - 3/20/2015, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
NEW JERSEY is 9-23 ATS (+32.5 Units) on Friday nights over the last 2 seasons.
BUFFALO is 41-111 ATS (-99.8 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
BUFFALO is 16-58 ATS (+103.2 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
BUFFALO is 16-53 ATS (+117.4 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 2 seasons.
BUFFALO is 7-28 ATS (+50.9 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
BUFFALO is 4-4 (+0.6 Units) against the spread versus NEW JERSEY over the last 3 seasons
BUFFALO is 4-4-0 straight up against NEW JERSEY over the last 3 seasons
3 of 4 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+1.9 Units)

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DETROIT (38-20-0-11, 87 pts.) at TAMPA BAY (43-21-0-7, 93 pts.) - 3/20/2015, 7:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 9-16 ATS (-15.1 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
DETROIT is 86-93 ATS (-57.7 Units) after playing 3 consecutive road games since 1996.
TAMPA BAY is 11-2 ATS (+6.8 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
TAMPA BAY is 172-186 ATS (+442.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since 1996.
DETROIT is 7-0 ATS (+7.0 Units) in road games on Friday nights over the last 2 seasons.
DETROIT is 14-5 ATS (+8.5 Units) in road games after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game over the last 3 seasons.
TAMPA BAY is 11-15 ATS (-19.9 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
TAMPA BAY is 6-1 (+5.0 Units) against the spread versus DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
TAMPA BAY is 6-1-0 straight up against DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.7 Units)

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COLORADO (33-26-0-11, 77 pts.) at ANAHEIM (45-20-0-7, 97 pts.) - 3/20/2015, 10:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ANAHEIM is 45-27 ATS (+79.5 Units) in all games this season.
ANAHEIM is 442-374 ATS (-98.9 Units) second half of the season since 1996.
ANAHEIM is 22-6 ATS (+12.0 Units) in home games after a 3 game unbeaten streak over the last 2 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 50-21 ATS (+18.5 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 2 seasons.
COLORADO is 88-71 ATS (+12.1 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
COLORADO is 19-14 ATS (+34.4 Units) second half of the season this season.
COLORADO is 6-1 ATS (+7.0 Units) in March games this season.
COLORADO is 38-30 ATS (+68.6 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
COLORADO is 24-15 ATS (+8.4 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.
COLORADO is 8-2 ATS (+10.4 Units) in road games after a 3 game unbeaten streak over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
ANAHEIM is 5-2 (+1.7 Units) against the spread versus COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
ANAHEIM is 5-2-0 straight up against COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.3 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Friday, March 20

Hot teams
-- New Jersey won last two games, allowing one goal.
-- Canadiens won five of their last seven games.
-- Colorado won six of its last seven. Anaheim won its last three games.

Cold teams
-- Sabres lost seven of their last eight games.
-- Red Wings lost five of their last seven games.

Series records
-- Home side won last eight New Jersey-Buffalo games.
-- Lightning won six of last seven games with Detroit.
-- Ducks won five of last seven games with Colorado.

Totals
-- Under is 4-1-1 in last six New Jersey road games.
-- Four of last five Detroit road games went over.
-- Seven of last nine Anaheim games stayed under.

Back-to-back
-- Detroit is 6-3 if it played night before, 3-3 on road.
-- Colorado is 1-7 if it played the night before.

NHL

Friday, March 20

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
NEW JERSEY vs. BUFFALO
New Jersey is 4-12 SU in its last 16 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of New Jersey's last 6 games on the road
Buffalo is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Buffalo's last 10 games at home

7:30 PM
DETROIT vs. TAMPA BAY
Detroit is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games when playing Tampa Bay
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Detroit's last 6 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Tampa Bay's last 9 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Tampa Bay's last 6 games when playing at home against Detroit

10:00 PM
COLORADO vs. ANAHEIM
Colorado is 6-17 SU in its last 23 games when playing Anaheim
Colorado is 3-11 SU in its last 14 games when playing on the road against Anaheim
Anaheim is 17-6 SU in its last 23 games when playing Colorado
Anaheim is 10-4 SU in its last 14 games

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**Udog** · 03-20-2015, 08:41 AM

NHL

Friday, March 20

NHL roundup: Sens move within two points of Bruins

OTTAWA -- For the third time this season, Ottawa Senators winger Bobby Ryan scored the deciding goal in a victory over the Boston Bruins. But none of them were bigger than his 18th of the season to give Ottawa a 6-4 victory over the Bruins at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday night.

The win was the fifth in a row for the Senators, and it moved them to with two points of the Bruins in the race for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Senators goalie Andrew Hammond made 31 saves on the night to improve his record to 12-0-1 while Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask made 26 saves.

Other Senators goals were scored by centers Kyle Turris, David Legwand and Jean-Gabriel Pageau and winger Milan Michalek. Turris sealed the win with an empty-net goal, his second of the game.

The Bruins were led by center Ryan Spooner, who scored twice against his hometown team for the second time in nine days. Center Carl Soderburg and defenseman Torey Krug had the other Boston goals.

Canadiens 4, Hurricanes 0

MONTREAL -- Right winger Dale Weise and left winger Max Pacioretty each had a goal and an assist to lead Montreal over Carolina at the Bell Centre.

Goaltender Carey Price made 31 saves for Montreal (45-20-7) while picking up his eighth shutout of the season and the 33rd of his career. Netminder Anton Khudobin stopped 18 saves for the Hurricanes (26-35-9).

Right winger Brendan Gallagher and center David Desharnais also scored for the Canadiens, who swept the season series.

Panthers 3, Red Wings 1

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Goalie Roberto Luongo returned from injury and Jaromir Jagr and Brandon Pirri broke a scoreless tie with second-period goals as Florida defeated Detroit at the BB&T Center.

Luongo, who had missed six straight games with a right shoulder injury, made 25 saves and posted his 24th win of the season. The Red Wings rested starting goalie Jimmy Howard and went instead with backup Petr Mrazek, who made 29 saves.

Florida winger Scottie Upshall and Detroit winger Erik Cole traded goals in the third period.

Sharks 4, Maple Leafs 1

TORONTO -- Center Joe Thornton joined exclusive company as San Jose defeated Toronto at Air Canada Centre.

Thornton had a pair of assists becoming just the 19th player in NHL history to record 900 career assists.

Centers Logan Couture and Tommy Wingels along with left winger Tomas Hertl and right winger Melker Karlsson had the Sharks goals. Antti Niemi made 27 saves to improve to 5-1-0 in six career starts against the Leafs.

Defenseman Jake Gardiner had the lone Leafs goal while goaltender Jonathan Bernier made 38 saves in the loss.

Capitals 3, Wild 2

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Left winger Alex Ovechkin scored twice and center Evgeny Kuznetsov added a goal as Washington beat Minnesota for the franchise's first-ever win at Xcel Energy Center.

The 13th multi-goal game of the season for Ovechkin extended the winning streak to three games for the Capitals, who were previously 0-7-0 all-time in Minnesota's home rink. Goalie Braden Holtby added 28 saves in the win.

Defensemen Christian Folin and Jared Spurgeon scored for Minnesota, which won a franchise-best eight in a row on the road, but now lost four of its last six home games. Goalie Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves for the Wild, falling to 21-6-1 since coming to Minnesota on Jan. 15.

Jets 2, Blues 1 (SO)

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Left winger Andrew Ladd's shootout goal lifted Winnipeg over St. Louis.

Ladd, the Jets captain, fired a rocket of a wrist shot over the glove of Blues goalie Brian Elliott to give the Jets a hard-fought two points.

Right winger Drew Stafford scored the regulation goal for the Jets while goalie Ondrej Pavelec made 32 saves.

St. Louis center David Backes scored his 25th goal of the year and Elliott turned aside 33 shots.

Stars 2, Penguins 1

DALLAS -- Left winger and Dallas captain Jamie Benn had a goal and an assist and goalie Kari Lehtonen stopped 31 of 32 shots to propel their team to a victory against Pittsburgh at American Airlines Center.

Defenseman Kris Letang ended a 15-game goal drought with a power-play goal.

Flames 4, Flyers 1

CALGARY, Alberta -- Left winger Johnny Gaudreau scored once and added two assists to lead Calgary over Philadelphia at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Defensemen Dennis Wideman and TJ Brodie and center Sean Monahan also scored for the Flames, who snapped a two-game losing streak and moved back into third place in the Pacific Division. Goalie Karri Ramo made 26 saves for Calgary, while right winger Jiri Hudler and defenseman Kris Russell each had two assists.

Center Claude Giroux had the lone goal for the Flyers, who lost their eighth consecutive road game.

Blue Jackets 6, Canucks 2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Columbus bounced back from a two-goal deficit to beat Vancouver at Rogers Arena.

With right winger Marko Dano leading the way with a pair, Columbus scored five goals on a series of 11 shots in the second and third periods, chasing starting goalie Eddie Lack, who was appearing in his 13th straight game. Left winger Scott Hartnell, right winger Rene Bourque and center Alexander Wennberg scored the other goals for Columbus.

Rookie center Bo Horvat picked up his 12th of the season and winger Daniel Sedin his 15th for the Vancouver goals.

Avalanche 5, Coyotes 2

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Eleven different players had points to lead Colorado over Arizona at Gila River Arena.

Center Ryan O'Reilly and left winger Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal and an assist for Colorado. Right winger Jarome Iginla and centers Freddie Hamilton and Matt Duchene were the Avalanche's other goal-scorers.

Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored both of Arizona's goals.

**Udog** · 03-20-2015, 10:21 AM

NHL
Short Sheet

Friday, March 20

New Jersey at Buffalo, 7:05 ET
New Jersey: 1-11 SU after allowing 1 goal or less in 2 straight games
Buffalo: 6-1 SU in home games revenging a close loss vs opponent of 1 goal or less

Detroit at Tampa Bay, 7:35 ET
Detroit: 7-0 SU in road games on Friday nights
Tampa Bay: 11-15 SU after a win by 2 goals or more

Colorado at Anahiem, 10:05 ET
Colorado: 167-149 SU after covering 5 or 6 of their last 7 against the spread
Anaheim: 73-32 SU off a win or tie in their previous game

Announcement

Friday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 3/20

Friday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 3/20

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