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**Udog** · 05-07-2015, 08:24 AM

Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack

-- Rockets 115, Clippers 109-- Houston was 42-64 from foul line. LA was 25-32; they outscored Rockets 41-21 in second quarter but still lost.

-- Cavaliers 106, Bulls 91-- Chicago's starting guards were 11-34.

-- Tampa Bay 2, Montreal-- Lightning is up 3-0 in series; they've won Stanley Cup more recently than the Canadiens.

-- Washington 2, NY Rangers 1-- Rangers scored once in last two games.

-- Chase Utley sat out last night; he is batting .103 this season.

-- Angels 4, Mariners 3-- Last two nights, 52 of 60 starting pitchers got decisions in their games, an unusually high number.

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Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud.......

13) Some Las Vegas sportsbooks took the Week 1 Steelers-Patriots game off the board after the DeflateGate report was released; others lowered the spread from 6.5 to 3.5. This just in; Tom Brady is worth more than three points.

Roger Goodell makes a fortune as commissioner, but he's going to earn that cash with this decision. He'll get crushed by the media if he doesn't suspend Brady for at least a game, even if it is on NBC.

12) LA Clippers are the only team of the eight still playing in the NBA playoffs that doesn't have a Florida Gator alum on their squad.

11) Dylan Ennis (9.9 ppg last year) transfers from Villanova to Oregon, where he will be eligible to play immediately.

10) Bryce Harper hit three homers yesterday; Joc Peterson has six homers in his last seven games, Mike Trout does awesome stuff every night. Would be nice if some of these guys got to play on Sunday Night Baseball, instead of ESPN showing the Bronx Bombers every week.

9) Ernie Johnson won a Sports Emmy the other night, but he gave it to the late Stuart Scott's children, because Johnson is a classy guy and someone for all of us to look up to.

8) Houston Astros were on a 10-game roll coming into this week, until Texas swept them three games in a row- Astros scored five runs in the three games. They still have a five-game lead in the putrid AL West.

7) I'm curious how sabermetricians view the Red Sox pinch-running for David Ortiz when he was at second base with the tying run in the bottom of the 8th inning? With leftfield being so short in Fenway, I'm thinking it lessens the amount of times a faster runner could score from when second when Ortiz could not. Anything off the Monster you and I (and Ortiz) could score on- I'm just curious, thats all...........

....especially because Ortiz' spot came up in the order in the last inning and he wasn't in the game to tie or win the game. You know the math guys have figures on all this, just wish I knew what those numbers said.

6) Don't think I've mentioned this yet: ESPN re-designed their website and I don't like it-- the new layout isn't easier to navigate, not at all.

5) Unintended impact of instant replay: in the Met game, they were going to pinch-hit for the pitcher with a guy on second after the previous batter hit a double. The pinch-hitter was announced into the game, but in meantime, the play got changed from a double to a home run, meaning the bases were empty, so they let the pitcher hit, but Baltimore objected, saying the pinch-hitter was announced, so the pitcher had to leave the game. They lost that argument and the game. One of the cool things about baseball is these obscure rules pop up and they've never had to be dealt with before.

4) A's are a very disappointing 12-17; they've allowed 15 runs in the 12 wins, have been outscored 120-56 in their 17 losses- they're 1-11 in games following a win-- that not good.

3) The Knicks hired Isiah Thomas to run the WNBA's NY Liberty, which is amusing on numerous levels. Incompetence, sexual harassment; not totally sure which one is worse, but he has both of those covered, so good hire!!!!

2) Oklahoma City had 7.98 inches of rain in a 24-hour period this week, setting the city's record for most rain in a 24-hour period. Bad week for car washes. Hope everyone stays safe; tornadoes are scary stuff.

1) When you look up "leading by example" in the dictionary, there should be a picture of Mike Conley. How can one of his teammates not dive for a loose ball or go all-out for a rebound? The guy is playing with a broken face.......

**Udog** · 05-07-2015, 08:28 AM

NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Thursday, May 7

Tampa Bay won its last eight games with Montreal; they held the Canadiens to four goals in the first three games of series, winning last night despite getting only nine shots on goal in first two periods of game. Six of last nine series games went over total. Habs lost 4-2/7-1/2-1 in their last three visits here; Lightning has now won its last five games overall. Canadiens have now lost five of last six games, with five of last seven staying under total. Canadiens are 0-8 on power play in series. Not sure why these teams are playing on consecutive nights, but Montreal needs win to avoid a sweep.

Chicago scored on its only power play chance in Game 3, won 1-0, can sweep series here. Minnesota lost eight of last ten games with Blackhawks; under is 6-3-1 in last ten series games. Wild are 2-8 on power play in series, Chicago 1-4, but Blackhawks have outscored them 8-2 when sides were at even strength. Chicago won six of last seven games; over is 6-2-1 in their last nine games; they lost four of last six road games. Minnesota split its last four home games- Chicago won three of last four games in this building.

Home teams are 9-4 in this round of playoffs; under is 7-4-2.

2015 NHL playoffs
Washington vs NY Rangers
Wash 2-1, +$143, U5
NYR 3-2, -$174, N5
Wash 1-0, +$105, U5
Wash 2-1, -$107, U5

Tampa Bay vs Montreal
TB 2-1 OT, +$107, U5
TB 6-2, +$125, O5
TB 2-1, -$144, U5

Calgary vs Anaheim
Ana 6-1, -$190, O5.5
Ana 3-0, -$215, U5.5
Cal 4-3 OT, +$106, O5.5

Minnesota vs Chicago
Chi 4-3, -$135, O5
Chi 4-1, -$137, N5
Chi 1-0, +$134, U5

NHL

Thursday, May 7

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
MONTREAL vs. TAMPA BAY
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Montreal's last 9 games when playing Tampa Bay
Montreal is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 13-4 SU in its last 17 games at home
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Montreal

9:30 PM
CHICAGO vs. MINNESOTA
Chicago is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Chicago's last 6 games when playing Minnesota
Minnesota is 2-8 SU in its last 10 games when playing Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Minnesota's last 6 games when playing Chicago

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**Udog** · 05-07-2015, 09:45 AM

NHL

Thursday, May 7

Rangers go under once again

The 4.5 total was not enough to keep the New York Rangers from going under another total, losing 2-1 to the Washington Capitals Wednesday night, making the under 7-1-1 in the Rangers nine playoff games.

Going back five postseasons the under is an impressive 9-19-9 over/under in 36 games.

The Rangers are scoring just 1.78 goals per game in this year's playoffs.

**Udog** · 05-07-2015, 10:10 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Thursday, May 7

Montreal Canadiens @ Tampa Bay Lightning

Game 1-2
May 7, 2015 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Montreal Canadien
10.863
Tampa Bay Lightni
13.041
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Tampa Bay Lightni
by 2
6
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Tampa Bay Lightni
No Line
N/A
Dunkel Pick:
Tampa Bay Lightni
N/A

Chicago Blackhawks @ Minnesota Wild

Game 3-4
May 7, 2015 @ 9:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Chicago *********
9.833
Minnesota Wild
12.512
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Minnesota Wild
by 2 1/2
6
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Minnesota Wild
-125
5
Dunkel Pick:
Minnesota Wild
(-125); Over

**Udog** · 05-07-2015, 12:23 PM

NHL
Short Sheet

Thursday, May 7

Eastern Conference Semifinals - Best of 7-Game 4

Montreal at Tampa Bay, 7:05 ET
Montreal: 4-16 SU in the 4th game of a playoff series
Tampa Bay: 14-2 SU in the second round of the playoffs

Western Conference Semifinals - Best of 7 - Game 4

Chicago at Minnesota, 9:35 ET- Game 4
Chicago: 0-5 SU after shutting out their opponent in their previous game
Minnesota: 24-10 SU after playing a game where 4 or fewer total goals were scored

**Udog** · 05-07-2015, 01:02 PM

NHL

Thursday, May 7

Price steadier option on no rest than Bishop

The Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning will play the first back-to-back games on consecutive nights Wednesday and Thursday. Though both teams will be facing the same tough test, Carey Price has proven to be a steadier goalie on no rest than Ben Bishop.

Price has started three back-to-back scenarios for the Canadiens this season, all of which he started and played the entirity of while posting a .947 save percentage.

In the other crease is Bishop who saw action three times this season on no rest, twice in relief and the other saw him get pulled early. Bishop also posted a lowly .868 save percentage in those appearances.

The Canadiens will need Price to preform like this, down three games to none and on the verge of going home Thursday night.

**Udog** · 05-07-2015, 01:03 PM

NHL
Long Sheet

Thursday, May 7

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MONTREAL (54-26-0-11, 119 pts.) at TAMPA BAY (57-27-0-8, 122 pts.) - 5/7/2015, 7:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
TAMPA BAY is 11-8 (+3.0 Units) against the spread versus MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
TAMPA BAY is 11-8-0 straight up against MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
9 of 17 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.9 Units)

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CHICAGO (55-30-0-6, 116 pts.) at MINNESOTA (50-33-0-8, 108 pts.) - 5/7/2015, 9:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 59-54 ATS (-27.1 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 0-5 ATS (-7.2 Units) after shutting out their opponent in their previous game this season.
MINNESOTA is 62-47 ATS (-6.0 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
MINNESOTA is 166-147 ATS (+316.4 Units) after scoring 1 goal or less in their previous game since 1996.
CHICAGO is 32-15 ATS (+10.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
MINNESOTA is 11-15 ATS (-19.0 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
CHICAGO is 18-9 (+5.0 Units) against the spread versus MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 18-9-0 straight up against MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
12 of 23 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.3 Units)

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Announcement

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/7

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/7

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