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**Udog** · 05-11-2016, 08:23 AM

Armadillo: Wednesday's six-pack

-- Thunder 95, Spurs 91-- Road team has won three of five series games. This was only the second time this season Spurs lost consecutive games.

-- In his career, Gregg Popovich is 2-10 in elimination games on the road.

-- Penguins 4, Capitals 3 OT-- Pittsburgh advances in six games.

-- Bronx 10, Royals 7-- Lorenzo Cain hit three HRs in a losing cause.

-- Stations Casinos is going to buy the Palms in Las Vegas for $312.5M.

-- The NBA Draft has 60 picks, two per team; 63 players were invited to the NBA Combine. If you've declared for the draft but weren't invited to the Combine, please go back to college, unless your goal in life was to play in Turkey or the D-League.

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Armadillo: Wednesday's List of 13: Mid-week musings......

13) Only ten NBA head coaches have had their current job for more than two years. You grab the big money for as long as you can, put up with the insanity, then go on TV and relax. When coaches who win 50+ games get fired, you know its a nutty job.

12) Of the 32 NFL kickers who finished last season. 21 of them were not drafted.

11) Stephen Strasburg gets $175M for seven years from the Nationals; unusual for a Scott Boras client not to give free agency a shot. Finally, a sane person-- take the $$$ and run while you can!!!!

10) TV guys always are quick to praise AT&T Park in San Francisco, but there are bullpens on the field for one reason; the geniuses who planned this scenic ballpark forgot to incorporate them in the stadium's original plans. Whoops.

9) Christopher Kamka points out that of Todd Frazier's first 27 RBI this year, 16 of them came from the 7th inning on.

8) JT Realmuto lost a home run Monday night because a runner on first base went back to first base to tag up and Realmuto passed him, which means he is out. Nice to know Milwaukee 1B Chris Carter was paying attention; this happened in another Brewer game last month at Miller Park, but no one ever noticed.

Realmuto gets a single and one RBI but loses the home run.

7) Speaking of the Marlins, Dee Gordon's 80-game suspension ends in late July, but if the Marlins make the playoffs, Gordon is also ineligible for those games.

6) Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News reports that of the top ten vote getters in the NBA MVP voting, eight of them played 2+ years in college.

5) Random stat of the day: since 1984, the Portland Trailblazers hold the odd record of having the worst 3-point % (0-20) in a game they won. Lot of teams won without making a 3-pointer, but Portland missed the most, way back on December 10, 2002.

4) If I was a Seattle Mariners fan, I'd be excited; they're clearly the best team in the AL West and if their starting pitchers stay healthy, they're going to make the playoffs.

3) I like to watch the Mix Channel on DirecTV on baseball nights; can monitor eight games at once on my bigscreen. One small problem; Dodger games are never on the Mix Channel- that is channel 720 on DirecTV, by the way.

2) I'd have to be a masochist to watch the A's; they're terrible. Oakland starting pitchers lasted a total of nine innings in their last three games- they've finished the sixth inning once in their last ten road games.

Your five starting pitchers are like your five offensive linemen in the NFL; if those five guys aren't solid, your team cannot win.

1) I do not understand the new slide rule at second base and I think lot of players, managers feel the same way. No idea what the rule is and how it is supposed to be applied, because of the drastic inconsistencies in the first six weeks this season.

**Udog** · 05-11-2016, 08:27 AM

NHL

Wednesday, May 11

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Wednesday's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs betting preview: Blues at Stars
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The top-seeded Stars stunned the Blues by jumping out to a quick three-goal lead and holding on for a 3-2 victory in Game 6 to bring the series back to Dallas.

St. Louis Blues at Dallas Stars (A: +100, H: -120, O/U: 5)

Series tied 3-3

The Dallas Stars staved off elimination with a huge road victory and now have a chance to clinch a spot in the Western Conference final on their home ice when they host the St. Louis Blues in Wednesday night's winner-take-all Game 7. Dallas is seeking its first Game 7 victory since beating Colorado in the 2000 Western Conference final.

The top-seeded Stars stunned the Blues by jumping out to a quick three-goal lead and holding on for a 3-2 victory in Game 6 to bring the series back to Dallas. "We still have to win two in a row, which we have not been able to do in this series," Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen said. "That's something that's our goal. It's still alive so we just need to relax now and get ready for the next one." Monday's loss dropped St. Louis to 1-3 in potential series clinchers, but the Blues did eliminate reigning Stanley Cup champion Chicago in Game 7 of the first round and have won twice in Dallas in this series. "I know one thing: We're going to come and we're going to come after them, big-time," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, Sportsnet, TVAS

PROBABLE GOALIES:

Blues - Brian Elliott (W/L: 7-6, GAA: 2.39, SAVE %: .929)

Stars - Kari Lehtonen (W/L: 6-2, GAA: 2.58, SAVE %: .907)

INJURY REPORT:

Blues - No injuries to report.

Stars - LW T. Moen (Out For Season, hand), C T. Seguin (Out Wednesday, achilles).

ABOUT THE BLUES (56-28-11, 37-42 O/U): Hitchcock opened some eyes following Game 6 when he told the media that "I want to sleep on" a decision for his starting netminder for Game 7 after Brian Elliott was yanked in the first period for allowing three goals on seven shots. Although St. Louis has a viable alternative in Jake Allen, who opened the season as the team's No. 1 netminder before getting hurt, Elliott has started every game in the postseason after posting a 23-8-6 mark and 2.07 goals-against average in the regular season. "He's the ultimate pro," Allen said of Elliott. "He'll definitely be ready. He's been the best player on our team the whole playoffs and he'll be ready to go again."

ABOUT THE STARS (57-26-11, 50-39 O/U): Although Dallas was the league's highest-scoring team in the regular season, the Stars turned to a rope-a-dope tactic following the early goal outburst in Game 6 and nearly squandered the lead while registering a season-low 14 shots on goal. "So far in the playoffs, we haven't been a good team with a three-goal lead," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "Even with a four-goal lead, we weren't a good team. We're a team that's still learning. And a lot of players it's their first kick at this." Jason Spezza, who scored 33 times during the regular season and added four tallies in the first-round win versus Minnesota, netted his first goal of the series Monday.

TRENDS:

* Blues are 9-2 in their last 11 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
* Stars are 1-4 in their last 5 games following a win.
* Over is 2-0-3 in Blues last 5 overall.
* Over is 5-0-4 in Stars last 9 games playing on 1 days rest.
* Road team is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.

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**Udog** · 05-11-2016, 08:30 AM

NHL
Short Sheet

Wednesday, May 11

St Louis at Dallas, 8:05 PM ET
St Louis: 17-9 SU as a road underdog
Dallas: 8-14 SU in home games off a road win

NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Wednesday, May 11

St Louis-Dallas (3-3)
Dallas scored goals 0:20 apart in first 6:00 of Game 6, held on to tie series. Blues outshot Dallas 37-14 Monday. Road team won four of six series games. Blues won nine of last 13 games overall with Dallas-- visiting team is 3-2 in this series- Dallas didn't score in last 49:02 of Game 5, last 43:11 of Game 6. Over 3-1-3 in last seven series games. Four of last six St Louis wins in series came in OT or SO. Over is 5-1-4 in St Louis' last ten games. Dallas won nine of last 14 games overall; over is 5-1-4 in their last ten. Stars are 2-17 on power play in series, St Louis 5-21. Dallas lost three of last four at home; Blues won three of last five road games.

Playoffs tally: 1st round-- Home: 23-24, Over: 16-17-14
2nd round-- Home: 15-8, Over: 10-5-8

NHL

Wednesday, May 11

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
ST. LOUIS vs. DALLAS
St. Louis is 15-8 SU in its last 23 games
St. Louis is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games on the road
Dallas is 16-7 SU in its last 23 games
Dallas is 9-3 SU in its last 12 games at home

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**StarDust Bum** · 05-11-2016, 11:49 AM

Pro Hockey Trend Report

ST LOUIS (56-29-0-10, 122 pts.) at DALLAS (57-26-0-11, 125 pts.) - 5/11/2016, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DALLAS is 57-37 ATS (+14.7 Units) in all games this season.
DALLAS is 26-15 ATS (+6.3 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
DALLAS is 26-18 ATS (+44.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ST LOUIS is 56-39 ATS (+5.6 Units) in all games this season.
ST LOUIS is 27-15 ATS (+11.5 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5 or less this season.
ST LOUIS is 19-10 ATS (+8.7 Units) in road games second half of the season this season.
ST LOUIS is 26-16 ATS (+7.2 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
ST LOUIS is 31-21 ATS (+8.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ST LOUIS is 20-12 ATS (+6.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
DALLAS is 31-37 ATS (-8.4 Units) after a division game over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
ST LOUIS is 12-9-0 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
10 of 18 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+1.3 Units)

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NHL (PROFESSIONAL)

DUNKEL'S HIGHLIGHTED GAME

St. Louis at Dallas - Wednesday May 11, 2016The Blues look to bounce back from their 3-2 loss in Game 6 as they face a Stars team that is 0-4 in its last 4 games after allowing 2 goals or less in the previous game. St. Louis is the pick (-105) according to Dunkel, which has the Blues favored by 1.

Dunkel Pick: St. Louis (-105).

St. Louis
@
Dallas

Game 77-78
May 11, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating: St. Louis
13.062
Dallas
12.113
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total: St. Louis
by 1
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total: Dallas
-115
5
Dunkel Pick: St. Louis
(-105); Over

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Wednesday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/11

Wednesday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/11

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