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**Udog** · 05-13-2017, 07:33 AM

Armadillo: Saturday's six-pack

Some interesting pointspreads for NFL games this season:
— Week 14: Tennessee @ Arizona (-3)
— Week 14: Dallas (-1) @ NJ Giants
— Week 15: Falcons (-1.5) @ Buccaneers
— Week 15: Cardinals @ Redskins (-2)
— Week 16: Vikings @ Packers (-6.5)
— Week 16: Seahawks @ Cowboys (-3)

Giants beat Cincinnati 3-2 in 17 innings late last nite; game ended at 3:45am here in the east. Buster Posey caught 17 innings, then hit the walk-off HR.

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Armadillo: Saturday's List of 13: Random stuff with weekend here……

13) Exit velocity is the new popular stat baseball announcers lean on after a batter hits a line drive. Giancarlo Stanton lined a single to left the other night that had a 115 mph exit velocity, which is why they call third base “the hot corner”.

12) We talked earlier this week about the Reds sending starting pitcher Amir Garrett to AAA to “manage his innings”; he threw 29 pitches in two innings in a brief AAA appearance Friday night. Am guessing he will be back in Cincinnati in 3-4 weeks.

Garrett threw 144 innings LY, meaning the Reds want to keep him to 173 or less this year. Teams don’t want young pitchers increasing their innings pitched by more than 20% in one year. He’s already thrown 36 innings for the Reds this year.

11) Freshman guard Frank Jackson is staying in the NBA Draft, even though he isn’t projected as a first round draft pick; if top recruit Trevon Duval doesn’t go to Duke, that means the kid they outrecruited Eastern Kentucky for might be the Blue Devils’ starting point guard next season.

Jackson started only 16 of Duke’s 36 games last year.

10) Brad Johnson, who won a Super Bowl as QB of the Tampa Bay Bucs, has a son in 9th grade who is a QB; he’s already gotten nine scholarship offers from D-I programs. Brad Johnson went to Florida State; Seminoles, Auburn, Georgia, LSU are among the schools to offer young Johnson.

9) Brewers 7, Mets 4– Matt Harvey allowed five runs in 5+ innings, giving up back/back homers to Eric Sogard/Orlando Arcia in the 6th inning. Harvey is very, very ordinary.

8) Good info from The Big Lead: Over last three NBA Drafts, an average of 15 foreign players were taken, with players from 32 different schools selected.

In 1986, the first 17 players drafted came from 17 different schools; from 1984-86, the first 60 picks in those three drafts came from 47 different colleges.

7) Sports Illustrated laid off college basketball writer Seth Davis this week, who also does studio work on CBS. ESPN laid off the great Andy Katz; tough spring for college hoop writers- those two had a combined 40 years in before they got laid off.

6) Random irrelevant fact: former FBI Director James Comey is 6-foot-8.

5) Seattle pitcher Chase DeJong threw five innings in Toronto Thursday, threw 88 pitches. Blue Jay batters swung at 30 of those 88 pitches, with no misses. Pretty sure that’s the most pitches I’ve seen thrown in a major league game with no swings/misses.

4) College football coaches are out on the road recruiting these days; Illinois defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson had an emergency appendectomy while recruiting in Jacksonville. I had one of those in 1993; scary thing. Hope he is feeling better soon.

3) Minnesota Twins have homered in 13 straight games, their longest such streak since 1988.

2) Wizards 92, Celtics 91- Onions!!! John Wall nailed a 3-pointer with 0:03.6 left to keep Washington alive; Game 7 is in Boston on Sunday. Home team is 6-0 in this series. This was a hard-fought game, first one in series decided by less than ten points.

1) Tip of the cap to Dick Vitale; Friday night was his annual gala down in Florida- he has raised over $100M over the years to fight cancer for the V Foundation. Good for him.

**Udog** · 05-13-2017, 08:41 AM

Saturday’s Stanley Cup Playoffs betting preview: Senators at Penguins

The Penguins have won three of four postseason meetings with the Senators, including a five-game triumph in the second round of the 2013 playoffs.

Ottawa Senators at Pittsburgh Penguins (-220, 5.5)

Coach Guy Boucher steadfastly has embraced the underdog role in the postseason to the point that he virtually squeezed the life out of the subject. While Boucher's assessment - honest or otherwise - was up for debate during the first two rounds, it likely rings true as his Ottawa Senators open their Eastern Conference finals series against the reigning Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.

Two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson guided the Senators to six-game series victories over Boston and the New York Rangers despite playing with two hairline fractures in his left heel. The captain raised his team-high point total to 13 (two goals, 11 assists) by recording game-winning goals in the series opener and clincher against New York, and erupted for seven points (one goal, six assists) as Ottawa captured two of the three regular-season meetings with Pittsburgh. While the Senators are making their first trip to the conference finals since 2007 and third in franchise history, the Penguins are bidding to become first team since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98 to repeat as champions. Pittsburgh brushed off Columbus in five games before outlasting Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington in seven, with Evgeni Malkin (NHL-leading 18 points) and rookie Jake Guentzel (league-best nine goals) paving the way.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, Sportsnet, TVAS

LINE HISTORY: The Penguins opened as -210 home chalk for Game 1 and that moneyline hasn’t moved off the opening number. The total hit the betting board at 5.5 and has yet to move.

INJURY REPORT:

Senators - LW Viktor Stalberg (Questionable, undisclosed), D Mark Borowiecki (Out Indefinitely, leg)

Penguins - D Trevor Daley (Questionable, lower body), D Kris Letang (Out For Season, neck)

ABOUT THE SENATORS (52-31-7-4, 47-50 O/U): Jean-Gabriel Pageau recorded six of his team-leading seven goals versus the Rangers on the heels of being limited to just 12 tallies on the season and one in the first-round series against the Bruins. Craig Anderson publicly was shredded for his questionable puck-handling decisions in the playoffs and was taken to task in his lone regular-season meeting with the Penguins, permitting seven goals on 43 shots in an 8-5 loss on Dec. 5. Mike Hoffman scored in all three encounters with Pittsburgh this season and tallied in each of the last two contests against New York.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (58-24-7-5, 53-36 O/U): Coach Mike Sullivan let the cat out of the bag on Friday by stating that Marc-Andre Fleury "deserves the opportunity to play" even though regular-season starter Matt Murray has returned to health. Fleury saved his best for when it mattered most, recording a 29-save shutout in a 2-0 triumph over Washington in Game 7 of the second-round series to improve his goals-against average (.255) and save percentage (.927). "If we traded (Fleury), we wouldn't be in this room right now," Pittsburgh general manager Jim Rutherford said of the veteran, who was the subject of trade rumors throughout the season. "You'd be in another city. If not for our goalie, we wouldn't have won that series (against Washington)."

TRENDS:

* Senators are 4-1 in their last 5 Conference Finals games.
* Over is 3-0-2 in Senators last 5 vs. a team with a winning record.
* Over is 4-1-1 in Penguins last 6 Conference Finals games.
* Senators are 3-13 in the last 16 meetings in Pittsburgh.

CONSENSUS: 68 percent of the public is siding with the home team Pittsburgh Penguins on the moneyline and 63 percent are on the Over.

**Udog** · 05-13-2017, 08:48 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Saturday, May 13

Ottawa @ Pittsburgh

Game 1-2
May 13, 2017 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Ottawa
10.125
Pittsburgh
13.563
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Pittsburgh
by 3 1/2
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Pittsburgh
-220
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Pittsburgh
(-220); Over

NHL
Long Sheet

Saturday, May 13

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OTTAWA (52-32-0-10, 114 pts.) at PITTSBURGH (58-24-0-12, 128 pts.) - 5/13/2017, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
PITTSBURGH is 122-78 ATS (+217.2 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 79-46 ATS (-2.9 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 53-29 ATS (+9.8 Units) after a division game over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 42-27 ATS (+9.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
OTTAWA is 52-42 ATS (+97.4 Units) in all games this season.
OTTAWA is 14-11 ATS (+28.6 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5.5 this season.
OTTAWA is 32-26 ATS (+59.9 Units) second half of the season this season.
OTTAWA is 15-9 ATS (+25.3 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.
OTTAWA is 28-17 ATS (+48.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
OTTAWA is 16-10 ATS (+28.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
PITTSBURGH is 6-3 (+1.9 Units) against the spread versus OTTAWA over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 6-3-0 straight up against OTTAWA over the last 3 seasons
5 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.8 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Saturday, May 13

Home side won six of last seven Ottawa-Pittsburgh games; Senators lost last four games in Steel City by combined score of 21-12- their last game here was an 8-5 loss in December. Over is 5-3 in last eight series games. Ottawa just beat the Rangers in six games to get here; theyâ€™re 4-2 on road in playoffs. Over is 3-0-2 in their last five games. Penguins just won Game 7 in Washington Wednesday; they split their last four home games. Over is 6-4 in their last ten games. Pittsburgh is 2-17 on power play in last five games; Ottawa is 0-14 in its last five games.

Conference finals
Ottawa-Pittsburgh

Nashville-Anaheim
Nashville 3-2 OT

NHL

Saturday, May 13

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
OTTAWA vs. PITTSBURGH
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Ottawa's last 6 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
Ottawa is 1-9 SU in its last 10 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 8 games at home
Pittsburgh is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games at home

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Announcement

Saturday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/13

Saturday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/13

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