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**Udog** · 05-19-2017, 07:45 AM

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

— Kansas City Chiefs went 12-4 last year; still, 33-year old QB Alex Smith thinks the Chiefs will dump him after this coming season and go with Patrick Mahomes.

— Who knew that the Rockies-Twins series this week would be a matchup of first-place teams?

— Angels bolstered their pitching staff by adding veteran hurler Doug Fister.

— Among active players with 300+ PA, Dustin Pedroia (.328) has the highest batting average in interleague games.

— Miami Marlins will be sold soon, either to Jeb Bush’s group or one led by Mitt Romney’s son. Good luck fixing that payroll.

— In 1976, a guy named Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stake in Apple for $800. Today it would be worth $80 billion- thats billion, with a B.

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Armadillo: Friday's List of 13: Random stuff with the weekend here……..

13) Bad news for my Rams (and the Chargers); there has been so much rain in Los Angeles this year that excavation at the construction of the new stadium in Inglewood has been delayed- the opening date for the new stadium has been pushed back until the 2020 football season.

12) One small quirk here; the Super Bowl after the 2020 season is supposed to be in this stadium, but NFL rules say a stadium can’t host a Super Bowl in the first year it is open. We’ll see about that.

11) More LA Coliseum news; the Coliseum has apparently sold its naming rights to United Airlines; hopefully this doesn’t mean fans will get dragged out of the stadium by their feet if games are sold out.

10) Jose Altuve had two doubles and two triples Wednesday, the first major leaguer to do that since Carl Crawford in 2005. Oddly, Altuve didn’t score a run despite the four extra-base hits.

9) There are seven schools in the SEC West; all seven of their football coaches make $4M+ a year. Boosters at the schools who finish 6th and 7th ain’t gonna be happy.

8) Jalen Poyser has transferred from UNLV to St Bonaventure; there are very few places in this country more different than Las Vegas and Olean, NY.

Mountain West and Atlantic 14 are very similarly-ranked leagues. Poyser is from Ontario so he is a lot closer to home now. He should be a much stronger kid by time he is eligible to play in 2018-19.

7) New York Mets’ starting pitchers have an ERA of 5.13 this season, 14th in the 15-team NL, which is really hard to believe, given the level of hype their pitchers get.

6) Bad news for the Atlanta Braves; star 1B Freddie Freeman has a broken wrist, is out 8-10 weeks. He was hit by a pitch Wednesday night.

5) Miguel Cabrera will miss the next couple of games with an oblique strain, which I think used to be called an abdominal muscle. Not having many muscles myself, I’m not totally sure.

4) Weird story of the day: A Girl Scout leader in Kentucky absconded with $15,000 in Girl Scout cookies and is now on the lam. What makes people do stuff like this?

3) A writer in California who used to write jokes for Jay Leno is suing Conan O’Brien for stealing at least five jokes from him in 2014-15. Stealing jokes is no laughing matter.

2) In the NBA this season, 77.2% of free throws were made, the highest percentage ever. Last year, 11 of 12 teams in the WNBA shot higher than 77.2% on the foul line- Connecticut shot 71.5% on the foul line. Seven of 12 WNBA teams shot higher than 80% on the charity stripe last year.

In the NBA this season, 35.8% of 3-pointers were made. Only three of 12 WNBA teams shot better than that on the arc last season, even though the basketball is smaller and the arc is slightly closer than in the NBA.

1) Somebody didn’t vote Russell Westbrook 1st team all-NBA this season; this person needs to be identified, because thats just dumb. They should probably lose their voting rights, too.

**Udog** · 05-19-2017, 10:06 AM

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

Ottawa's 1-3-1 system is largely responsible for flustering Pittsburgh, although defenseman Chris Wideman was quick to point out that it's a group effort as opposed to individual play.

Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators (+101, 5)

Senators lead series 2-1

Big swings in NHL odds as Stanley Cup playoffs continue to shock: Live From Las Vegas
We catch up with the series odds on the East and West conference finals in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Predators and Senators have made it interesting for hockey bettors and bookmakers. Jeff Stoneback of The Mirage sportsbook gets up up to speed on all the odds on the NHL ice.

Mike Sullivan isn't showing all of his cards just yet ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins' pivotal Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final against the Ottawa Senators on Friday at the Canadian Tire Centre. The Stanley Cup-winning coach said he'd reveal what he hopes to be his ace in the hole on Friday morning with the disclosure of whether franchise goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury or rookie Matt Murray will get the start in net.

Fleury had been nothing short of brilliant in stepping in for an injured Murray (lower body), lifting the Penguins past Columbus and Washington and stopping 56 of 58 shots versus Ottawa in the first two games before getting shredded for four goals on nine shots in the first period in a 5-1 loss on Wednesday. The roles are somewhat reverse from last season when the 22-year-old Murray took over for a concussed Fleury and guided Pittsburgh to its fourth Stanley Cup title in franchise history. While both goaltenders said they were unaware of who will start in Game 4, Senators coach Guy Boucher offered his own take on the Penguins' netminding situation. "I don't care," Boucher said, according to the Ottawa Sun. "Whether it's (Fleury) or another goalie, it doesn't matter."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, TVAS

LINE HISTORY: The Penguins opened as +101 road chalk for Game 4 and was bet up to 103 before returning to +101. The total hit the betting board at 5 and has yet to move off the opening number.

INJURY REPORT:

Penguins - RW Bryan Rust (Questionable, upper body), RW Patric Hornqvist (Doubtful, upper body), D Justin Schultz (Doubtful, upper body), D Kris Letting (Out for Season, neck)

Senators - LW Alexandre Burrows (Questionable, leg), D Mark Borowiecki (Out Indefinitely, leg)

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (59-25-8-5, 54-38 O/U): Although Pittsburgh's high-octane offense has been reduced to one goal per game in this series, forward Evgeni Malkin told reporters on Thursday that he doesn't feel any additional pressure to come through in Game 4. "I think me and (Sidney Crosby) always feel pressure every game. It doesn't matter if you play against Ottawa or Washington," the 30-year-old Russian said. "We like that. It's our hockey life. ... It's the toughest game (Friday), I think, for us." The trio of Malkin, Crosby and Phil Kessel has combined for five points (three goals, two assists) in this series for Pittsburgh, which scored an NHL-best 3.39 goals per contest in the regular season before marginally upping the ante over the first two rounds of the playoffs (3.42).

ABOUT THE SENATORS (54-32-7-4, 38-52 O/U): Ottawa's 1-3-1 system is largely responsible for flustering Pittsburgh, although defenseman Chris Wideman was quick to point out that it's a group effort as opposed to individual play. "I think it's been a full team buy-in, full team effort by whoever's on the ice," the 27-year-old Wideman said Thursday. "All five guys are conscientious of the time and the situation, where the puck is on the ice, and it's not a matter of who's scoring goals for us or who's making the plays." The defense-first mentality has been music to the ears of veteran goaltender Craig Anderson, who has turned aside 117 of 122 shots in his last four games and resides one playoff win shy of tying Patrick Lalime (21) for the most in franchise history.

TRENDS:

* Penguins are 1-4 in their last 5 vs. Atlantic.

* Senators are 4-0 in their last 4 home games.

* Under is 6-1 in Senators last 7 vs. a team with a winning % above .600.

* Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.

* Penguins are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings.

CONSENSUS: 61 percent of users are siding with the road favorite Penguins and 70 percent of users are on the Over.

**Udog** · 05-19-2017, 10:10 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Friday, May 19

Pittsburgh @ Ottawa

Game 55-56
May 19, 2017 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Pittsburgh
12.877
Ottawa
10.811
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Pittsburgh
by 2
4
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Pittsburgh
-115
5
Dunkel Pick:
Pittsburgh
(-115); Under

NHL
Long Sheet

Friday, May 19

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PITTSBURGH (59-25-0-13, 131 pts.) at OTTAWA (54-33-0-10, 118 pts.) - 5/19/2017, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
OTTAWA is 54-43 ATS (+4.8 Units) in all games this season.
OTTAWA is 34-27 ATS (+2.4 Units) second half of the season this season.
OTTAWA is 16-9 ATS (+26.1 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.
OTTAWA is 30-18 ATS (+51.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
OTTAWA is 18-11 ATS (+31.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
PITTSBURGH is 123-80 ATS (+4.3 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 80-48 ATS (+10.3 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 37-15 ATS (+15.6 Units) after allowing 4 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 31-11 ATS (+14.5 Units) after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
PITTSBURGH is 7-5-0 straight up against OTTAWA over the last 3 seasons
6 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-0.7 Units, Under=-0.9 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Friday, May 19

Since losing 8-5 in Steel City Dec 5, Senators are 4-1 vs Pittsburgh, allowing one goal in each game- four of those five games stayed under the total. Home team won eight of last ten series games; Penguins lost four of last five visits to Ottawa. Pittsburgh won three of last five road games; under is 3-1 in their last four games overall- they’re 1-14 on power play in last four games. Ottawa won their last four home games; Senators are 0-21 on power play in their last eight games.

Conference finals
Ottawa-Pittsburgh
Ottawa 2-1 OT
Pitt 1-0
Ottawa 5-1

Nashville-Anaheim
Nashville 3-2 OT
Anaheim 5-3
Nashville 2-1
Anaheim 3-2 OT

NHL

Friday, May 19

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
PITTSBURGH vs. OTTAWA
Pittsburgh is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games when playing Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Ottawa's last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh
Ottawa is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games

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Announcement

Friday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/19

Friday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/19

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