Announcement

**Udog** · 05-03-2018, 08:32 AM

Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack

Updated NFL over-under win totals for 2018:

— San Francisco 49ers 8.5, under -$125

— Baltimore Ravens, 8.5, under -$130

— Tennessee Titans 8.5, under -$140

— Carolina Panthers 8, over -$140

— Dallas Cowboys 8, over -$135

— Jacksonville Jaguars 8, -$125

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

13) Sunday afternoon at Westwood Country Club in the St Louis area; 7th hole, 123 yards; two guys in the same foursome both got hole-in-1’s.

The odds of two guys in the same foursome getting an ace on the same hole are said to be 17,000,000-1. Pretty cool, but which guy had honors on the next hole?

12) Interesting article on Yahoo Sports about the Miami Dolphins’ scouts and how they went about their duties leading up to last week’s draft.

Over the course of last football season and leading up to the draft, Miami’s 10-man scouting staff graded 1,504 players, wrote 3,690 reports and visited 256 colleges.

11) ESPN said that Kyle Korver had the ball in his hands for 30 seconds during Cleveland’s OT win in Toronto Tuesday night. He made the most of those 30 seconds, making 7 of 17 shots, 5 of 12 behind the arc. 17 shots in 30 seconds with the ball; sounds like a good job.

10) Colorado Rockies led off Tuesday’s game at Wrigley Field with back/back homers; that was first time since 1937 a visiting team starting a game at Wrigley with back/back jacks.

9) Dodgers were 23-4 last year when Clayton Kershaw started; they’re 2-5 this year.

8) Red Sox 5, Royals 4— Mookie Betts had three homers for Boston, which trailed 3-0 early.

7) According to ESPN, Phoenix Suns will hire Utah Jazz assistant coach Igor Kokoskov as their new head coach; he will become the first European-born head coach in the NBA..

6) Utah State’s football team will be paid $1.91M to come to Tuscaloosa and lose to the Crimson Tide during the 2022 season.

Thats the 3rd-most $$$ a team has ever gotten for a non-conference game; Florida is paying Colorado State $2M (as part of Jim McElwain’s buyout) for a game this fall and Auburn will pay Tulane $1.937M for a 2019 game

5) In case you were wondering, Albert Pujols holds the all-time major league record for first inning home runs— he hit his 142nd 1st inning homer off Dylan Bundy Wednesday night.

4) Baseball players get hurt a lot:
— Jacob deGrom hyperextended his elbow while batting Wednesday night; an MRI was taken; all Mets fans and deGrom fantasy owners are holding their breath.
— Braves’ SS Dansby Swanson left that same game with a sore left wrist.
— Dodgers’ P Hyun-jin Ryu left his start in the 2nd inning with an unknown injury.

3) Jazz 116, Rockets 108— Utah evens series 1-1 with a road win; they made 15-32 on arc, led by Joe Ingles’ 7-9. Winning a road game without Ricky Rubio is even more impressive.

2) A’s 3, Mariners 2– Paxton blanked Oakland for seven innings, striking out 16 hitters in an overpowering performance, but they took him out after 105 pitches and the A’s beat the Seattle bullpen.

1— Random question: What would baseball be like if there was no pitchers’ mound, just a circle in the middle of the infield where the pitchers threw the ball? Would scoring go way up?

**Udog** · 05-03-2018, 09:00 AM

Thursday's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs betting preview and odds

Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs continues Thursday night a pair of Game 4s when the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Washington Capitals and the Winnipeg Jets, and their crazy fans, welcome the Nashville Predators.

Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins (-160, 6)

Captials lead series 2-1.

The Washington Capitals bid to keep their perfect postseason road record intact and push the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins to the brink of elimination on Thursday when they play Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Capitals will look to accomplish the feat without Tom Wilson, however, as the first-line forward was suspended three games by the NHL on Wednesday.

Wilson escaped punishment from the league after his hit to the head of Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin (concussion) in Game 2, but wasn't as fortunate after his illegal check broke the jaw of Zach Aston-Reese midway into the second period of Tuesday's 4-3 win in Game 3. "We'll prepare like we always do. The focus is on the next game, and any adjustments or any changes we make, we'll react however we need to," Washington coach Barry Trotz said Wednesday before the suspension was announced. Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel extended his point streak to seven games (seven goals, eight assists) by scoring and setting up a goal on Tuesday while superstar captain Sidney Crosby also had a goal and an assist for his sixth multi-point performance of the postseason. "I don't think anything (specifically in our game) concerns us," Crosby said. "There are always things that you have to clean up and get better (at) as the series goes on. So there are things we definitely want to improve on, but I think that's pretty typical for any series."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, Sportsnet, TVAS

SERIES PRICE (PER WESTGATE LV SUPERBOOK):

LINE MOVES AND BETTING ACTION: The Penguins opened as -160 home favorites for Game 4 and as of Wednesday night that moneyline has not moved. 69 percent of side wagers are on the favored Pens. The total hit betting boards at 6 and has not moved.

INJURY REPORT:

Capitals - RW Tom Wilson (Out, Suspension), LW Andre Burakovsky (Out Indefinitely, Upper Body).

Penguins - LW Carl Hagelin (Questionable, Face), C Zach Aston-Reese (Doubtful, Jaw).

GOALIE SHOWDOWN:
W L OTL GAA Save % SO
Braden Holtby 34 16 4 2.99 .907 0
Matt Murray 27 16 3 2.92 .907 1

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (55-27-8-1, 51-38 O/U): Captain Alex Ovechkin scored his eighth goal of the postseason and fifth in four contests by swatting his own rebound out of the air and past Matt Murray to snap a tie with 1:07 remaining on Tuesday. The three-time Hart Trophy recipient's tally capped the second career three-assist postseason performance for Nicklas Backstrom and effectively sent Washington to its fourth straight road win in the playoffs and ninth consecutive dating to the regular season. "I mean, if you want to be successful in the playoffs you have got to win on the road, and especially because they won the first game," the 30-year-old Swede told the Washington Post. "It's nicer to be up 2-1 than being down 2-1. We're just excited for the next game."

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (52-33-4-2, 50-36 O/U): Coach Mike Sullivan placed the game-time decision tag on Carl Hagelin, who has been sidelined since Game 6 of the first-round series versus Philadelphia after he sustained an upper-body injury at the hands of Flyers captain Claude Giroux. "I'm definitely feeling better, so that's a good sign. Any time you're out there with the guys, it gives you energy and confidence," Hagelin said after Wednesday's optional skate. Fellow forward Evgeni Malkin returned from his three-game absence due to a lower-body injury to set up Patric Hornqvist for a power-play goal as part of Pittsburgh's three-goal second period.

MATCHUP CHART:

TRENDS:

* Capitals are 11-1 in their last 12 road games.
* Penguins are 97-35 in their last 132 home games.
* Under is 17-7-6 in Capitals' last 30 Conference Semifinals games.
* Over is 20-9-3 in Penguins' last 32 overall.
* Under is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.

Nashville Predators at Winnipeg Jets (-140, 6)

Jets lead series 2-1.

The Winnipeg Jets did not panic when they fell behind by three goals at home, and the resulting offensive breakthrough has put them in position to take control of the Western Conference semifinals entering Thursday’s Game 4 at home against the Nashville Predators. The Jets scored three times in a 2:51 span of the second period en route to a 7-4 victory in Game 3, riding two goals each from Dustin Byfuglien and Blake Wheeler to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“Nobody panicked,” Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba told reporters in referencing a 3-0 Nashville lead after the first period, adding that Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice simply told his players during intermission to, “just go play hockey.” Winnipeg is one goal in double-overtime away from holding a 3-0 series lead while the more experienced Predators have not only lost home ice advantage for now, but also lost their composure by taking three minors in the final nine minutes Tuesday. “We stopped playing, clear as day,” Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis told the media afterward. “You could see that, and you can’t win hockey games when you stop playing midway through the second.” Goals from Mike Fisher, P.K. Subban and Austin Watson staked the Predators to the early advantage, but Nashville only put 18 shots on goal in the final two periods and were outshot 45-30 on the night.

TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, TVA

SERIES PRICE (PER WESTGATE LV SUPERBOOK):

LINE MOVES AND BETTING ACTION: The Jets opened Game 4 betting as -135 favorites and as of Wednesday night that number is up to -140, as 53 percent of side wagers for this game are on Winnipeg. The total hit betting boards at 6 and has not moved off that number.

INJURY REPORT:

Predators - C Calle Jarnkrok (Questionable, Undisclosed), D Yannick Weber (Questionable, Upper Body).

Jets - C Mathieu Perreault (Questionable, Shoulder), RW Joel Armia (Questionable, Upper Body), D Dmitry Kulikov (Out Indefinitely, Back).

GOALIE SHOWDOWN:
W L OTL GAA Save % SO
Pekka Rinne 42 13 4 2.31 .927 8
Connor Hellebuyck 44 11 9 2.36 .924 6

ABOUT THE PREDATORS (58-22-4-7, 46-44 O/U): Forward Filip Forsberg tied the game in the third period at 4-4 with his fifth goal of the playoffs and added an assist Tuesday. Watson was the only Nashville player to finish with a plus rating (plus-1) and also scored his fifth goal of the postseason, while Subban scored for the second consecutive game and added an assist. The Predators were penalized five times in the final 20 minutes and goaltender Pekka Rinne, who drew a slashing penalty out of frustration with 4:29 left, made 38 saves but gave up four goals on 16 shots in the second period.

ABOUT THE JETS (58-21-9-2, 44-44 O/U): Center Mark Scheifele continues to shine, picking up two assists to give him 11 points (seven goals) in his past five games. Byfuglien finished with a three-point night and has five in the series, while Wheeler and center Paul Stastny (one goal, two assists) also collected three points as Winnipeg pounded Nashville with 35 shots in the final 40 minutes. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck gave up three goals in the opening period Tuesday and has surrendered nine in the past two games, but settled down in stopping 18 of Nashville’s final 19 shots.

MATCHUP CHART:

TRENDS:

* Predators are 13-5 in their last 18 road games.
* Jets are 42-9 in their last 51 home games.
* Under is 5-2-1 in Predators' last 8 Conference Semifinals games.
* Under is 7-3 in Jets' last 10 overall.
* Over is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.

**Udog** · 05-03-2018, 09:01 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Thursday, May 3

Washington @ Pittsburgh

Game 19-20
May 3, 2018 @ 7:05 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Washington
11.779
Pittsburgh
12.938
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Pittsburgh
by 1
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Pittsburgh
-160
6
Dunkel Pick:
Pittsburgh
(-160); Over

Nashville @ Winnipeg

Game 21-22
May 3, 2018 @ 9:35 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Nashville
14.614
Winnipeg
12.338
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Nashville
by 2 1/2
8
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Winnipeg
-140
6
Dunkel Pick:
Nashville
(+120); Over

NHL

Thursday, May 3

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Trend Report
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Washington Capitals
Washington is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games
Washington is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Washington's last 12 games
Washington is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Washington is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Washington is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Pittsburgh
Washington is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Washington's last 8 games when playing Pittsburgh
Washington is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
Washington is 4-8 SU in its last 12 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Pittsburgh is 19-6 SU in its last 25 games at home
Pittsburgh is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games at home
Pittsburgh is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Washington
Pittsburgh is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 8 games when playing Washington
Pittsburgh is 8-4 SU in its last 12 games when playing at home against Washington
Pittsburgh is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Washington

Nashville Predators
Nashville is 1-7 ATS in its last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Nashville's last 6 games
Nashville is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Nashville is 13-5 SU in its last 18 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Nashville's last 8 games when playing Winnipeg
Nashville is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Nashville is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Nashville's last 6 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Winnipeg is 17-3 SU in its last 20 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Winnipeg's last 10 games
Winnipeg is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Winnipeg is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Winnipeg's last 6 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Winnipeg's last 8 games when playing Nashville
Winnipeg is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing at home against Nashville
Winnipeg is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Nashville
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Winnipeg's last 6 games when playing at home against Nashville

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Announcement

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/3

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/3

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