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**Udog** · 04-27-2019, 07:28 AM

Armadillo: Saturday's six-pack

— Arizona traded QB Josh Rosen to Miami for a 2nd round draft pick.

— Warriors 129, Clippers 110— Durant had 38 points at halftime.

— Bronx 7, Giants 3— SF scored its first 1st-inning run this season.

— There were 18 trades made at the NFL Draft Friday.

— 12 of 14 SEC teams had a player taken in rounds 1-3 of the draft; only Arkansas/Tennessee didn’t- Baylor WR Jalen Hurd started his career as a RB at Tennessee.

— Virginia’s national championship basketball team declined an invitation to visit the White House.

**********

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

13) Last winter, Texas Tech fired its football coach; just a few weeks ago, Arkansas fired its basketball coach. How did both of these guys wind up with better jobs?

Kliff Kingsbury is now head coach of the Arizona Cardinals; Mike Anderson jumps from the Razorbacks of the SEC to St John’s in the Big East.

Life can be strange.

12) This week, the governors of Indiana, Iowa, Montana all had sports betting bills on their desks; New Jersey has a thriving sports betting business going. Meanwhile, here in the state I live in, the state of New York (some say I live in a state of confusion, but they mean something else) is dragging its feet on sports betting. God forbid some of us have fun here.

11) Tuesday night, Damian Lillard hit a 30-footer to send Oklahoma City home for the summer; Paul George called it “…..a bad shot.” But was it?

Research shows that this season, Lillard is 20-54 (37%) from that distance, which is an unusually high %age for such a long shot (30-40 feet). I’m guessing Billy Donovan was happy enough with his defense when Lillard launched the shot, but then it went in and it was game over for the Thunder.

If you double-team Lillard and force him to pass, he’ll find the open man, but would you rather have that open (lesser shooter) person take the shot?

10) Portland’s Enes Kanter after the Trailblazers beat Oklahoma City: “First I would like to definitely thank the Knicks for waiving me.” Wow.

9) There is NOTHING in sports as dramatic as overtime in Game 7 of an NHL playoff series, and it really isn’t very close.

8) Eight teams left in NHL playoffs, but once again, no Canadian franchise will win the Stanley Cup. Last time a Canadian franchise won the Cup? Montreal in 1993.

7) From Howard Balzer: “Word is that small hands (9 inches) behind absence of QB Drew Lock from first round of the draft. Used smaller ball at Missouri. Hand size of Kyler Murray, 9 1/2; Dwayne Haskins 9 5/8; Daniel Jones 9 3/4.”

Jared Goff also has 9” hands, and he’s doing pretty well in the NFL.

6) Tampa Bay Rays’ utility guy Joey Wendle hit .300 LY with 61 RBI; he was a valuable guy. He had already missed 17 games this year with a hamstring injury, then he got hit with a pitch and broke his wrist Wednesday. Tough start to this season for him.

5) Blake Griffin played 28:00 in Game 4 of the Pistons’ playoff loss to Milwaukee Monday nite; less than 48 hours later, he had his knee scoped in Los Angeles.

4) Former Houston Texans’ QB David Carr was on NFL Network the other night, ranking the QB’s from this year’s draft AND last year’s draft. He ranked Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson 8th out of the nine QB’s ranked, which seems ridiculous to me.

Jackson started seven NFL games last year and was 6-1 as a starter; he may not be a great passer, but he started seven games and won six for a team that was 4-5 with Joe Flacco starting; Jackson ran for 95+ yards in three games. His talent is unique to the league; there is no bleeping way a college kid is better than he is right now.

3) Blue Jays’ 1B Justin Smoak was in the lineup last night when Vladimir Guerrero Jr made his MLB debut. When Smoak made his MLB debut for Texas in 2010, the Rangers’ DH that night was Vladimir Guerrero Sr.

2) Missouri, Oklahoma, Wichita State all offered QB Drew Lock basketball scholarships; he went to Missouri and played football, and last night Denver picked him in the second round.

1) Happy birthday to the great Al Pacino, who turned 79 this week. My three favorite Pacino movies: 1) Any Given Sunday 2) Heat 3) Frankie and Johnnie

**Udog** · 04-27-2019, 07:31 AM

**Udog** · 04-27-2019, 08:44 AM

41Dallas -42 St Louis
DALLAS are 8-0 ATS (8 Units) in road games after scoring 2 goals or less in 2 straight games in the current season.

43Columbus -44 Boston
COLUMBUS are 21-11 ATS (13.9 Units) in road games against good offensive teams - averaging 29.5+ shots on goal per game in the current season.

NHL
Dunkel

Saturday, April 27

Dallas @ St. Louis

Game 41-42
April 27, 2019 @ 3:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Dallas
12.885
St. Louis
11.470
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Dallas
by 1 1/2
6
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
St. Louis
-140
5
Dunkel Pick:
Dallas
(+120); Over

Columbus @ Boston

Game 43-44
April 27, 2019 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Columbus
11.408
Boston
12.758
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Boston
by 1 1/2
5
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Boston
-145
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Boston
(-145); Under

NHL
Long Sheet

Saturday, April 27

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DALLAS (47-34-0-8, 102 pts.) at ST LOUIS (50-29-0-10, 110 pts.) - 4/27/2019, 3:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ST LOUIS is 35-17 ATS (+8.2 Units) second half of the season this season.
ST LOUIS is 29-18 ATS (+6.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ST LOUIS is 17-6 ATS (+10.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
DALLAS is 220-242 ATS (+513.3 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
ST LOUIS is 7-7-0 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
6 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.1 Units)

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COLUMBUS (51-31-0-5, 107 pts.) at BOSTON (54-27-0-9, 117 pts.) - 4/27/2019, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
BOSTON is 293-246 ATS (-151.3 Units) in home games second half of the season since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 6-4 (+1.7 Units) against the spread versus COLUMBUS over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 6-4-0 straight up against COLUMBUS over the last 3 seasons
8 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+6.4 Units)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NHL

Saturday, April 27

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Trend Report
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Dallas Stars
Dallas is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games
Dallas is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Dallas is 9-4 SU in its last 13 games on the road
Dallas is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Dallas is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing St. Louis
Dallas is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing St. Louis
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 7 games when playing St. Louis
Dallas is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
Dallas is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
St. Louis Blues
St. Louis is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
St. Louis is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games
St. Louis is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games at home
St. Louis is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of St. Louis's last 21 games at home
St. Louis is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Dallas
St. Louis is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games when playing Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of St. Louis's last 7 games when playing Dallas
St. Louis is 2-7 ATS in its last 9 games when playing at home against Dallas
St. Louis is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Dallas

Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Columbus is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 15 of Columbus's last 22 games
Columbus is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Columbus is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of Columbus's last 16 games on the road
Columbus is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Boston
Columbus is 7-15 SU in its last 22 games when playing Boston
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Columbus's last 11 games when playing Boston
Columbus is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Boston
Columbus is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Boston
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Columbus's last 6 games when playing on the road against Boston
Boston Bruins
Boston is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games
Boston is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Boston is 3-10 ATS in its last 13 games at home
Boston is 15-4 SU in its last 19 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 5 games at home
Boston is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Columbus
Boston is 15-7 SU in its last 22 games when playing Columbus
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Boston's last 11 games when playing Columbus
Boston is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing at home against Columbus
Boston is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Columbus
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Boston's last 6 games when playing at home against Columbus

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**Udog** · 04-27-2019, 11:55 AM

NHL Stanley Cup playoffs best bets and prop predictions: Goalies take center stage

Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus Blue Jackets will need to be at their best if they want to beat the Boston Bruins as +120 underdogs in TD Garden tonight.

Both the Stars-Blues series in the West and the Blue Jackets-Bruins matchup out East started off with 3-2 decisions in Game 1. As the puck drops for Game 2 on Saturday we break down the odds to see if another pair of close, defensive battles will take place. We bring you the best-betting notes in the NHL, so you can crack the odds on the ice.

DALLAS STARS AT ST. LOUIS BLUES

Moneyline Odds: Dallas +131/St. Louis -145

Over/Under: 5

Start Time: 3 p.m. ET, Enterprise Center, St. Louis

Series Price: St. Louis leads 1-0 (Dallas +235/St. Louis -357)

The Blues have won three in a row, closing out the Winnipeg Jets and taking Game 1 over the Stars, with a trio of 3-2 victories. St. Louis is built for the postseason, with an incredible record in one-goal games, but could have avoided those dramatics in the series opener by not allowing Dallas star Jamie Benn to score late in the third period.

While the Blues came away with the win, it was far from an impressive victory and if not for a softy that got past Stars netminder Ben Bishop, the outcome might have swung in Dallas’ favor. The Stars offense was aggressive and active, topping St. Louis in shots on goal and shots attempted. Desperation will fuel them in Game 2, and there’s value with Dallas at +131.

As for a prop to pop in Game 2, oddsmakers and bettors are expecting another low-scoring affair. The full-game total dropped from 5.5 to 5 goals with action on the Under. If Dallas is going to crack Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, it will need to put the netminder on the ropes early and see if it can shake his stonewall confidence in the crease. NHL bettors should brace for offensive aggression from the Stars and take a look at them to win the race to two goals at +110.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS AT BOSTON BRUINS

Moneyline Odds: Columbus +120/Boston -140

Over/Under: 5.5 goals

Start Time: 8 p.m. ET, TD Garden, Boston, Mass.

Series Price: Boston leads 1-0 (Columbus +235/Boston -300)

Game 1 of this series was expected by many to be a tight, low-scoring battle and it lived up to expectations. The Blue Jackets had a 2-1 lead late in the third before Charlie Coyle tied it up. Then Coyle potted the game-winner in overtime as well.

During the regular season Boston allowed the third-fewest goals in the league with 2.59 per game, while Columbus was 11th with 2.82. So far in the playoffs the Blue Jackets have given up just 2.20 GPG while the Bruins have yielded 2.38 GPG.

Both teams tied for the sixth-fewest shots allowed in the league with just 29.5 per game during the regular season and have matched each other in that category during the playoffs as well with 30.8 SPG. Fewer scoring opportunites makes things easier for their netminders who are two of the best in the business. Sergei Bobrovsky has won two Vezina trophies, with the last coming in 2017, while Tuukka Rask took home a Vezina of his own in 2014.

Don't expect special teams to help out these offenses much either, Columbus was the fourth-worst team in the NHL on the powerplay this season. Boston was third in the league with the man advantage they'll be going up against a stellar Blue Jackets penalty kill unit that was second best.

The Under has hit in 13 of the Blue Jackets last 16 games on the road, and four of the Bruins last five at home. Take the Under again tonight.

With Boston allowing just 56 goals during the first period during the regular season (second fewest in the league), and giving up just 3 goals during the opening frame through the first eight games of the playoffs, also consider taking the first period Under 1.5.

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Saturday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 4/27

Saturday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 4/27

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