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**Udog** · 05-08-2019, 08:05 AM

Armadillo: Wednesday's six-pack

Odds for the Byron Nelson golf tournament this week:

13-2— Brooks Koepka

16-1— Hideki Matsuyama

18-1— Jordan Spieth

20-1— Aaron Wise, Henrik Stenson

25-1— Marc Leishman

30-1— Patrick Reed, Keith Mitchell, Branden Grace

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

13) PJ Tucker plays for the Rockets; he is 34 now. He is an important player for them, but only scored 7.3 ppg this season, shooting 37.7% on arc. He started every game, playing 34.2 mpg.

Winning teams have role players who flourish in that role; Tucker makes $8M a year, so he is obviously well compensated for that role.

For five years, from 2007-13, Tucker played pro ball in Israel, Ukraine, Germany and Italy. This is a guy who has paid his dues and probably could write a hell of a book.

12) When Jacob deGrom was playing shortstop in college for Stetson, he hit one home run; off of Chris Sale, who pitched for Florida Gulf Coast.

11) Quote of the Day, part II, from Kyrie Irving after shooting 7-22 in Monday’s loss:

“For me, I had 22 shots, I should’ve shot 30 … just the consistency of going at it, staying aggressive is always going to put us in a great position……”

10) Best over teams in baseball:
— Mariners 25-10-2, +13.57 units
— With Sox 19-12-2, +6.59
— Royals 21-14-1, +6.23
— Rangers 19-12-1, +5.04
— Cubs 19-13, +5.04

Best under teams:
— Reds 23-11-1, +10.69 units
— Blue Jays 21-14, +5.92
— Brewers 21-15-1, +5.22
— Tigers 18-13, +4.34
— Rays 19-14-1, +4.17

9) There are 65 Power Five college football teams; CBSSports.com ranked them #1-65 this week, with Rutgers coach Chris Ash #65, Colorado coach Mel Tucker #64. Tucker was interim coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011, but hasn’t coached a game in Boulder yet.

I’m assuming Nick Saban is #1 and Dabo Swinney #2, but they haven’t released their top 25 yet. Thats sportswriting in May; stretch things out as much as possible.

Herm Edwards is ranked #54, which is interesting; the guy went 54-74 in the NFL. Lasting eight years as an NFL head coach should get him higher than #54 on the college list.

8) This will be the first time since 1996 that the Kentucky Derby winner won’t be running in the Preakness; Grindstone won the ’96 Derby, then never raced again because of injury.

7) Over last two years, San Diego’s Hunter Renfroe has pinch-hit with bases loaded three times; he has nine RBI in those AB’s, with two of the three hits walk-offs.

6) When Maximum Security was DQ’d at the Kentucky Derby Saturday, a woman from Ohio lost out on a $186,000 prize she would’ve won via a promotion through Rocket Mortgage.

5) Georgia Bulldogs have five top 100 recruits coming to Athens in the fall, so they figure to be a vastly improved team next season.

4) Start of Monday’s Giants-Reds game was delayed 18 minutes because of a swarm of bees that gathered near the seats behind home plate.

Giants-Reds split the four-game series, despite Cincinnati outscoring the Giants 24-2 in the first three innings of the four games.

3) College basketball transfer portal:
— James Bolden jumps from West Virginia to Alabama.
— Nevada poached Desmond Cambridge (15.7 ppg) from Brown.
— Marquette poached grad transfer Jayce Johnson (7.1 ppg) from Utah.

2) Get well soon to Mets’ broadcaster/former pitcher Ron Darling, who was diagnosed with treatable thyroid cancer recently. He is expected to return to TV sometime next month.

1) A’s 2, Reds 0— Mike Fiers threw a 131-pitch no-hitter as Oakland gets a much-needed win, coming off a 1-8 road trip. Fiers also threw a no-hitter for Houston four years ago.

Start of the game was delayed 1:45 by a lighting problem in LF.

51 years ago tonight, May 8, 1968, Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game for the A’s against Minnesota; he also knocked in three of the A’s runs in their 4-0 win.

**Udog** · 05-08-2019, 08:08 AM

**Udog** · 05-08-2019, 08:11 AM

Wednesday's Game 7 Notes

The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs will have another Game 7 on Wednesday as the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks meet from the SAP Center.

The home team has gone 4-2 through the first six games of this best-of-seven series.

San Jose opened as a minus-140 favorite for Game 7 while Colorado is a plus-120 underdog.

The 'over/under' was installed at 5.5 for Wednesday and the 'over' has gone 3-2-1 through the first six games, with four outcomes ending with more than six combined goals.

Neither team has won consecutive games in this series, which is good news for San Jose, who has posted a 5-2 record at the SAP Center this postseason.

Recent Game 7 History

The last time the Sharks and Avalanche met for a Game 7 came back in the 2002 semfinals as Colorado edged San Jose, 1-0 at home.

Colorado (4-6 All-Time Record)
2014 First Round - Colorado 4 vs. Minnesota 5 (OT)

San Jose (7-3 All-Time Record)
2019 First Round - San Jose 5 vs. Vegas 4 (OT)
2016 Second Round - San Jose 5 vs. Nashville 0

NHL Game 7 Playoff History (2012-2019)

Including the four games from the 2019 first round, there have been 174 all-time Game 7’s in the NHL Playoffs and the home squad owns a 101-73 (58%) record.

Last year, road teams went 2-1 in Game 7's and the visitors scored 14 goals in those games which led to a 2-1 'over' mark.

The 'over' is 3-1 in three Game 7's this season.

2019
Dallas 1 at St. Louis 2 (OT)
Toronto 1 at Boston 5
Vegas 4 at San Jose 5 (OT)
Carolina 4 at Washington 3 (OT)

2018
Washington Capitals 4 at Tampa Bay Lightning 0
Winnipeg Jets 5 at Nashville Predators 1
Toronto Maple Leafs 4 at Boston Bruins 7

2017
Pittsburgh Penguins 2 at Washington Capitals 0
Edmonton Oilers 1 at Anaheim Ducks 2

2016
Tampa Bay Lightning 1 at Pittsburgh Penguins 2
Nashville Predators 0 at San Jose Sharks 5
St. Louis Blues 6 at Dallas Stars 1
Nashville Predators 2 at Anaheim Ducks 1
Chicago Blackhawks 2 at St. Louis Blues 3

2015
Tampa Bay Lightning 2 at New York Rangers 0
Chicago Blackhawks 5 at Anaheim Ducks 3
New York Rangers 2 at Washington Capitals 1
Tampa Bay Lightning 2 at Detroit Red Wings 0
Washington Capitals 2 at New York Islanders 1

2014
Los Angeles Kings 5 at Chicago Blackhawks 4 (OT)
Los Angeles Kings 6 at Anaheim Ducks 2
Montreal Canadiens 3 at Boston Bruins 1
New York Rangers 2 at Pittsburgh Penguins 1
Philadelphia Flyers 3 at New York Rangers 4
Minnesota Wild 5 at Colorado Avalanche 4
Los Angeles Kings 5 at San Jose Sharks 1

2013
New York Rangers 5 at Washington Capitals 0
Toronto Maple Leafs 4 at Boston Bruins 5 (OT)
Detroit Red Wings 3 at Anaheim Ducks 2
Detroit Red Wings 1 at Chicago Blackhawks 2 (OT)
San Jose Sharks 1 at Los Angeles Kings 2

2012
Ottawa Senators 1 at New York Rangers 2
Washington Capitals 2 at Boston Bruins 1 (OT)
New Jersey Devils 3 at Florida Panthers 2 (2OT)
Washington Capitals 1 at New York Rangers 2

**Udog** · 05-08-2019, 08:26 AM

27Colorado -28 San Jose
COLORADO is 26-33 ATS (-16.5 Units) against poor defensive teams - allowing 2.85+ goals/game in the current season.

NHL
Dunkel

Wednesday, May 8

Colorado @ San Jose

Game 27-28
May 8, 2019 @ 9:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Colorado
10.599
San Jose
12.071
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
San Jose
by 1 1/2
5
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
San Jose
-135
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
San Jose
(-135); Under

NHL
Long Sheet

Wednesday, May 8

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COLORADO (45-34-0-14, 104 pts.) at SAN JOSE (53-32-0-10, 116 pts.) - 5/8/2019, 9:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
COLORADO is 19-55 ATS (+107.6 Units) in road games second half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
COLORADO is 12-22 ATS (-13.2 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.
SAN JOSE is 231-165 ATS (-42.8 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a losing record since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
SAN JOSE is 9-5 (+3.1 Units) against the spread versus COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
SAN JOSE is 9-5-0 straight up against COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
9 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+5.7 Units)

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NHL

Wednesday, May 8

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Trend Report
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Colorado Avalanche
Colorado is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games
Colorado is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games
Colorado is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Colorado is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Colorado's last 13 games on the road
Colorado is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games when playing San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 14 of Colorado's last 19 games when playing San Jose
Colorado is 2-18 SU in its last 20 games when playing on the road against San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Colorado's last 6 games when playing on the road against San Jose
San Jose Sharks
San Jose is 7-18 ATS in its last 25 games
San Jose is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games
San Jose is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing Colorado
The total has gone OVER in 14 of San Jose's last 19 games when playing Colorado
San Jose is 18-2 SU in its last 20 games when playing at home against Colorado
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Jose's last 6 games when playing at home against Colorado

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**Udog** · 05-08-2019, 10:50 AM

Avalanche vs Sharks NHL betting picks and predictions: Bet Sharks to take final bite in Game 7
Monty Andrews

Home-ice advantage has been incredibly value in recent Game 7s, with the home team winning eight of the previous 12, including three of four so far in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.

There's only one spot up for grabs in the NHL's final four – and it'll go to either the Colorado Avalanche or the San Jose Sharks, who will tangle in Game 7 Wednesday night at SAP Center. Colorado blew a lead late in regulation but still forced a seventh and deciding game as Gabriel Landeskog scored 2:32 into overtime to secure a 4-3 Avalanche victory in Game 6. The team that wins Wednesday night will face the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference final, with the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes squaring off in the Eastern Conference final.

COLORADO AVALANCHE AT SAN JOSE SHARKS (-140, 5.5)

QUICK-HITTER

Has familiarity or caution played a role in these teams tightening up the first-period defense? It's hard to say which is the greater factor, but whatever the case, the Avalanche and Sharks haven't done much of anything in the opening period of their past three games, with zero goals scored in the opening 20 minutes over that stretch. And the scoring chances have diminished over that span, as well, with the teams combining for 22 first-period shots on goal in Game 4, 18 in Game 5 and just 16 in Game 6. We like these teams to keep the trend alive and slide under the first-period goal total.

PREDICTION: Under 1.5 first-period goals (+100)

PERIOD BET

While these teams have combined to score just five first-period goals in the series, they've been much more prolific over the final two periods, scoring 14 second-period goals and adding 13 tallies over the final 20 minutes of regulation. Four of the six games in the series have featured three or more goals in a period, and that streak extends to 10 of the past 12 meetings overall when you include the regular season. With things expected to tighten up in the third period – as most Game 7s do – we favor taking the second period as the highest-scoring frame in this one.

PREDICTION: Highest-scoring period: Period 2 (+250)

TEAM/PLAYER BET

In games that are expected to be close, there's a compelling argument to be made for expecting the team to prevail to also be the team that scores the final goal. In five of the six games of the series, the team scoring last has won the game, with only San Jose's goal with 11 seconds remaining in a 4-3 defeat in Game 2 keeping the teams from a spotless record. The Sharks have scored the final goal in four of the six games so far – and while we're spoiling the next prop somewhat, we like the home side to make it five of seven Wednesday night against the Avalanche.

PREDICTION: Team to score last: Sharks (-135)

FULL-GAME TOTAL

While it's tempting to suggest that Game 7s equal defensive slogs, that simply hasn't been the case in recent years, with five of the previous seven having produced six or more goals. As stated above, these teams can put the puck in the net – and have had all sorts of trouble preventing teams from doing the same, despite the low-scoring results from Games 4 and 5. The Sharks have scored five goals in each of their previous Game 7s, and are averaging four goals per game at home in the postseason. It might take an empty-netter to get there, but we're leaning toward the O5.5.

PREDICTION: Over 5.5 (-120)

FULL-GAME SIDE

You can't put much stock in past results, particularly ones that stretch beyond a few years – but it is notable that the home side has won 28 of the previous 35 regular-season encounters between the clubs. And the host team has been the superior side of late, winning each of the past three games. Both teams boast high-powered offenses and inconsistent goaltending – but home-ice advantage has been incredibly value in recent Game 7s, with the home team winning eight of the previous 12 (including three of four so far in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs). The smart money is on the Sharks.

PREDICTION: Sharks -140

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Wednesday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/8

Wednesday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/8

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