Announcement

**Udog** · 08-09-2020, 09:52 AM

Armadillo: Sunday's six-pack

Odds to make the NFL playoffs this fall:
— Cowboys yes -260, no +220
— Broncos yes +170, no -190
— Lions yes +270, no -330
— Packers yes -130, no +110
— Texans yes +175, no -200
— Colts yes -200, no +175

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 162,038
Please wear a mask when you go out.

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Armadillo: Sunday's Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind……..

13) Mavericks 136, Bucks 132 OT— NBA games down in Orlando have been better than most people thought they would be, highly competitive games, solid entertainment.

Dallas bench outscored Milwaukee’s 37-22; Luka Doncic scored 36 for Dallas, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 34 for the Bucks.

12) Cubs-Cardinals was supposed to be the Sunday night ESPN game tonight, but since that series was cancelled, MLB moved Indians-White Sox into that primetime slot.

11) The new extra innings rule they’re using this season puts a lot of pressure on hitters to deliver in the clutch, you can just sense it watching the games. Sacrifice bunting is a bad play, I think; you can’t make an out on purpose in that situation. My idea is that hitting the ball to the right side to get the runner to third base has a much higher upside.

10) Major league rosters dropped from 30 guys to 28 on Thursday, which is where they’ll stay for the rest of the season. Originally they were going to go down to 26 players on August 20, but that’s not going to happen.

9) 76ers’ guard Ben Simmons is having knee surgery after he dislocated his kneecap earlier this week. Big loss for Philadelphia; he is a great passer.

8) Cleveland Indians had a great draft in 2016; Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac, all solid members of their starting rotation now.

7) Mid-American Conference cancelled football for this fall, an ominous sign for the future of college football this fall. Once the big-money schools cancelled their non-conference games, that meant a lot of big paydays for MAC teams went down the drain, so it became fiscally irresponsible to play this season.

As former Giants’ GM George Young said a long time ago, “When you’re wondering what its about, remember, its always about the money”

6) Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich had a weird game the other night; he walked four times and had an inside-the-park home run. I’m guessing not too many guys have done that in the same game.

5) Veteran OF Nick Markakis hit a walk-off for the Braves in his first game back for Atlanta, after originally opting out of this season.

4) If you’re on Twitter, you should follow former NBA player Rex Chapman; he comes up with some of the best videos out there and it is uplifting, funny stuff.

3) Weird how the Miami Marlins have won two World Series, but have never won a division title. Marlins’ schedule is now heavily backloaded; they’re scheduled to play four twinbills in a 10-day span in September, to make up all the games they’ve missed.

2) A strange baseball streak ended this week, when the Bronx Bombers lost 5-4 in Philly Thursday. It ended New York’s 10-game winning streak when Will Little was umpiring home plate in one of their games.

Jed Lowrie has been in the major leagues for 13 years; the only game he was ever thrown out of was an Oakland-Bronx game a few years ago when Little worked his magic behind the plate on a Saturday afternoon.

1) Funny thing, when I had my cataract surgery Tuesday, they ask you the same questions several times. One of the questions they asked was “How is your blood pressure?”

The 3rd or 4th time they asked me Tuesday, I finally smiled and said that my blood pressure is fine, unless the A’s or Rams are losing. The nurse gave me an odd look ��

**Udog** · 08-09-2020, 09:54 AM

NHL public betting, line movement for August 9
Patrick Everson

Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs needed a Game 4 miracle to stay alive in their best-of-five qualifying round series against the Blue Jackets. Now, Toronto is a -150 favorite for Sunday's Game 5.

NHL betting odds are up for another slimmed-down schedule, as the 24-team original bubble field gets whittled down to 16. There are two round-robin matchups Sunday, but more important, a Game 5 between the eighth-seeded Toronto Maple Leafs and ninth-seeded Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference qualifying round.

Caesars sportsbooks provided insights on NHL opening lines and early line movement, sharp money and public betting for Sunday’s contests.

NHL line movement

The Maple Leafs needed an incredible effort late in Game 4 to reach Sunday’s 8 p.m. ET winner-take-all game. Trailing 3-0, Toronto scored three goals in the final four minutes, then won 4-3 on a goal 13 minutes into overtime. Caesars opened the Maple Leafs -150 favorites, with the Blue Jackets at +135.

In an Eastern Conference seeding game, the Boston Bruins opened -125 to the Washington Capitals’ +110 in a noon ET puck drop. And the St. Louis Blues are -135 to the Dallas Stars’ +120 in a Western Conference seeding game with a 3 p.m. ET start.

There was no line movement in any of those games at Caesars books by late Saturday night.

NHL public betting

Consensus provides a window into how the public is betting, and the early lean is on the Maple Leafs, playing in the “home” bubble in Toronto. The Leafs were landing 59 percent of picks vs. the Blue Jackets.

The Capitals were getting 62 percent of picks against the Bruins, and the Blues were the biggest Consensus play, drawing 70 percent of picks against the Stars.

**Udog** · 08-09-2020, 09:59 AM

21COLUMBUS -22 TORONTO
COLUMBUS are 70-56 ATS (15.9 Units) against good offensive teams - averaging 29.5+ shots on goal per game over the last 2 seasons.

23DALLAS -24 ST LOUIS
DALLAS are 10-1 ATS (8.9 Units) when playing with 3 or more days rest over the last 2 seasons.

31BOSTON -32 WASHINGTON
BOSTON is 26-13 ATS (13.3 Units) in road games against good offensive teams - scoring 2.85+ goals/game - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

NHL
Dunkel

Sunday, August 9

Boston @ Washington

Game 31-32
August 9, 2020 @ 12:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Boston
12.402
Washington
10.564
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Boston
by 2
4
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Boston
-135
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Boston
(-135); Under

Dallas @ St. Louis

Game 23-24
August 9, 2020 @ 3:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Dallas
11.906
St. Louis
10.808
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Dallas
by 1
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
St. Louis
-140
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Dallas
(+120); Over

Columbus @ Toronto

Game 21-22
August 9, 2020 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Columbus
10.659
Toronto
12.180
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Toronto
by 1 1/2
5
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Toronto
-145
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Toronto
(-145); Under

NHL
Long Sheet

Sunday, August 9

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COLUMBUS (34-24-0-16, 84 pts.) at TORONTO (39-26-0-9, 87 pts.) - 8/9/2020, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
COLUMBUS is 9-2 ATS (+6.9 Units) in road games on Sunday games over the last 3 seasons.
COLUMBUS is 12-5 ATS (+17.0 Units) after playing 3 consecutive road games over the last 2 seasons.
TORONTO is 39-35 ATS (+80.8 Units) in all games this season.
TORONTO is 2-7 ATS (-10.8 Units) on Sunday games over the last 2 seasons.
TORONTO is 164-162 ATS (-37.1 Units) in home games after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game since 1996.
TORONTO is 79-115 ATS (-37.7 Units) after a 3 game unbeaten streak since 1996.
TORONTO is 44-37 ATS (-11.9 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 2 seasons.
TORONTO is 20-20 ATS (-16.3 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
TORONTO is 7-5-0 straight up against COLUMBUS over the last 3 seasons
6 of 10 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+1.7 Units)

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DALLAS (37-26-0-8, 82 pts.) vs. ST LOUIS (42-21-0-10, 94 pts.) - 8/9/2020, 3:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DALLAS is 4-11 ATS (-11.0 Units) on Sunday games over the last 2 seasons.
ST LOUIS is 59-40 ATS (+6.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
ST LOUIS is 34-22 ATS (+9.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 10-1 ATS (+8.8 Units) when playing with 3 or more days rest over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 268-179 ATS (+54.8 Units) after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game since 1996.
DALLAS is 239-166 ATS (+35.3 Units) after scoring 1 goal or less in their previous game since 1996.
DALLAS is 232-253 ATS (+537.9 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.
ST LOUIS is 1-10 ATS (-9.3 Units) in road games after allowing 4 goals or more this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
ST LOUIS is 11-10-0 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
10 of 18 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+1.2 Units)

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BOSTON (44-16-0-12, 100 pts.) vs. WASHINGTON (41-21-0-9, 91 pts.) - 8/9/2020, 12:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
WASHINGTON is 29-14 ATS (+13.2 Units) in road games after a division game over the last 3 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 35-18 ATS (+54.9 Units) in road games revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 3 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 29-11 ATS (+15.0 Units) after scoring 1 goal or less in their previous game over the last 3 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 43-32 ATS (+0.1 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 3 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 26-19 ATS (+47.5 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
BOSTON is 227-252 ATS (+534.6 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
WASHINGTON is 7-2 (+5.3 Units) against the spread versus BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
WASHINGTON is 7-2-0 straight up against BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
4 of 8 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-0.3 Units, Under=-0.6 Units)

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NHL

Sunday, August 9

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Trend Report
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Boston @ Washington
Boston
Boston is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Boston's last 7 games
Washington
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games at home
Washington is 16-2 SU in its last 18 games when playing Boston

Dallas @ St. Louis
Dallas
Dallas is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Dallas's last 5 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis's last 5 games when playing at home against Dallas

Columbus @ Toronto
Columbus
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Columbus's last 5 games on the road
Columbus is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Toronto
Toronto
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Toronto's last 8 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Toronto's last 7 games

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Announcement

Sunday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 8/9

Sunday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 8/9

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