Red Light Specials: 1/5 Edition
Greetings friends, countrymen, and other countrymen! Apologies for the long layoff from the RLS. Now that we finally have a packed schedule on a day where the games don’t start at 1 p.m., it’s a perfect time to make some money in the New Year.
Again, sorry for the layoff, guys. As you might expect, last Thursday night/Friday morning was a bit of a rough one, that culminated with more libations during the Rose Bowl (O-H!) and then a busy Saturday of sobering up and reffing kept me from looking at the NHL schedule until four games had started. Sunday and Monday were relatively quiet nights, and that brings us to tonight.
I hope everybody had a tremendous New Year’s holiday. Now let’s start 2010 off on the right foot with tonight’s picks!
NJ -1.5 (+170) v. DAL
A tough night for the spreads as the value simply is not there. Several games feature -1.5’s of less than +160. Not a good night for those. But this one is a good play. The Stars are 1-4-3 in their last eight road games and the Devils have to respond from some criticism from coach Jacques Lemaire.
The Devils are 14-2 ATS against teams with a losing record on the season. The Stars are 0-3 ATS in their first road game following a three-game homestand. That first road game is always a tough one and New Jersey is especially tough.
If sentimental history has any bearing, the Devils are honoring the 2000 Stanley Cup champs before the game. It should fire up the building and start off the 2010 RLS on the right foot.
FLA @ TOR o6 (-110)
Your typical value for spread lines, this one looks like a very solid play. It’s not the value that makes this one look good, it’s the high likelihood of a high-scoring game in ACC. Over Florida’s last seven games against the Leafs, the Panthers have scored 31 goals. Toronto has allowed at least three goals per game over their last six.
Grabovski is a huge loss for the Leafs, but we’re talking about two bad defensive teams. The Panthers have allowed 135 goals and the Leafs have allowed 145.
It profiles to be a wide open game and one that will help pad the stats.
CGY @ NSH u5 (+105)
Calgary has put together four straight unders and the Predators have put two straight in the books. Miikka Kiprusoff has 11 unders in 17 road games to go along with a .942 save percentage. This game has the makings of a 2-1 or 3-1 nail biter.
The two teams have combined for four PPGs over their last 36 chances. The penalty kills have been hot though with a combined 33/37 over their last five games. If special teams will not be effective, goals at even strength will definitely be hard to come by as well.
Sorry again for the layoff, guys, it’s good to be back writing with you. Also GO USA! in WJC tonight.
Best of luck with the bets and enjoy the games.