Flyers vs Rangers NHL Handicapping
As recently as a couple of months ago, the NHL’s Metropolitan division was the undisputed laughing stock of the league. Aside from the Pittsburgh Penguins, all the division’s other teams were playing horrendously.
As recently as a couple of months ago, the NHL’s Metropolitan division was the undisputed laughing stock of the league. Aside from the Pittsburgh Penguins, all the division’s other teams were playing horrendously.
The Anaheim Ducks head out on the road Wednesday night to takes on a surprisingly good Calgary Flames team – the same Calgary squad that beat the Ducks 7-2 at home two weeks ago.
The Grizzlies are playing some really good basketball right now. They are 13-5 since the All-Star break and have climbed all the way to seventh in the West standings. Phoenix, Dallas and them are separated by just a half game but only two of those three can make the playoffs.
These two teams are like that kid that gets accepted into his or her first choice of college; once that acceptance letter is retrieved out of your mailbox, it’s party time and to hell with the consequences.
Nuggets are 32-39 ATS with an O/U record of 35-36 and the Spurs are 38-32 ATS with an O/U record of 40-29-1. This season the Spurs are 27-8 at home and the Nuggets are 13-23 on the road.
The Toronto Raptors end a brief two-game road trip at TD Garden on Wednesday night where they will take on the Boston Celtics. Toronto has dropped four of its last five games, while Boston has dropped 13 of its last 17 games.
Dayton is 19-12 ATS with an O/U record of 16-14 and Stanford is 19-12-2 ATS with an O/U record of 14-18-1. In their last games Stanford beat Kansas 60-57 and Dayton beat Syracuse 55-53.
The NBA kicks off the New Year with five matchups on Wednesday’s slate.
Both of these teams were in the playoffs a year ago but both are 0-1 heading into week 2 and in trouble. Whichever team exits 0-2 is going to be really behind the eightball to make it back to the playoffs and both play in competitive divisions.
Minnesota is on the road for yet another divisional game. Last week they lost at Detroit and a loss this week would be especially damaging because it would drop them to 0-2 and two games behind at least Chicago in the NFC North.
Buffalo almost started the Doug Marrone/E.J. Manuel era with a surprising win over the Pats last week while the Panthers almost smothered the hype around the Seahawks.
Things didn’t go the way the Atlanta Falcons planned in their opener against New Orleans. They didn’t play that terribly poorly but the result was the same, they just have trouble beating the Saints in that building and it looks like having Sean Payton on the sidelines is going to make a difference for New Orleans.
Every team in the AFC North lost their opening game last week but not all of those losses were of equal concern. Baltimore went into Denver with the best of intentions but didn’t have an answer for Broncos QB Peyton Manning, it looks like few will this season.
This is definitely not among the marquee matchups but based on the oddmakers outlook it looks like everyone is expecting a very close contest between these two teams to start the season.
NFC North divisional battle to start the season for both of these clubs with different sets of expectations based on last year’s performance.
Though it is not a feature game in terms of television this should be one of the better contests of the opening week. Cincinnati enters the season on the hunt for a third straight visit to the postseason while Chicago is looking to quickly erase last year’s second half collapse.