7* Pittsburgh (8:05 ET): One would surmise that the Penguins are likely to even this series back up after a surprising overtime loss in Game 1. It was a tough loss to take as the Pens outshot the Canadiens 41-35 and were just 1 for 7 on the power play including coming up empty on THREE different 5 on 3 chances. That’s a game they should have won and obviously falling into an 0-2 hole in a best of five series is something that must be avoided at all costs. 

Montreal is lucky to even be in the postseason as they are seeded 12th and had seven fewer points than every other Eastern Conference club in the field. As we saw in Game 1, Carey Price gives them a shot, but I just don’t think he can carry them to victory over a superior side like the Penguins. The Habs were outscored over the course of this season and were basically a .500 team in regulation. 

It remains to be seen who Pittsburgh goes with in goal here, but it’s worth mentioning that Tristan Jarry had a better save percentage than Price this year. Assuming they get a similar number of opportunities, I don’t think we’re going to see the Penguins whiff like they did Saturday. They’ve still won 7 of their last 10 vs. Montreal. 7* Pittsburgh

10* Tampa Bay (4:05 ET): The Lightning were just starting to hit their stride when the coronavirus hit. They were inching closer to Boston for the top spot in the Atlantic and had the 2nd most points in the entire Eastern Conference. They also had the best goal differential in the league (+50) besides the Bruins. Washington, who had 90 points, outscored its opponents by basically only half that margin and wasn’t looking nearly as dominant. I’m looking for a statement win by TB here today. 

Now the Lightning did lose all three times they faced the Capitals this year. But all three games were played before X-Mas, prior to when TB really started to get its act together. Washington has goaltending concerns heading into the tournament as Braden Holtby has no backup. That would be fine if Holtby was having a good season, but his save percentage this year was down under .900. As a reminder, the Lightning led the league in goals scored.

Tampa looked dominant in a tuneup vs. Florida last week, winning 5-0. Their top line looked sharp and that has to be scary for the rest of the league. Andrei Vasilevskiy had another strong campaign between the pipes, so the Lightning are fine there. This is a really good value on the superior side. 10* Tampa Bay

10* Cincinnati (6:40 ET): The Reds played a doubleheader on Sunday, but with such games now limited to just seven innings, that’s not the kind of disadvantage it would normally be. Plus, they swept the twinbill, beating the Tigers 4-3 and 4-0. It was the best day of the season so far for the Reds, who are now 4-5 after coming into 2020 with much hype, tabbed by many (including me) as a potential dark horse in the National League. They’ll return home Monday to host an Indians team that is really struggling at the plate. 

Cleveland lost 3-1 Sunday, the fifth consecutive game they were held to two runs or fewer. They’ve been shutout twice (including Saturday) and scored a grand total of four runs during the five games. Obviously, that’s never good, but today the Tribe will run into a red hot starter in Sonny Gray, who is 2-0 for Cincinnati w/ a 0.72 ERA and 0.552 WHIP. Gray had 11 K’s in his last start and allowed just one hit in 6 ⅔ IP. He’s now allowed six or less hits in 35 consecutive starts.

Not all the news has been good for the Reds over the L24 hours. Joey Votto is likely to sit this out after self-reporting COVID-19 symptoms. But considering Votto was 0 for 9 at the plate the L3 games, maybe that’s not too big of a loss. The Reds came into yday averaging 5.6 rpg, which is near the top of the league. Cleveland starter Zach Plesac is off his own impressive outing w/ 11 K’s, but the Indians still lost the game due to not scoring. I just don’t think the Indians will have enough offense to compete tonight. 10* Cincinnati

10* Over Lakers/Jazz (9:05 ET): We’ve seen some high-scoring games so far in Orlando, but both the Lakers and Jazz are 2-0 to the Under. After squeaking out a 103-101 win over the Clippers, the Lakers were held to just 92 points in a 15-point loss to the Raptors. Utah’s first two games followed a similar script. First they came from behind to defeat New Orleans 106-104 (a game we had the Under), then they were held to 94 pts in a DD loss to OKC on Saturday. I expect both teams to bounce back offensively tonight. 

The Lakers haven’t shot well as they’ve been held below 40% from the field in both games. They were at 48.1% in the regular season, so it’s quite realistic to expect an improvement in this area moving forward. Toronto, who is excellent defensively, held the Lakers to just 35.4% and 10 of 40 from 3-pt range. LeBron James & Anthony Davis combined for only 34 pts. Obviously all of these numbers should go up tonight. 

Utah was almost as miserable vs. OKC, getting held below 40% shooting for the game. A 15-point 1Q really did them in and they never really recovered. It was the second straight game that the Jazz fell behind by double digits in the first half. They clearly miss second leading scorer Bojan Bogdanovic and his 20.2 PPG, but leading scorer Donovan Mitchell had just 13 pts vs. the Thunder and that number will improve tonight. This is a low total that I expect to go Over. 10* Over Lakers/Jazz

8* New Orleans (6:30 ET): The Grizzlies meet the Pelicans Monday in a KEY matchup. Both teams are 0-2 since the restart and fighting for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Memphis played yesterday, losing by two to the Spurs, which puts them at a distinct disadvantage for tonight’s matchup. They will be the first team since the restart to play on B2B days (Spurs also play later tonight). 

The Pelicans have been one of the bigger disappointments thus far. They were flat out embarrassed Saturday night by the Clippers in a 126-103 loss. They trailed at one point by as many as 42 points. Zion Williamson’s playing time been restricted, which could be the case again tonight, as the #1 overall DC has played a total of just 29 minutes. Trailing the Grizzlies by 3.5 games in the standings and needing to jump two teams (Spurs, Blazers), the importance of tonight’s game seems not lost on the Pelicans players. "This is basically a must-win game for us," said Lonzo Ball. 

It’s worth mentioning that in their first game, NO led Utah by as many as 16 pts before falling apart down the stretch. Memphis only lost by 2 pts yday, but was down by 11 in the second half. Not only is this a 2nd night of a B2B for the Grizzlies, they also played an OT game on Friday. New Orleans was 2-0 SU/ATS vs. Memphis in the regular season, averaging 132.5 PPG. Memphis has the 3rd lowest offensive efficiency rating of the 22 teams invited to Orlando. 8* New Orleans