Total Annihilation - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NHL 10* Top Play OVER the total in Edmonton Oilers vs Toronto Maple Leafs @ 8:05 ET - Why did this total open up at a 6.5 and not a 6? Really it is strange because the Oilers have not even scored a goal in the last two games and yet the odds makers still hung a 6.5 on this one. Exactly! As long-time followers know, I am a contrarian and I feel strongly that, in this case, we are going to see a barnburner tonight when many are least expecting it. The Maple Leafs and Oilers are two of the highest scoring teams in the league and Edmonton can not keep getting shutdown on their home ice. They will bounce back. The Oilers are likely to get another shot tonight at Toronto's #3 goalie, Michael Hutchinson, and they will take advantage after he surprisingly shut them out Monday. Here is how I see this one playing out...the Leafs have scored at least 3 goals in all 10 of their road games this season. But I do not see the Oilers being denied again in this game. I could see the game going either way in terms of the side but Edmonton is going to battle hard and get their 3 goals here too. A 3-3 game can not end with anything less than a 4-3 final. This one goes over the total as result. Prior to these back to back shutout losses to the Maple Leafs, the Oilers had averaged scoring 3.6 goals per game in the 5 most recent meetings with Toronto. Also, Edmonton had averaged scoring 4 goals per game this season in a 16-game stretch that preceded these rare back to back shutouts for the Oilers. They'll get back on track tonight. 10* OVER the total in Edmonton

NBCSN Blowout Rout - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NHL Rotation #12 Wednesday 8* Boston Bruins Money Line (-) vs Washington Capitals @ 7:05 ET - This is a huge battle between two of the top teams in the East Division standings. Even though the Caps are in the top spot they have played two more games than Boston. Also, the Capitals have lost 4 of 9 road games. Note that the Bruins have lost just 1 of 6 home games so far this season. Even though the teams have split their two games this season, Boston outshot Washington by a combined margin of 76 to 49 in those two meetings and plus those games were at DC. The Bruins, on home ice, are absolutely worth the price here. 8* BOSTON

Earliest Dominator - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NBA Rotation #532 Wednesday 10* Top Play Cleveland Cavaliers (+) vs Indiana Pacers @ 7:05 ET - The Pacers are on a 4-game SU and ATS losing streak while the Cavaliers have won and covered 4 straight. Of course Indiana would love to reverse this trend but this is Cleveland's last game before the All-Star break and they are hungry to keep the winning going and enter the break on a 5-game run. The Pacers have their home finale before the break on deck for tomorrow so this situation favors the Cavs in my opinion. Cleveland had a horrific losing streak going before starting this win streak and they do not want to lose that winning feeling right before the break. They will go all out here and if they do fall short look for it to be by only a bucket or two. The Pacers are just 3-9 SU their last dozen games and one of the wins was by just 6 points. That said, I love the valuable with the sizable home dog in this one. 10* CLEVELAND 

Big East Game of the Year - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CBB Rotation #669 Wednesday 10* Top Play Connecticut Huskies (-) @ Seton Hall Pirates @ 6:30 ET - The set up here is perfect. The Huskies are on the road so we get line value. Connecticut is playing with revenge for a home loss to the Pirates last month. Also, the Huskies now have leading scorer James Bouknight back and they did not have him for the first game versus Seton Hall. Since Bouknight has returned to the lineup UConn has lost only once and that was to Villanova, the top team in the Big East. As for Seton Hall, they enter this game struggling badly as they have lost back to back games including an ugly loss at Butler. The Bulldogs are not a very good team and the Pirates lost to them by 9 as an 8 point favorite! Overall, Seton Hall is on an 0-4 ATS run while the Huskies enter this game on a 4-1 SU and ATS run which includes 3 of 4 since Bouknight returned with the only loss being at the hands of a very strong Villanova team as noted above. Bouknight is definitely the star of the Huskies and they are 8-2 SU in the games he has played in this season with the only other loss being a 2-point loss in OT versus Creighton when the Bluejays were ranked 9th in the nation! Bouknight has been on the floor for only 2 Big East losses this season and those came against the two best teams in the conference. Seton Hall certainly does not fall into that category and I look for the Huskies to roll to a road rout in this one behind another huge game from Bouknight as they get their revenge. 10* CONNECTICUT

Daytime Dominator - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach EPL Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER 2.5 goals in Crystal Palace vs Manchester United @ 3:15 ET - Both clubs enter off scoreless draws. For Manchester United it came against Chelsea so was not totally unexpected considering how they have been stifling teams. However, it continued a long-term trend for Manchester United in terms of just not being able to score goals against top-level competition. That said, they are still averaging scoring 2 goals per match this season. Of course what that means is Manchester United is generally scoring plenty when they face non-top tier teams. With this also being a revenge match against Crystal Palace, I don't expect Manchester United to show any mercy here. That means we could see them score at least 3 and get this one over the total all by themselves. However, don't be surprised if Crystal Palace contributes some here too. They have seen their star, Wilfried Zaha, return to training recently and though he is still expected to miss this one it is giving an emotional boost to the club. Also, Crystal Palace saw 5 of their 7 matches, prior to the scoreless draw most recently, all finish with at least 3 goals scored. That trend quickly resumes here as the hosts are scoring an average of 1 goal per match this season but I certainly expect Manchester United to exact revenge here so we should be looking at a 2-1 final here at a minimum. Truly 4 or more goals expected here though based on how I see this fixture playing out. 10* OVER 2.5 goals in Crystal Palace

Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach EPL Wednesday Free Pick Aston Villa +114 @ Sheffield United @ 1 ET - When playing one of the two sides in the 3-way money line of course the last thing you want is a draw. Good news here is that these two clubs have had fewer draws than any others in the league. Aston Villa has had only 3 draws in 24 matches and Sheffield United has had just 2 draws in 26 matches. With, generally speaking, neither club content to share the spoils lets talk about who gets the victory here. The better club is on the road here and that means line value to the extreme! I will take it! Aston Villa has 7 victories on enemy pitch this season while Sheffield United has just 2 victories (against 10 defeats!) on their home pitch in this campaign. Free Pick Aston Villa +114