Sports Handicapper Bobby Conn's Picks & Predictions

100* Sharp Money Syndicate Play on Pelicans -3 -109

The Suns (9-11) have let their strong start to the season slip away. Tonight, they’ll be on the road to take on the Pelicans (6-15) in New Orleans.

Since winning five of their first seven games, Phoenix has fallen back down to earth. More recently, the Suns have lost four of their last five and seven of their last nine. Phoenix has allowed 120 points or more in five of those seven losses.

On average, the Suns are scoring 114.4 points while allowing 113.3 points per game.

In their past five games, Phoenix’ leading scorer hasn’t been able to put up more than 27 points. Devin Booker continues to lead the Suns with 24.1 points per game.

The Pelicans have won only six games this season, but four of them have come at home. New Orleans has lost six games in a row, but they’ve recently faced a particularly difficult schedule, and have lost four of those games by eight points or fewer.

On average, the Pelicans are scoring 113.7 points while allowing 118.8 points per game.

Brandon Ingram and Jrue Holiday remain consistent scorers for new Orleans. Ingram is scoring 25.4 points and Holiday is adding 19.3 points per game.

100* Sharp Money Syndicate Play on Northern Illinois +15 -110

The St. Mary’s Gaels (8-1) have only suffered a single loss on the season. The visiting Northern Illinois Huskies (6-2) will attempt to hand the Gaels their second defeat.

After starting off the season with back-to-back losses against Northern Iowa and Iowa State, Northern Illinois has won six in a row. On that streak, the Huskies have scored at least 81 points on three occasions. Northern Illinois has also held three opponents to 50 points or fewer.

On average, the Huskies are scoring 72 points while allowing 61.8 points per game.

Northern Illinois only has three players scoring nine points a game or more, but they have one very talented scorer in Eugene German. On the season, German is averaging 21.4 points a game while shooting 37.9% from beyond the arc.

St. Mary’s kicked off the season with a two-point overtime win against Wisconsin before falling to Winthrop. Since then, the Gaels have won seven in a row. However, five of their seven wins have come by 11 points or fewer, and St. Mary’s is giving Northern Illinois 15 points tonight.

On average, the Gaels are scoring 76.9 points while allowing 61.6 points per game.

After St. Mary’s top three scorers, no player is averaging more than 7.8 points per game. Jordan Ford leads the way with 21.1 points per contest.

50* Powerhouse Play on Flyers -145

Both the Coyotes (16-9-4, 36 points) and Flyers (16-7-5, 37 points) are in the top three of their respective divisions. Tonight, they’ll face off against one another in Philadelphia.

Arizona has proven themselves to be a strong squad, but they’ve lost two of their last three and three of their last five games. While giving up four goals in two of those three losses, the Coyotes have managed only two goals or fewer in two of their last three contests.

On average, the Coyotes are scoring 2.69 goals per game (23rd) while allowing 2.31 goals per game (2nd).

Center Nick Schmaltz leads this Arizona team with 20 points, but he’s scored only five goals on the season. Right winger Conor Garland is tops on the squad with 10 goals scored.

Philadelphia has surged up the Metropolitan rankings with five straight wins. The Flyers won two of those contests by a score of 6-1. Meanwhile, Philly has allowed two goals or fewer in four of those five victories.

On average, the Flyers are scoring 3.14 goals per game (11th) while allowing 2.64 goals per game (6th).

Center Travis Konecny leads the Flyers with 27 points on 10 goals and 17 assists. Goaltender Carter Hart is allowing 2.35 goals per game with a .910 save percentage.

1* Free Play on Golden Knights +105

While the Golden Knights (15-11-4, 34 points) struggle to keep up in the Pacific, the Islanders (18-6-2, 38 points) trail only Washington in the Metropolitan. Tonight, these two clubs will face off in New York.

Vegas used an overtime game followed by a shootout game to kick off their current four-game winning streak. One of those four wins came against tonight’s opponent, who they beat by a score of 4-1 in New York. Vegas has scored four goals in three of those four wins.

On average, the Golden Knights are scoring 2.93 goals per game (T-17th) while allowing 2.83 goals per game (12th).

Marc-Andre Fleury has racked up 11 wins for Vegas while allowing 2.54 goals per game with a .919 save percentage. However, Malcolm Subban has played in each of Vegas’ last five games, winning four of them.

Prior to Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to Montreal, the Islanders won a pair of games over Columbus and Detroit. However, New York has now won just two of their last six games. In five of those six games, the Islanders have failed to score more than two goals.

On average, the Islanders are scoring 2.88 goals per game (19th) while allowing 2.42 goals per game (3rd).

Mathew Barzal leads New York in every major offensive category with 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points.

100* Sharp Money Syndicate Play on Wild +177

The Lightning (13-9-3, 29 points) have ramped up their scoring, but remain near the bottom in the Atlantic. Tonight, they’ll host the Wild (13-11-4, 30 points) in Tampa Bay.

Minnesota may be struggling in the Central division, but they’re taking a huge leap in the right direction with four straight wins. While scoring at least three goals in each of those four games, the Wild have held every opponent to two goals.

On average, the Wild are scoring 2.93 goals per game (T-17th) while allowing 3.14 goals per game (21st).

Zach Parise and Jason Zucker lead this Minnesota team on offense with 12 and 10 goals, respectively. Eric Staal has added another eight goals on his way to a tie for the team lead with 19 points.

Prior to Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Nashville, Tampa Bay lost three in a row to Carolina, Washington, and St. Louis. The Lightning could manage no more than three goals in any of those games while allowing four goals in two of the three.

On average, the Lightning are scoring 3.60 goals per game (4th) while allowing 3.24 goals per game (23rd).

Andrei Vasilevskiy has won 10 games from between the pipes, but he’s allowing 2.90 goals per game and owns a .908 save percentage.

100* Sharp Money Syndicate Play on Cowboys/Bears over42½ -110

Through 12 games of the NFL season, both the Cowboys (6-6) and Bears (6-6) are sitting on even records. Tonight, they’ll go head to head in Chicago. The over/under is set at 42.5 points.

If being 6-6 wasn’t average enough, the Cowboys are also 3-3 on the road this year, and have won three of their last six games. Before mediocre offensive performances against New England and Buffalo, Dallas put up 35 points or more in three of the four previous games.

On average, the Cowboys are scoring 26 points per game on 443 yards of offense while allowing 20 points per game on 341 yards.

Quarterback Dak Prescott has thrown for at least 355 yards in three of his last four games, one of which came against a strong Bills defense.

Chicago hasn’t been one of the better offensive teams in the league, but they’ve won three of their past four games by scoring at least 19 points in each. Most recently, the Bears won a 24-20 game over Detroit on Thanksgiving.

On average, the Bears are scoring 18 points per game on 298 yards of offense while allowing 17 points per game on 337 yards.

Mitchell Trubisky is coming off his best game of the season after throwing for 338 yards with three TDs and one pick against the Lions.