Sports Handicapper Scott Rickenbach's Picks & Predictions

NHL 10* Colorado -125 - The Stars are off the type of loss that is very tough to bounce back from. Dallas just allowed a very late lead against Vegas to slip away and a 3-1 edge turned into a 5-3 defeat in an inexcusable turn of events. The Stars have had the Avs number and that showed in the regular season meetings between these teams. But Colorado is healthy and hungry and has their eye on earning the #1 seed through this round-robin event after knocking off the defending Stanley Cup Champion Blues in the opener. Colorado didn't even get much production on offense from their top guys and yet still beat St Louis and that says a lot about just how good this Avalanche team is. I look for much more from them in this game Wednesday as they are so hungry for the #1 seed and they want to prove to Dallas that they can top them in case these teams do meet up again in the post-season. I respect the Stars but the situational edges go to the Avs here and that is why this game is priced the way it is. Lay it! 10* COLORADO

NHL 8* Boston -110 - The Bruins looked terrible against the Flyers and need to make up for that with a strong effort here. They also want to make a statement against the Lightning. Tampa Bay held the upper hand in their regular season series this season. Also, these teams could meet in the Eastern Conference post-season once we get past these round-robin seeing games. The Bolts got a tight hard-fought win over the Capitals and could be a little spent here. The Bruins need to make a statement, they have an extra day of rest compared to TB, and they don't want to go stumbling into the true post-season action. They also get Tuukka Rask back between the pipes for this game. All signs point to a much better effort here and they will prove to be the hungrier team. 8* BOSTON

NHL 8* Nashville -125 - The Coyotes have a lot to be concerned about here. This series is 1-1 but the Coyotes went through a stretch of getting outscored 7 to 1 from the 1st game through the 2nd game until they scored two meaningless late goals in Game 2. A bad sign for Arizona is they were down 2-0 after one period in Game 1 and yet still got tremendously outshot the rest of the way. It is apparent that Nashville is starting to flex their muscles in this match-up and that should continue here. While the Predators have two very capable goalies (and this is a back to back spot by the way) the Coyotes only have one healthy netminder right now plus Ariziona has been without their leading scorer after he got hurt in their exhibition game. 8* NASHVILLE 

Divisional Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #954 Wednesday 10* Top Play Tampa Bay Rays Money Line (-) vs Boston Red Sox @ 6:40 ET - The Rays got back on track with a 5-1 win over the Red Sox yesterday. The "home team theme" in Rays games continued as they are 5-1 at home and if you just played the home team in all Tampa Bay games so far this season you are 10-1. I look for this trend to continue Wednesday and will take advantage of the big downward line move on this one. The line went from as high as nearly 180 to now as low as nearly 130 as of early Wednesday morning. I am aware of Margot being put on the bereavement list for the Rays but he wasn't hitting anyway. Also, Tampa got Meadows back just yesterday and he responded with a huge game for them. Things are looking up for TB right now while the slumping Red Sox have lost 4 straight games. Boston's Martin Perez hates Tropicana Field. In 5 appearances there, including 4 starts, he is 1-3 with an 8.39 ERA. As for the Rays Ryan Yarbrough, he is off to a fantastic start this season with a 1.54 ERA and with going at least 5 innings in each start. Also, the Rays have one of the best bullpens in baseball behind him. It all should lead to another home win here. I don't often lay prices but this one offers tremendous line value given the situation as well as the line move. 10* TAMPA BAY

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #951 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Washington Nationals vs New York Mets @ 6:05 ET - If you had the over in this match-up sorry for your bad beat. If you had the under count your lucky stars. The game was 5-3 at the midway point but ended that way. Both teams had 10 hits but the Mets scored just 3 runs courtesy of going 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10 men on base. I know the Nationals Max Scherzer is off a dominating start and is piling up the strikeouts this season but he did allow 4 earned runs in his first regular season start. Also, Scherzer allowed a pair of 3-run bombs to the Phillies in an exhibition game in his start that preceded his start against the Yankees. The Mets are familiar with him and get some runs in this one. The key to the value is we get a low total to work with even though Rick Porcello is on the mound for the Mets. Some are surprised that Porcello hasn't been getting it done on the mound but this is a guy whom had a 5.52 ERA in his 32 starts last season. His better years (2016 was fantastic) are well behind him. Porcello was getting hit hard in spring training back in March and then got hit hard in summer camp too so it comes as no surprise that he is struggling right out of the gate in the 2020 season. More of the same here. 8* OVER the total in Washington

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach NBA Rotation #771 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Orlando Magic vs Toronto Raptors @ 8:05 ET - This total, as of early game day morning, has already made a big downward move from 224.5 to 221.5 in early action on the game. I look for the Magic defense to struggle in a back to back situation and they have allowed an average of 118 points per game in their first three games. But even though they continue to give up piles of points, Orlando is in a battle for a playoff spot and they'll continue to battle hard in that regard. That means they'll have to turn to the offensive end to try and get an upset win here and the Magic are averaging 123 points per game in their first 3 games back. Though the Raptors, one of the top teams in the East, have been involved in a pair of lower-scoring games since the reboot I look for a different story here. The first two games for Toronto were against the Lakers and the Heat and, as a result, were more intense defensive-minded battles. The Raptors have dominated the series with the Magic and could easily overlook them here as a result. The point is a little less defensive intensity and a free-flowing game is likely. In typical contrarian fashion I am fading the early line move here but that is with good reason as explained above. 10* OVER the total in Orlando