Sports Handicapper William Burns's Picks & Predictions

(#57) St. Louis Blues @ (#58) Anaheim Ducks | UNDER | . 

Considering the stakes of this game, I believe that this is going to be quite a matchup on Friday evening. Both teams are off losses, but both are still trying to win as much as possible down the stretch of the season. The Blues are in must-win territory for every single one of their remaining eight games. Both games last year between these sides stayed below the number as well. I like the defenses in a game like this having both had some struggles lately. Expect both teams to fight as much as possible to keep their opponents to a minimum on Friday, ultimately leading to this game staying "under." 

Burns' Prediction: 3-2 Blues.

(#561) New Orleans Pelicans | 1H ATS | . 

While I do know that both of these teams are eliminated from playoff contention, I think that this is a great spot for the Pelicans to knock off the Kings. Sacramento just played a great game against Toronto on Wednesday, winning by eight. Now, even though Sacramento is dead last in the Western Conference, winning too many more games could really decrease its chances of owning a top three pick in this offseason's NBA Draft. On the other hand, the Pelicans don't even own their first round pick this season which makes it pretty meaningless to lose as many games as they can. New Orleans has won three consecutive matchups when these teams have met. Not only that, but Malik Monk is questionable and he's been a big part over the past couple of games for Sac-Town. I'm on New Orleans here to dominate from the opening tip. 

Burns' 1H Prediction: 63-52 Pels.

**1H selection. If not available like here. Take full game. 

(#55) Philadelphia Flyers @ (#56) New York Islanders | OVER | . 

I expect this one to be quite high scoring on Friday evening. The Islanders are currently holding the 3rd position in the Metro Division while the Flyers are two points back of a playoff spots. That makes this game extremely important for both teams. Now, even though that might make you think that a "playoff" type of game like this would see more intensity and defensive efforts, hockey is a bit different as the teams play pretty similar throughout the season opposed to NBA when the teams really start to turn up. Philadelphia has scored at least four goals in four consecutive games played on the road. Not only that, but their most recent one was a 6-4 loss against Washington, who's another team playing for a spot in the playoffs right now. New York needs to bounce back offensively because the goaltending has been extremely poor, allowing 12 goals over its past couple of contests. I expect both teams to find the back of the net at least a couple of times here on Friday. 

Burns' Prediction: 5-3 Islanders. 

(#907) New York Mets | ML | . 

Nolan McLean (0-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. Tyler Mahle (0-1, 4.50 ERA) . 

I'm very big on this Mets starter this season. Nolan McLean was able to pitch for team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Although the States lost both of their games with him on the bump, he showed flashes of brilliance and I expect him to have learned from that experience and come into this season feeling very good about himself. McLean was elite in his limited outings last season and I look for him to have more of the same success this evening. 

On the other hand, Tyler Mahle is probably coming off the best season of his big league career. That was with the Rangers and the Giants are hoping for some more success. In his first start, he was hit around a bit by the Yankees. It wasn't a bad start. But, not a good one either. I believe that the Giants are slightly worse overall than NYM and that the Mets also hold the slight edge in pitching here tonight. I'll go with the Mets in game two of this series. 

Burns' Prediction: 5-2 Mets.

(#56) New York Islanders | ML | . 

Although the Flyers might be in better "form" at the moment, Philadelphia had to play on Thursday and as the season heads down to the final few games, playing in consecutive days could really hurt teams. Despite winning four straight, the Flyers are 9-19 over their most recent 28 games played in the second leg of a B2B. 

For the Islanders, they had the luxury of coming back home after playing on Tuesday. New York is the much more well rested side and it's a break that it needed. The Islanders have been struggling lately, but this is when it counts and I expect them to get the job done at home where they've been excellent all season long. 

Burns' Prediction: 5-3 Islanders.