Scott Rickenbach – Sports Handicapper

NHL 10* Columbus Blue Jackets Money Line +135 - The Maple Leafs loss of defenseman Jake Muzzin for the remainder of this series is a big loss. He is arguably their best blue liner and is a playoff-tested veteran. His absence will be felt and, though I have been impressed with Leafs goalie Anderson and how well he has played I am wondering when the cracks will start to show and losing Muzzin could be the beginning of it. The Blue Jackets aren't happy with the Game 2 result but have to be happy being tied 1-1 heading into this Game 3 and the fact that the games have been tight and low-scoring. That plays right into the hands of Columbus. Also, they have a big experience factor edge in coaching with Tortorella over Keefe. Keep in mind the Leafs were red hot when Keefe first took over for the fired Babcock early this season but they then faded the rest of the season. I am still not sold on this Toronto team. They are very talented and played a great game two but they are known for playoff failures and I expect a strong bounce back from a gritty Blue Jackets team that swept the league-best Lightning out of the post-season last year. Coach Torts and this Jackets team know a thing or two about playoff hockey and that experience edge as well as the Muzzin factor for this one means that this is way too much underdog value to pass up on. Great situation here with the Blue Jackets also picking up a little edge with being the designated home team for this one. Keep in mind that means they can match personnel the way they want because they get the "last change edge" on line changes. 10* COLUMBUS

NHL 8* St Louis Blues Money Line -105 - The Golden Knights are off a miracle win over Dallas. Give them credit for that for sure but it was a "perfect storm" of events that led to them rallying in the final half of the 3rd period. Yes, with about 10 minutes left, Vegas trailed Dallas 3 to 1 and it was a miracle comeback. In fact, even though only in their third season in the league, the fact that this was a franchise first - rallying from a 2-goal 3rd period deficit for the win - says a lot! The Blues are off a loss but were very impressive. They played the Avalanche, when healthy they are the best team in the league in my opinion, and they held them to just 1 goal until the Avs got the game winner with a tenth of a second left in the game. It was the tightest of losses and the defending champs will respond here and absolutely don't want to drop the first two games of their three in this round robin. Expect a highly motivated effort from the champs here. 8* ST LOUIS

NHL 8* OVER 6 goals in Philadelphia - The Flyers are expected to start Brian Elliott in goal for this one because they wanted to get him a game in this round robin action before the "real" post-season starts. Of course these seeding games are still important but I feel Elliott starting here makes a big difference. In the two games he started for the Flyers against the Capitals this season he actually played quite well but the games still totaled 7 and 9 goals respectively and I expect a similar result here. The Flyers looked very sharp in their win over the Bruins in the first round robin game and when you look back at what this Philly team was accomplishing before the sports shutdown in mid-March, they were one of the hottest teams in the league plus scoring a ton of goals. The win over Boston continued that trend but now I look for Washington to match them goal for goal in this one. The Capitals are loaded with firepower and Elliott could be trying to shake off rust in his first action in awhile. Also, Washington might have John Carson back for this one and the defenseman provides great production in the offensive zone. 8* OVER 6 goals in Philadelphia

Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NHL Rotation #30 Thursday Free Pick UNDER 5.5 goals in Minnesota Wild vs Vancouver Canucks @ 2:30 ET - 18 of the 28 games played so far since the NHL restart have totaled 5 or less goals. Keep in mind if you eliminate the insane Oilers/Blackhawks series which has been all offense than that moves that number to 18 of 25 (72%) that have totaled 5 or less goals. That said, even though we have to lay some juice here on the under 5.5 in this one it should prove well worth it. The first game in this series was a 3-0 Minnesota win. Then the second game totaled 7 goals but included a short-handed goal (rare) and a pair of late goals for the Wild when they pulled their goalie. In other words, that could have easily played out as a 3-1 type game. In a crucial Game 3 battle with this series being tied, and knowing Minnesota is off a loss and wants to play "Wild hockey" (defensive-minded) in this one I feel very good about the under here. The Canucks forwards also have a number of injuries entering this match-up. Free Pick UNDER 5.5 goals in Minnesota

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach NBA Rotation #777 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Milwaukee Bucks vs Miami Heat @ 4:05 ET - Off an embarrassing loss as a nearly 20 point favorite against the Nets, the Bucks respond in a big way here. Milwaukee also is getting a couple players back too for this one. The Bucks have been one of the faster paced teams in the NBA in the bubble and that will lead to plenty of points in this one. Milwaukee also has a respectable bench which is one of the tops in the NBA. The way I see this game playing out is the Bucks coming out with plenty of tempo combined with better offensive efficiency than we've been seeing from them. They are healthier, they are going to play their starters more, and they're looking for a big-game effort from everyone. The Heat will be forced to "run and gun" to keep up with them as the Bucks force the tempo. The result should be a big Bucks win that lands close to the number ATS but, in my opinion, crushes the total and flies over. That is why I am going with a big game play here on this total. 10* OVER the total in Milwaukee

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #909 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Cleveland Indians vs Cincinnati Reds @ 6:10 ET - Being a contrarian has served me very well through the years and, of course, with these teams both struggling at the plate so far this season this one is contrarian all the way. But when the timing is right, being a contrarian is very rewarding. This looks like one of this spots and I am going over the total of 7.5 runs. Both teams induced 6 walks yesterday and I like seeing that kind of patience at the plate. The Reds start Luis Castillo here and he gave up 5 runs to the Tigers in his most recent start. Most of the damage was done by the bottom third of the Detroit lineup and that is not a good sign for Castillo as the Tigers are not exactly a powerhouse at the plate either. As for the Indians Carlos Carrasco, he gave up 3 homers in his most recent start but was lucky they were all solo bombs. Last season Carrasco went 2-5 with a 7.07 ERA in evening action (14 games, 5 starts). Both teams had base running mistakes and hit into double plays that cost them yesterday as well. Look for a result here that will surprise many and I forecast this game will be over the low total by the middle innings. 10* OVER the total in Cleveland