Scott Rickenbach – Sports Handicapper

Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NHL Rotation #31 Wednesday Free Pick OVER the total in Vegas Golden Knights vs Edmonton Oilers @ 10:35 ET - The Oilers are off a 4-3 loss in OT at Anaheim last night. Tonight marks the 7th time this season that Edmonton is playing a back to back. Each of the first 6 times the Oilers have managed to score 3 or more goals in the 2nd game of the back to back. Also, the over is a perfect 3-0 the last 3 times Edmonton has played the second game of a back to back. Additionally, the Oilers enter this game on a perfect 3-0 run to the over in their last 3 road games. Vegas enters this game on a 3-0 overall run to the over. The Golden Knights have had just 3 unders in their past 10 games. 6 of Vegas last 9 games have totaled 8 or more goals. In fact, those 6 Golden Knights games totaled an average of 9.7 goals per game! Per the above, look for another wild one here in Sin City tonight. Free Pick OVER the total in Vegas

Game of the Week - Rickenbach CBB Rotation #812 Wednesday 10* Top Play Penn State Nittany Lions (-) vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ 7 ET - The set up here is perfect. The Nittany Lions are off back to back losses. They shot the ball poorly from long-range in a home upset loss to Illinois. That then carried over to a road loss at Indiana. Now, back at home, Penn State gets rolling again from beyond the arc. Keep in mind, prior to back to back losses, the Lions had won 8 straight games and averaged 78 points per game! Adding to the value here of the Nittany Lions laying about a half dozen points, Penn State lost at Rutgers by double digits earlier this season. This is a revenge game and now the Lions catch the Scarlet Knights having lost 5 of 7. One of those two Rutgers wins came in OT against a bad Northwestern team. In other words, the Knights aren't playing very well right now and haven't been for about 3 weeks! Look for the Nittany Lions to get payback in a big way in this one. The Scarlet Knights have lost 5 straight road games SU and also are just 1-4 ATS their last 5 games overall. Penn State has only failed to cover twice in their last 10 games. The Nittany Lions are also 17-2 SU in their last 19 home games! Only 1 of their 8 wins in the recent streak came by less than 6 points and that was a 5 point win. In other words, all signs pointing to a home win and cover in this one. 10* PENN STATE

PA Insider - Rickenbach CBB Rotation #781 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Villanova Wildcats vs St John's Red Storm @ 6:30 ET - The Wildcats are off a low-scoring grinder win over Xavier on Saturday. You saw how the Musketeers reacted in their next game as their match-up with DePaul last night had 80 points by half-time and went over the total rather easily. I look for a similar situation here with Villanova. We have a higher total to deal with than last night's Xavier game but that's because St John's is known for getting involved in high-scoring games. The Red Storm have allowed 81 points per game their last 4 road games. The Red Storm are off an ugly loss at Seton Hall Sunday but had scored an average of 77 points per game their 4 prior games this month. As for the Wildcats, they are off the aforementioned low-scoring win over the Musketeers, but that extended their winning streak to 4 games and they averaged scoring 80 points per game in their 3 prior wins. Also, Villanova has allowed 72 points per game in their last 3 home games. The Cats will run and gun here with the Red Storm. 10* OVER the total in Villanova

Puck Line Punisher - Rickenbach NHL Rotation #27 Wednesday 10* Top Play Buffalo Sabres Puck Line +1.5 goals (-) @ Colorado Avalanche @ 8:05 ET - There is a build up toward the playoffs at this time of year and games are tightening up as a result. 10 of 14 games so far this week have been decided by a single goal. When looking specifically at the Sabres and Avalanche you'll also see why I like having the +1.5 goals here and we're also getting value since this is priced in the -130 range as of very early game day morning. Buffalo has won 6 of its last 8 games and, in the Sabres last 9 games they have just 1 loss that came by a multiple-goal margin. Colorado has been playing well again and certainly is getting fantastic goaltending from Pavel Francouz. However, the Avalanche have not been scoring like they were earlier this season. The Avs have scored an average of only 2 goals per game their last 9 games. Colorado enters this game on a 3-game winning streak but that was preceded by 3 straight losses. Also, 4 of the last 6 Avalanche wins have come by just a single goal. Both teams made some moves at the trade deadline and I like what the Sabres did there and also they come into this game as the healthier hockey club. 10* BUFFALO Puck Line +1.5 goals

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NBA Rotation #502 Tuesday 10* Top Play Cleveland Cavaliers (+) vs Philadelphia 76ers @ 7:05 ET - The Cavaliers made some recent roster moves and it is already paying dividends. Though they are building for the future, there is a renewed enthusiasm in Cleveland and it is translating to much better play on the floor. The Cavs have won 3 of their last 4 games both SU and ATS. The Cavaliers have struggled against the 76ers this season and the most recent loss is one a team doesn't forget. Despite having 6 more shot attempts from the field, Cleveland lost by 47 points in their most recent game against the Sixers! That was in Philadelphia and now the 76ers come to Cleveland and they'll be without Ben Simmons. That is a big loss for them and this is a Philly team that is an ugly 9-20 SU and ATS in road games this season. The Cavaliers have won their last two home games and that including defeating a solid Miami team Monday. Don't be surprised if the Cavs come up with another home dog upset here but I am grabbing the points for added insurance. 10* CLEVELAND