I thought the Ravens bet was toast after the third quarter, but never count out the Colts’ ability to screw something up. Somehow, two out of four hit with a rainout, so that’s enough to allow us to bounce back today with hockey finally on the docket. Plus, we’ve got playoff baseball and a Tuesday night game from the Sun Belt, so there’s plenty of action ahead. Here are my best plays for October 12.
PENGUINS UNDER 2, +120
Andrei Vasilevskiy went 18-2 at Amalie Arena with a 1.75 GAA last season, and that was without fans in the building. Now he’s going up against Pittsburgh in the season opener, and the Penguins will be without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. With how shaky Pittsburgh looked on defense last year, I don’t trust the under enough to back it for both teams, but I think the Lightning can silence the Penguins here.
KRAKEN UNDER 1.5, +140
I’m wary of going against an expansion team on opening night, ever since the 1992 Ottawa Senators trotted out five journeymen and someone named Peter Sidorkiewicz in goal and somehow beat Patrick Roy and the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens in their first game. But that game was played at home, and as awful as they were, the Senators weren’t as banged up as the Kraken. Seattle’s got to go up against an unfriendly Vegas crowd and Robin Lehner here, and the Kraken don’t exactly have much in the way of healthy scorers. There’s a good chance Lehner puts up a shutout in this one.
APPALACHIAN STATE-LOUISIANA UNDER 55, -110
Every year, the public falls in love with these offenses. And every year, they both figure out how to completely shut the other one down and a defensive struggle plays out. Last year was 24-21, and it could have been even lower-scoring if not for three App State turnovers. This time, expect the Mountaineers to take care of the ball and keep the score down.
BREWERS-BRAVES UNDER 8, -110
I really wasn’t planning to go all unders today, but my hands are tied here, as Milwaukee and Atlanta just aren’t hitting the dang ball. Milwaukee hasn’t hit all season, and Atlanta’s pitching is clamping down when it needs to most. The Braves aren’t exactly whacking the ball either, so this looks like another low-scoring battle.
GIANTS OVER 3.5, +100
There we go. There’s an over. The Dodgers’ pitching options don’t look so good in this one, as they’re likely to throw either Tony Gonsolin for the first time since Sept. 30 or bring back Walker Buehler on three days’ rest. Buehler has two straight losses to the Giants without throwing in short rest, so when you add that to a questionable Dodger bullpen, I think San Francisco can score four.
