Xam’s Daily Gems:
Maple Leafs Money Line -134
The Maple Leafs are hot right now. They’ve won 4 straight games and 3 of those wins have been by 3 goals or more. They have scored 11 goals in their last 2 games. Yes this came against the San Jose Sharks, but the Maple Leafs have been scoring at will all year. They are 3rd in the Eastern Conference right now, largely off the back of their incredible 11-3 record on the road. This is a team that’s not fazed by having to go on the road. That is required if you expect to compete for a Stanley Cup title, which the Leafs surely do. Auston Matthews has been the unquestioned leader for this team all year. He currently leads the league in scoring. No one has been effective at slowing him down this year. The Islanders have struggled at times to score this year, with only 121 goals on the year. The key for Toronto tonight will be containing Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri. The Maple Leafs have more offensive talent in this game. Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares are all capable scorers. Ilya Sorokin is a good goalie, but when he gives up goals, he can give up a lot. He gives up on average over 4 goals per game in losses.
Lightning Money Line -160
Tampa Bay is 11-5-2 at home this year, which shows they have a significant home ice edge. The Devils aren’t bad on the road, but it’s hard to maintain a 12-6 mark on the year. Tampa Bay has an offense that can rival anyone’s in the league, but they give up a ton of goals. They have given up the second most goals in the entire Eastern Conference. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been either really good or really bad for Tampa. In wins, he’s surrendering 1.87 goals per game. In losses, he gives up a whopping 4.27 goals per game! The Devils are capable of scoring, so this game will come down to whether or nor Tampa Bay can clamp down defensively. If they can, there’s a ton of quality offensive players who can score. Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos, and Brandon Hagel are all capable. If Tampa can play some defense and get their crowd into it, they should get the job done against an inferior opponent.
Suns Money Line -120
The Suns came into the year as a team that was expected to compete for a championship. Instead, they’ve dealt with injuries to key players and disappointment on the court. They’re coming off an embarrassing 27 point drubbing in their last game, so they should be motivated coming into this game. They’ve also only played one game since January 5th, so they should be plenty rested as well. They have the offense to do damage against anyone, but it’s their defense that needs to improve. They’ve given up 121 or more points in 3 of their last 4 games. The Lakers are only averaging 114 points per game this year, so the Suns should be up to the task of slowing them down. The Lakers are an older team and have played 3 games since January 5th, so the Suns have a rest edge coming into this matchup. Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic should be able to slow down LeBron James and Anthony Davis, respectively. That will go a long way to the Suns getting the win tonight. The Suns need to start playing like the championship contenders they believed they were coming into the year, and a win tonight in a hostile environment will go a long way towards completing that objective.
LeBron James Over 14.5 Rebounds + Assists -135
In his last 10 games, LeBron is averaging over 8 assists per game and just under 6 rebounds per game. He’s also averaging 2 more minutes per game in this last 10 game stretch compared to the rest of the season. This is a game that has a very high projected total. This should give James plenty of chances to impact the game. He also tends to bring his best when facing Kevin Durant. LeBron will be ready to go in this game. The Lakers need him to have a great game in order for the Lakers to have a chance to win. At home this year, LeBron is averaging 8.5 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game.