Plays 1/24

I say plays but I only have one at the moment, possibly more as the evening progresses.

Capitals/Devils Under 5 -106 @ 13

The Devils (for the most part) do not score or yield a ton of goals.  Ovechkin is the only Capital at the moment worth a damn offensively.  In other news, I am happy to report that the 6 goal over/under line is an actual thing, there were two the other night.  This corresponds with what seems like a slight uptick in goals recently.  I am a bit behind but I have been tracking lines for the last month or so and there has been a heavy barrage in what I will call BTOs or Big Time Overs.  Those are overs that crush the line.  On the days of 1/18, 1/19, and 1/21 ( I was hungover as balls on 1/20) there were 11 BTOs by my standards* and only 2 BTUs (ha!  BTUs).  One wonders if it has anything to do with this quote…

” The league is screaming for goals and all of a sudden, I don’t know how you can kick it and try to stop at the same time,” Sabres interim head coach Ted Nolan said.

That quote happened after a game where someone had a goal disallowed for kicking it into the net.  The only thing we are concerned with is that it seems the NHL, like it has often in the past, is making a concerted effort to increase scoring.  Something to think of moving forward maybe.

* Big Time Whatevers are when the final score differs from the line by 1.5 goals or more.  As when the line is 5.5 and the final score ends up being either 4-3 (BTO) or 3-0 (BTU).

YTD : -57.79

***UPDATE***

I am not going to touch it but the Thunder/Celts game has moved 3 points in roughly .3 seconds since Durant has been ruled out.  This should honestly be a measure of MVP credibility, how much does the line plummet when you are unexpectedly yanked from a lineup hours before a game.  It’d be great if for some players like 2014 JR Smith where the line moves backwards.