Nashville, 27th in goals-against and 29th on the PP, doesn't put the puck in the net with much frequency.  Their defense is solid and they will likely have Saros in net tonight, a rare goal-tender who can be a game-changer.  The Devils are very tough to score on, with the third best defense and a top ten PK.  They are also getting very solid goal-tending from Vanacek this year. 

Nashville has won 4 of 5, allowing just 6 goals in those 5 wins.  The Devils limited Vegas and the Penguins to just 3 goals in their last 2 games.  Tonight's game is a very good situation for another low scoring game.  Take the Devils and Preds to go Under the total.

Anaheim has won two of their last three games, but they have been picking the low-hanging fruit, so to speak, win victories over Arizona and Columbus.  Their recent losses have all been by wide margins.  The Ducks are not good at all on the road, and have allowed more than 5 goals a game on average in their recent losses.  The Avs have won 6 straight, and have been particularly stingy in goals-allowed, with just 8 in total in those 6 games.  

The Ducks are 31st in goals scored and worst in the league in goals allowed.  Their PK is equally poor.  Goalie John Gibson shut out the Jackets, but otherwise has given up nearly 6 goals a game in recent appearances. The Avalanche offense has been slow to develop this year, but is starting to come, and certainly the potential is there.  Their power play is in the top ten, and the Ducks are one of the league's most penalized teams.

Look for another lopsided victory for the Avs tonight and take Colorado on the puck line (-1 1/2).

A late night affair in the Pac 12 sees two teams on four-game Over streaks facing off as Washington hosts Arizona State.

Arizona State got off to a great start to the year, but no one really believed in them and that lack of belief is starting to bear out. The Sun Devils have lost two in a row, albeit to UCLA and USC. 

Meanwhile, after losing five in a row, Washington was able to win three straight, all against bottom teams in the Pac 12. But then the Huskies lost badly on Saturday, 86-61 at Utah.

ASU may not be an elite team overall, but they are top 50 in the country in defensive efficiency. 

I think this number is too high due to Washington getting blitzed in its last game, something that won’t happen here at home. Play the Under. 8* 

Dallas really needs to get going as they’ve dropped five of six, including a 127-126 loss at home Tuesday to a Washington team that was playing short handed. That was despite 41 points from Luka Doncic. That particular game was decided on a made free throw in the final 4.1 seconds.

The Mavs are still top six in the Western Conference, but this losing streak has created a sense of urgency. Seven teams are within two games of them, which means missing the playoffs (while unlikely) is not out of the question.

One of those seven teams on the Mavs’ heels is Phoenix. Actually these teams are tied with matching 25-24 SU records. But the Suns have won four in a row after being dreadful for most of January. They’ve covered the spread all in all four games, all of which were here at home.

Last time these teams met, Dallas won by 19 at home. I still think they are the better team and Phoenix is just 6-12 ATS in revenge spots this season.

Three of those last four Suns’ victories were by five points or less and the other one was against Charlotte where they shot a blistering 55 percent from three. While healthier than they were a couple weeks ago, the Suns are still without Devin Booker. Look for Doncic to lead Dallas to a victory here. 10*

South Dakota State, like everyone else in the Summit League, is chasing an Oral Roberts team that is undefeated in conference play. But nobody’s closer than SDSU, who is two games back of the “summit” (i.e first place). The Jackrabbits begin a three-game road swing tonight against one of the weaker teams in the league, St. Thomas (MN).

St. Thomas just got done with their own three-game road trip and that did not go well. The Tommies lost all three games, two of them by double digits. Now they are unbeaten at home, winning all nine game straight up and covering all seven vs. DI opponents. But the trends don’t really support that streak continuing here as the team is 4-12 ATS when off a conference loss since joining DI three seasons ago. 

Also, these teams already met once and South Dakota State won 71-64 as a 4.5-point favorite. 

The bottom line is that I don’t think returning home is enough for St. Thomas here. They’ve never beaten SDSU in three previous tries and the road team is rolling right now, with a four-game SU win streak that has seen them cover the spread in three straight. 10*

Over the course of this entire season, the Bulls have generally been a “streaky” team. Rarely, do they not win or lose multiple games in a row. So, coming off a 116-110 loss to Indiana (where they blew a 21-point lead), now is probably not the time to back this team. 

But the Bulls are facing Charlotte tonight. The Hornets certainly aren’t any good; they own the league’s third worst win percentage and are 4-12 straight up/4-11-1 against the spread since Christmas. I certainly don’t want to back them here either.

But I do want to play the Over. Charlotte has allowed a minimum of 116 points over each of its last nine games. They just gave up 128 to Phoenix on Tuesday. The Suns were able to shoot 55% from three in that game.

There are only two teams in the league - Detroit and San Antonio - that are allowing more points per game than the Hornets. 

While Chicago has gone Under in three straight, their last five games have still averaged more than 230 points. I think we get Over this number tonight as the Over has hit the last five times the Hornets have been off a double digit loss, not to mention 8 of the last 10 times they’ve hosted the Bulls. 10*