BSNblog

There are three NHL teams that always seem to bring the best out of the Toronto Maple Leafs; the Buffalo Sabres, the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators. Regardless of what else is going on in the Maple Leafs’ season, a game against one of these three opponents will always be a barn-burner. The fans in Toronto hate these opponents and the players hate these opponents as well. Although, it can be said that the fan hatred is a little deeper than that of the players. The price per head sports experts point out that it has been a long time since the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs have been in a heated playoff race in the same season. The current playoff race is another thing that makes this game so interesting.

The Ottawa fans are just getting over hosting the All-Star game where the fans were very accommodating to Toronto All-Stars like Phil Kessel. However, the fans will not be so accommodating when Kessel and the rest of the Leafs roll into town for this game. The fans in Ottawa are watching to see what happens with the Super Bowl odds, but they are more interested in seeing if the Senators can get into the playoffs. The Ottawa team has been up and down all season long. The Senators have been at the very bottom of the Eastern Conference and now it has risen towards the top. It has been a very difficult season for the fans and players in Ottawa.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Last year, goaltender James Reimer was seen as the future of the Maple Leafs’ franchise. He was often credited with single-handedly keeping the Leafs in the playoff hunt late into the season. Reimer got his big contract over the summer and started out the season fairly strong. But when Reimer suffered a serious injury in December, back up Jonas Gustavsson took over as the starter. Reimer tried to jump back in when he was healthy, but Reimer just could not win like he used to. Now Gustavsson is the starter in Toronto. It sounds like a typical sports story, but it is also a microcosm of the Leafs’ problems for the past few years. Toronto cannot settle on a starting goaltender and cannot develop an identity on defense. The lack of an identity is breeding inconsistency and causing problems in Toronto.

Ottawa Senators

Sportsbook reviews of the games that the Ottawa Senators have played this season show that the Senators win and lose in streaks. That is because the Ottawa starting goaltender Craig Anderson wins and loses in streaks. Anderson can have a night where he makes 40 saves and gets the shutout and then follows that up with a game where he gives up five goals on 20 shots. The Senators have been hot lately because Anderson was hot, but the Senators also rode a three-game losing streak into the All-Star break where Anderson was in goal for all three games.

The Bottom Line

Neither of these teams have the consistency to remain a top contender in the Eastern Conference. But the Leafs play a bit more consistently than Ottawa does and that should help the Toronto Maple Leafs to pull out the road win in this game.

BSNblog Pick: Toronto Maple Leafs

St. John’s Red Storm @ (6) Duke Blue Devils

Saturday, 12:00 PM ET

The Blue Devils seemed on track to set a new school record with their 46th straight home win before Michael Snaer hit a game-winning three-point shot for Florida State as time expired, and the door was slam shut on Duke’s chances at that per head run. As the players from the Seminoles stormed the court in celebration, there had to have been a sense among Blue Devils’ players that they had allowed FSU to stay with them for too long, and were being made to pay for it in the end. Look for Austin Rivers and Duke’s 10th-ranked offense to avoid making the same mistake in this game, as they will attack St. John’s early and often and try to build a big lead early on. There is often a sense that teams develop when they go on long winning streaks where they attempt to do different things and experiment believing that they have the talent to overcome any shortcomings, but now that that’s out of the way look for the Blue Devils to blow the roof off of the Cameron Indoor Stadium in this Bet online contest.

College Basketball Betting Pick: Duke Blue Devils

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ (8) North Carolina Tar Heels

Sunday, 6:00 PM ET

Despite that they beat Virginia Tech by 14 after the loss to FSU, there are even more question marks surrounding the Tar Heels now than their were then after Donald Strickland was lost for the season with a torn ACL in that game. There is no denying that North Carolina has the talent to be the pay head bookies favorites in the ACC this season, but they have not executed the way they are capable of, and have struggled in situations where they were supposed to excel. The Tar Heels rank first in points per game, first in rebounds per game, and fifth in assists per game, and teams with numbers like those don’t tend to lose much. Look for North Carolina to come together with another big win from beginning to end, keeping pace with Duke in the ACC.

College Basketball Betting Pick: North Carolina Tar Heels

When the playoffs started, the New England Patriots playing the New York Giants in the Super Bowl would not have been considered one of the most unlikely possibilities. Considering the road each of these teams had to follow in order to get to this point, it did seem unlikely that the Patriots and Giants would survive to play in the big dance. The Giants had to get past the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay and then the San Francisco 49ers in San Francisco. After having a week off against the Denver Broncos in the divisional round, the Patriots had to dispatch the Baltimore Ravens. Both of these teams fought some pretty tall odds to get to this point.

The price per head sports experts have given the Patriots the upper-hand when it comes to odds of winning this Super Bowl and that is another surprise to the NFL fans of the world. The Patriots’ defense hardly seems equipped to stop the Giants’ offense and the Patriots’ offense will not be able to dominate the Giants’ defense. Still, the magic that seems to exist between head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady appears to be unstoppable. But the Giants may have the solution to the puzzle that is the New England Patriots’ offense.

New York Giants

The Giants won what was surely an exciting NFC Championship game by kicking the winning field goal in one of the few championship games ever decided in overtime. The pay per head sports experts did not expect the Giants to roll into Lambeau Field and beat the Packers much less watch the Giants go into Candlestick and beat the 49ers. The Giants’ defense is what won that championship game for New York, and it will be the defense that has to stand up again in the Super Bowl. The Patriots beat a very good defense in the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game. But the Giants are much more aggressive than the Ravens on defense, and the Giants have an offense to go along with that defense.

New England Patriots

There is no way that the 31st ranked defense in the NFL should be playing in the Super Bowl. Sportsbook reviews of the New England defense showed a unit that could not stop the run or the pass in the regular season. Yet, in the playoffs, the Patriots’ defense responded with solid pressure on the quarterback and good linebacker play to stop the run. But the Patriots did not play an offensive line like the one the New York Giants have. The Baltimore offensive line had problems blocking throughout the playoffs and it was bad blocking that prevented Baltimore running back Ray Rice from being a factor in the championship game. The Patriots’ defense is going to have to find a way around this Giants’ offensive line if it wants to win a fourth Super Bowl in the Belichick-Brady era.

The Bottom Line

Whether you write football blog or a soccer betting blog, you can see the advantages that each team has in this game. The Giants’ have an offense unlike anything that the Patriots have faced so far in the playoffs. That will be the difference in this game.

BSNblog Pick: New York Giants