(11-15  -0.81 units)

Red Wings moneyline +116   0.5*

Today, the Red Wings roll into Ottawa in what could be described technically as a division rivalry right now. The thought of that seems laughable, as both teams are in their early stages of rebuilds, and were both projected to be at the bottom of the East.

Why would I roll the dice on a garbage matchup?

First off, Ottawa was ranked by many oulets (to nobody’s surprise) as the worst team in the East, and arguably the worst team in hockey. Any chance you can get against them at plus money as of right now is considered good value.

Second, the underdog status of the Red Wings are based on somewhat pretentious values. One being that road disadvantage, that isn’t quite as relevant in hockey in my opinion. Another, being the fact that the Red Wings are on game two of a back to back. Well considering they imploded against Vancouver last night and that it is early in the season, I would hardly consider the travel and fatigue to be a huge contributor.

Essentially, we have a coin flip between two low caliber teams that are looking to snap out of extended losing streaks.

All in all, I think Detroit just has a more dangerous lineup as well as a better structured team. although Ottawa did keep it close against Dallas and Vegas (which are both seen to be on higher tiers), they will face a very angry Red Wings team today that is riding on adrenaline and looking to erase yesterday’s meltdown.

Today, I am just rolling with value plays for half a unit each.

Penguins moneyline +205  0.5*

While this may be a much higher value play than the above, it is also less of a perceived coin flip.

Tampa, who we all know broke all time regular season records last year, will continue to naturally ride of the favor from that. Even though they are pretty much treading water right now, I think everyone has it in their mind that a breakout is inevitable. That might be true, but tonight they have a date with one of the most resilient teams in the NHL…and they have proved it early on despite several injuries on offense.

Pittsburgh may be at a disadvantage on paper again tonight. It was also reported that Tampa had a very intense practice prior to this game while Pittsburgh was losing in Florida last night. All advantages really point to the Lightning, and hence why we have a line that we do. I am not denying these disadvantages for Pittsburgh.

However, I know that you can never count resilient teams out..especially when they are still an elite team in good spirits.

Tampa has proven to be soft on many occasions over the past two seasons, and all it takes is some grit and skill to take them down; both of what Pittsburgh possesses.

While this is still going to be a tough bet to win, I would not be able to stand to see it hit had I not sprinkled some on it. It’s well worth a half unit shot.