T.M. Selection: St. Louis Blues (1* FREE PLAY.) 

When it comes to money line sports, 99.9 percent of the time I either play underdogs or totals. The rare occasion though I’ll lay chalk. And after taking the Blues as an underdog in Game 5 on the road in San Jose, I believe they’re going to carry over their recent momentum and end this series here and now. St. Louis was dominant on both ends of the ice in the 5-0 Game 5 victory. The Sharks appear to be on fumes, mustering a single goal over the last two games. San Jose is MUCH better at home as well, coming into this one at 24-24 on the road, averaging 3.29 goals and conceding 3.46. St. Louis is 27-22 at home, averaging 3.10 goals and allowing 2.98. Blues’ goaltender Jordan Binnington went 14-2 with a 2.02 GAA at home in the regular season. Take it for what you will as well, but SJ is just 2-6 in its last eight playoff games as an underdog in the +110 to +150 range, while St. Louis is 30-12 in its last 42 when playing on one days rest. In this case, i feel that the home side is worth the price of admission. Play on St. Louis.

T.M. Prediction: To get Tim’s FINAL PREDICTED SCORE for this game, please check out his 10* NHL TOTAL OF THE WEEK, which just happens to be on this EXACT game!

T.M. Selection: Nationals/Mets over (10* TOTAL OF WEEK)

It’s the Nationals’ Erick Fedde (0-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. the Mets Zack Wheeler (3-3, 4.85). New York ended a miserable five-game losing streak with a 5-3 win in last night’s four-game series opener and clearly it’ll be looking to keep the foot on the gas here as well. The Nationals can empathize though as they continue to struggle with game to game consistency as well. It’s interesting to note that the Nats have lost 13 games by two runs or fewer and two more in extra innings. These are two clubs with big expectations but which are both scuffling at the plate. I think that ends tonight. Last Thursday these exact starters faced each other and Wheeler gave up six runs over six innings in Washington’s eventual 7-6 win. All signs point to a similar final combine score in my opinion this time around as well. 

T.M. Prediction: 7-5 Mets.

T.M. Selection: Sharks/Blues under (10* TOTAL OF WEEK)

When it comes to money line sports, 99.9 percent of the time I either play underdogs or totals. The rare occasion though I’ll lay chalk. And after taking the Blues as an underdog in Game 5 on the road in San Jose, I believe they’re going to carry over their recent momentum and end this series here and now. St. Louis was dominant on both ends of the ice in the 5-0 Game 5 victory. The Sharks appear to be on fumes, mustering a single goal over the last two games. San Jose is MUCH better at home as well, coming into this one at 24-24 on the road, averaging 3.29 goals and conceding 3.46. St. Louis is 27-22 at home, averaging 3.10 goals and allowing 2.98. Blues’ goaltender Jordan Binnington went 14-2 with a 2.02 GAA at home in the regular season. Take it for what you will as well, but SJ has seen the total go under the number in five of its last eight when trailing in a playoff series, while St. Louis has seen the total dip under in seven of nine this year after shutting out its opponent in its previous game. This number is high.

T.M. Prediction: 3-2 Blues.

T.M. Selection: Bucks/Raptors under (10* TOTAL OF WEEK)

Game 2 of course would have gone well under the number if not for the Raptors double OT victory. Toronto looked a lot better defensively, especially Kawhi Leonard in slowing down Bucks’ super star Giannis Antetokounmpo (12 points on 5 of 16 shooting, committing eight turnovers.) Toronto is going to employ an identical defensive game plan here as well obviously, except this time each side comes in extra tired after the marathon game last time out. It sets up perfectly as more of a  defensive affair in my opinion. Both teams have excelled defensively so far in the playoffs and I believe that will again be the case here. This number is a tad high.

T.M. Prediction: 108-105 Milwaukee.