In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️

MLB Model Predictions- Click Here

There were plenty of model predictions to go around yesterday across the NHL, with our model focusing in on one of those predictions in our Featured Matchup. That prediction went 1-0 overall, and you can see how the rest of the model performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 2-2

Over/Under Predictions: 1-2-1

Puck Line Predictions: 3-1

Featured Matchup: 1-0

Eight NHL games are scheduled to take place today. Our model’s predictions for all eight matchups can be found below.

Nashville Predators @ Pittsburgh Penguins

Model Predicts- Predators ML, UNDER 6, Predators +1.5

The Nashville Predators will play their final regular season game on Monday, with the final stop coming in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to take on the Penguins.

Nashville enters tonight’s battle with a 47-29-5 record and 99 points this season, clinching the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh owns a 37-31-12 record and has some work to do to make the postseason, as the Penguins sit in fifth in the Eastern Conference wild card race.

Pittsburgh has had a great start to April, but our model believes Nashville is still the better team and will win tonight’s game. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Nashville Predators

• Enter tonight on two-game win streak

  • Wins over Blackhawks and Blue Jackets

  • +6 goal differential in that span

• Offense is due for positive regression

  • Own 2.11 GF/60 in 5-on-5 situations since April 1st (25th in NHL), but xGF/60 in same situations sits at 3.35

  • Generating tons of pressure on net- Rank 1st in high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes (HDCF/60) in 5-on-5 since April 1st

• Expected goalie- Juuse Saros

  • .918 Save % in 5-on-5 situations. Ranks 66th in Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) with -2.6

Pittsburgh Penguins

• Making late push for playoffs

  • Own 5-1-1 record since April 1st

  • +8 goal differential in that span

• Massively over performing offensively this month

  • 4.06 GF/60 in 5-on-5 since April 1st, but xGF/60 in same situations sits at just 2.66

  • Struggling to find opportunities in 5-on-5 situations- generating 24.38 shots per 60 minutes (SF/60) this month (29th in NHL)

• Expected goalie- Alex Nedljkovic

  • .908 Save % in 5-on-5. Ranks 62nd in GSAx (-1.6)

What’s the Play?

The Penguins are considered the favorite in tonight’s matchup, but we agree with our model that this is a good spot to back Nashville to win outright.

Despite scoring 11 goals over the last two games, Nashville is still due to see tons of positive scoring regression. The 1.24-goal gap between the Predators’ GF/60 and xGF/60 in 5-on-5 situations in April is massive, but it shows that Nashville has gotten unlucky on the offensive end and that more goals will come in the future.

There’s a great chance we see that occur tonight, as Nashville’s ability to generate high-danger scoring chances pairs nicely with Pittsburgh’s inability to stop them. The Penguins have allowed the 10th-most high-danger scoring chances in 5-on-5 situations this month, and Nedeljkovic owns a .772 high-danger save % in 5-on-5 this season, which ranks bottom 20 in the NHL. Back Nashville to get the job done here.

The Play: Predators ML (+115)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Nashville Predators- 47-29-5 this season, 24-13-3 as the away team

• Boston Bruins- 47-18-15 this season, 23-8-9 as the away team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• New Jersey Devils- Over is 46-34-1 this season with average total of 6.69

• New York Rangers- Over is 44-34-3 this season with average total of 6.26

Puck Line Trends ➕➖

• Buffalo Sabres- Puck line is 47-34 this season

• Montreal Canadiens- Puck line is 51-29 this season

🦆 Ducks sign Gauthier to entry-level deal. The Anaheim Ducks signed Cutter Gauthier to a three-year entry-level contract, which will start this season. Gauthier, who led the nation with 38 goals for Boston College in 2023-24, was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, and recently led Boston College to a national championship appearance over the weekend. Anaheim acquired Gauthier from the Philadelphia Flyers in a trade for defenseman Jamie Drysdale, while Philadelphia also receiving a 2025 second-round pick.

💰 NHL to purchase Coyotes franchise, sell to Utah ownership. Salt Lake City is close to acquiring the Arizona Coyotes, pending the NHL's takeover of the team. The league plans to buy the Coyotes for a billion dollars, with current owner Alex Meruelo having a five-year window to secure a new arena. Salt Lake City would then be granted a new NHL team, with owner Ryan Smith purchasing the franchise for $1.2 billion, including the Coyotes' hockey operations staff. The Coyotes have been playing at a temporary arena since 2022-23, and reports suggest they could relocate to Utah as soon as next season.

Today’s trivia requires you to dig into multiple pockets of your brain, testing your knowledge of recent events as well as those that happened decades ago.

See how many of the below questions you can get correct. Answers are provided at the end of the newsletter.

Question #1- What former New York Mets pitcher won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 2018 and 2019?

Question #2- What former NFL quarterback had this career path: St. Louis Rams (2010-14), Philadelphia Eagles (2015), Minnesota Vikings (2016-17), Arizona Cardinals (2018)?

Question #3- Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Trey Lyles were stars for what SEC basketball team for the 2014-15 season?

Anyone know what has happened on April 15th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On April 15th…

1984- Ben Crenshaw wins the 48th US Masters Tournament. Crenshaw narrowly took home the win, defeating 1977 and 1981 Masters champions Tom Watson by two strokes. It was the first of two green jackets for Crenshaw, with his second victory coming in 1995.

2000- Penn State defensive end Courtney Brown is selected with the No.1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Brown would be taken by the Cleveland Browns, a result of winning the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year Award and being named a unanimous All-American in 1999. Brown’s career would last until 2005, suiting up for the Denver Broncos in addition to the Browns in that time.

2019- The Los Angeles Clippers defeat the Golden State Warriors 135-131 in Game 2 of their playoff series. The Clippers’ victory came despite losing by 31 points in the game, making it the largest postseason comeback. Lou Williams led the way for the Clippers, scoring 36 points in the improbably comeback.

1. Jacob deGrom

2. Sam Bradford

3. University of Kentucky