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 NBA, 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’s performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 1-1

Over/Under Predictions: 2-0

Spread Predictions: 1-1

Featured Matchup: 1-0

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

Seattle Kraken @ Minnesota Wild

Model Predicts- Wild ML, UNDER 6, Kraken +1.5

The Seattle Kraken will wrap up a four-game road trip, and their regular season, on Thursday night, with the final stop coming in St. Paul, Minnesota to take on the Wild.

Seattle enters tonight’s matchup with a 33-35-13 record and 79 total points, placing the Kraken in sixth place in the Pacific division and well outside of playoff contention. Minnesota is in a similar spot, owning a 39-33-9 record and 87 points while also ranking sixth in the Central division.

Neither one of these teams have much to compete for this evening, but our model expects the Wild to win tonight in a low-scoring game. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Seattle Kraken

• Enter tonight on four-game losing streak

  • Losses to Sharks, Stars, Blues, and Jets

  • -8 goal differential in that time

• Offense has been poor during losing streak, but defense is expected to get better

  • Offense- 1.84 GF/60 in 5-on-5 situations (24th in NHL)

  • Defense- GA/60 in 5-on-5 sits at 3.38, but xGA/60 in same situations is much lower at 2.14

• Expected goalie- Philipp Grubauer

  • .907 Save % in 5-on-5 situations. Ranks 80th in Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) with -5.8

Minnesota Wild

• Enter tonight on two-game win streak

  • Wins over Sharks and Kings. Outscoring opponents 9-3 in those contests

• Similar offensive and defensive outputs as Kraken this month

  • Offense is bad- GF/60 in 5-on-5 sits at 2.26 since April 1st. Can expect further regression as xGF/60 sits at just 2.06

  • Defense is good and will get better- 2.72 GA/60 in 5-on-5, but xGA/60 sits at 2.00

• Expected goalie- Marc-Andre Fleury

  • .920 Save % in 5-on-5. Ranks 93rd in GSAx (-10.8)

What’s the Play?

Grubauer and Fleury aren’t the best options to have in net tonight, but we still agree with our model that we are due for a low-scoring game tonight.

Both Minnesota and Seattle have put up poor offensive numbers this month, and it all starts with the lack of pressure each team puts on opposing goaltenders. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Kraken and Wild are each generating fewer than 10.00 high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes (HDCF/60) in 5-on-5 situations since April 1st, both ranking in the bottom-13 of the NHL in that stat.

However, as the above advanced stats (GA/60, xGA/60) indicate, these defenses are due to see a massive amount of positive regression, and it’s likely we see that tonight as neither team possesses much of a scoring attack. We’ll take the under here.

The Play: Under 6 (-115)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Minnesota Wild- 39-33-9 overall this season, 20-15-5 as the home team

• Winnipeg Jets- 51-24-6 overall this season, 26-11-3 as the away team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Seattle Kraken- Under is 43-34-4 this season with average total of 5.51

• Colorado Avalanche- Over is 47-31-3 this season with average total of 6.81

Puck Line Trends ➕➖

• Seattle Kraken- Puck line is 43-48 this season

🐺 Coyotes win final home game before move to Utah. The Arizona Coyotes ended their season with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, likely marking the end of the franchise's current chapter. In a touching moment, the crowd cheered, broadcasters fell silent, and players embraced a veteran staffer before saluting the fans. Defenseman Sean Durzi and young star Dylan Guenther scored the team's final goals, with the franchise set to relocate and the sale to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith expected to be approved by the NHL Board of Governors.

💪 Kucherov joins exclusive 100-assist club. Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov made NHL history by recording his 100th assist of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs, becoming just the fifth player to achieve this milestone in a single season and the second in the current season. His assist came on Brayden Point's power-play goal, securing his place alongside legends like Connor McDavid, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Bobby Orr. Kucherov, the only winger in this elite group, leads the league with 144 points, putting him ahead of Nathan MacKinnon in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.

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- Prior to playing basketball at Duke University, Seth Curry played basketball at what university from 2008-09?

Question #2- JaMarcus Russell and what former Notre Dame quarterback were the only two quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft?

Question #3- What current MLB player has had this career path: Washington Nationals (2015-21), Los Angeles Dodgers (2021-22), Philadelphia Phillies (2023-Present)?

Anyone know what has happened on April 18th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On April 18th…

1998- University of Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning is selected with the No.1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Manning was selected by the Indianapolis Colts, the team he would play for until 2011 before joining the Denver Broncos. Manning went on to win two Super Bowls and five MVP’s during his career, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.

1999- NHL legend Wayne Gretzky plays his final game. Gretzky final game was with the New York Rangers, a match would lose 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gretzky would retire with 2,867 points to his name, which still remains the most in NHL history.

2016- Kawhi Leonard wins the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. Leonard earned the honor after recording 2.6 steals per game during the 2015-16 season, an average that led the NBA. It was also the second consecutive year Leonard won the award, and the second of three-straight seasons that he would be named First Team All-Defense.

1. Liberty University

2. Brady Quinn

3. Trea Turner