In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️

NBA Model Predictions- Click Here

There were no model predictions yesterday, January 25, 2024.

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

St. Louis Blues @ Seattle Kraken

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

The St. Louis Blues will end a three-game road trip on Friday night, with the final stop coming in Seattle, Washington to take on the Kraken.

St. Louis has had a perfect road trip thus far, taking home a win against both the Flames and Canucks earlier this weeks. The Blues now own a 24-20-2 record for the season, while Seattle comes into tonight’s matchup with a 20-18-9 record following a win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.

Our model doesn’t give either team much of an edge tonight, but it does see a small opportunity on the total in this matchup. Let’s take a look at why that is.

St. Louis Blues

• Enter tonight on three-game win streak

  • Wins over Capitals, Flames, and Canucks

  • +5 goal differential across those matchups

• Offensive numbers aren’t great despite recent wins

  • Own 2.00 GF/60 in 5-on-5 situations during win streak

  • Not generating much pressure on net- 10.02 High-Danger Scoring Chances per 60 minutes (HDCF/60) in last three games

• Expected goalie- Jordan Binnington

  • .911 Save % in 5-on-5 situations. Ranks 13th in Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) with +7.4

Seattle Kraken

• Fresh off win against Blackhawks

  • Won 6-2, but was out-shot 34-28

• Offensive struggles have plagued team in recent weeks

  • Have scored two goals or less in four of last five games

  • Rank 24th in xGF/60 in that same five-game stretch

• Expected goalie- Joey Daccord

  • .938 Save % in 5-on-5. Ranks 12th in GSAx (+8.1)

What’s the Play?

Our model doesn’t give the under a sizable edge tonight, but we think it is one of the better plays on the board.

Seattle’s scoring attack has been sub-par for almost two weeks, but the scoring outburst against Chicago, a team that allows the fourth-most goals per game this season, shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Even with that performance, the difference between Seattle’s GF/60 and xGF/60 in 5-on-5 situations over the last five games is just 0.07 goals, showing that the overall poor performance is what we should expect to see again.

Binnington and Daccord have also been solid in net, with Daccord surrendering two goals or less in eight of his last ten appearances. That should help keep this total lower than six.

The Play: Under 6 (-110)

Money Line Trends 💰

• New York Rangers- 29-15-3 overall this season, 15-6 as the home team

• Colorado Avalanche- 31-14-3 overall this season, 19-5 as the home team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Florida Panthers- Under is 28-18-1 this season with average total of 5.85

• Seattle Kraken- Under is 24-20-3 this season with average total of 5.79

Puck Line Trends ➕➖

• St. Louis Blues- Puck line is 26-20 this season

💪 Oilers beat Blackhawks for 15th straight win. Connor McDavid contributed two goals and an assist, while Calvin Pickard secured his fifth career shutout with 27 saves in a 3-0 over the Blackhawks on Thursday. The win was the 15th straight victory for Edmonton, with the team’s last loss coming on December 19th. The Oilers, only the fifth team in NHL history to achieve 15 or more consecutive victories, now hold a record of 23-3-0 in their last 26 games.

❌ Lyon shutout Flyers in 3-0 win. Alex Lyon earned his third career shutout with 30 saves as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the struggling Philadelphia Flyers 3-0, bouncing back from a recent loss to Dallas. Andrew Copp scored his 100th goal, while Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider added goals in Detroit's three-goal second period. The Flyers, losing their fourth consecutive game and being shut out for the second time this season, faced a reflective moment as they aim to rediscover their successful team dynamics.

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- Who did the Houston Astros select with the No.1 overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft?

Question #2- What 15 seed defeated Michigan State in the first round of March Madness in 2016?

Question #3- Before leading the Jaguars to the AFC Championship game in the 2017-18 season, Blake Bortles was the star quarterback at what university?

Anyone know what has happened on January 26th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On January 26th…

1982- The New York Islanders score six goals in the first period against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Four of the goals were scored in a span of just one minute and 48 seconds, while an additional goal was poured in less than a minute later. New York would go on to win the game 9-2.

1997- Mario Lemieux ties the NHL record for goals in a period. Lemieux scored four goals in the final 20 minutes of a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens, also giving him the 39th hat trick of his career. It was also the 13th four-goal game for Lemieux, tying Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy for the NHL record.

1997- The Green Bay Packers defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. Green Bay scored 35 points to New England’s 21, outscoring the Patriots 27-14 in the first half. Desmond Howard, a wide receiver and kick returner, was named MVP, tallying 244 total yards and a kick return touchdown in the game.

1. Carlos Correa

2. Middle Tennessee

3. University of Central Florida