In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️

NBA Model Predictions- Click Here

MLB Model Predictions- Click Here

There were no model predictions yesterday, April 13, 2024.

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

Carolina Hurricanes @ Chicago Blackhawks

Model Predicts- Hurricanes ML, OVER 6, Hurricanes -1.5

The Carolina Hurricanes will play Game 3 of a four-game road trip onSunday, taking on the Blackhawks in Chicago.

Carolina enters this evening’s matchup with a stellar 51-22-7 record this season, a result of being 2-0 on its current road trip and 4-0 in the last four games. Meanwhile, Chicago’s season is nearing its end, as the Blackhawks own a 23-51-5 record through 79 games.

The talent gap in this matchup is significant, and our model believes that Carolina will use its superior talent to win today’s matchup by multiple goals. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Carolina Hurricanes

• Enter tonight on four-game win streak

  • Wins over Capitals, Blue Jackets, Bruins, and Blues

  • +10 goal differential. Won all games by at least two goals

• Defense has been elite during win streak

  • Own 1.8 xGA/60 in 5-on-5 situations- 2nd in NHL

  • Allowing little pressure on net- 6.89 High-Danger Chances Against per 60 minutes (HDCF/60) in 5-on-5

• Expected goalie- Pyotr Kochetkov

  • .915 Save % in 5-on-5 situations. Ranks 43rd in Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) with +1.1

Chicago Blackhawks

• Have lost three straight games

  • Losses to Wild, Blues, and Predators

  • -11 goal differential in that span

• Offense has been nonexistent during losing streak

  • Have scored three goals in last three games. GF/60 in 5-on-5 is 0.88

  • HDCF/60 in 5-on-5 is just 6.44- 3rd fewest in NHL

• Expected goalie- Petr Mrazek

  • .917 Save % in 5-on-5. Ranks 59th in GSAx (-0.9)

What’s the Play?

We don’t normally take favorites on the puck line, but we agree with our model that this is a good time to back Carolina -1.5.

Chicago’s offense has seen historically low production over the last three games, and it is largely because of its inability to generate high-danger scoring chances. Its likely we see that production continue to fall today, as Carolina’s defense has been at its best during its win streak, making goals had to come by for many opponents.

Additionally, the Hurricanes are due to see positive scoring regression, as Carolina owns a 2.40 GF/60 in 5-on-5 in the last four games, but its xGF/60 in the same situations sits at 3.05. Expect that to occur this evening, leading to another sizable win for the Hurricanes.

The Play: Hurricanes -1.5 (-135)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Colorado Avalanche- 49-25-6 overall this season, 19-16-5 as the away team

• Carolina Hurricanes- 51-22-7 overall this season, 24-12-3 as the away team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Arizona Coyotes- Over is 43-33-4 this season with average total of 6.40

• Calgary Flames- Over is 45-32-2 this season with average total of 6.35

Run Line Trends ➕➖

• Carolina Hurricanes- Puck line is 4-0 in last four games

⭐️ Stars clinch Central Division title. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen's goal and two assists, along with Jason Robertson's goal and assist, led the Dallas Stars to a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, securing the Central Division title for the first time in eight years. Heiskanen's goal, his fourth game this season with at least three points, sealed the win with 7:37 left. The win keeps the Stars in the running for the top seed in the Western Conference and the Presidents' Trophy, with one game remaining in the regular season.

✈️ Jets score seven goals to beat Avalanche. The Winnipeg Jets dominated the Colorado Avalanche in a 7-0 victory, with Josh Morrissey and Adam Lowry scoring just 10 seconds apart in a four-goal first period. The win puts the Jets in prime position for the Central Division's second seed, setting up a first-round playoff matchup against the Avalanche. Despite the lopsided result, both teams are aware that the postseason will require a higher level of play, especially considering Colorado's status as the league's highest-scoring team prior to this game.

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- Which current NBA player had this career path: New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets (2008-17), Los Angeles Lakers (2017-18), Milwaukee Bucks (2018-Present)?

Question #2- Prior to being selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, T.J. Watt played college football at what university?

Question #3- Who led the MLB in home runs during the 2005 season, hitting 51 in total?

Anyone know what has happened on April 14th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On April 14th…

2004- Former MLB slugger Barry Bonds hits his 661st career home run. The homer enabled Bonds to surpass Willie Mays, who is also Bonds’ godfather, on the MLB’s all-time list. Bonds would end his career with an incredible 762 home runs, the most by any player in MLB history.

2014- Bubba Watson wins the 78th US Masters Tournament. Watson took home the green jacket with room to spare, defeating runner-ups Jordan Spieth and Jonah Blixt by three storkes. It was the second time in Watson’s career that he won the Masters Tournament.

2019- The San Antonio Spurs defeat the Denver Nuggets 101-96. The win was a significant one for Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, as it gave him 1,413 wins for his career, the most in NBA history. Popovich has now won 1,387 games in his legendary career.

1. Brook Lopez

2. University of Wisconsin

3. Andruw Jones