NHL Network Crusher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NHL Rotation #66 Monday 8* Vancouver Canucks Money Line (-) vs Ottawa Senators @ 10:05 ET - I rarely lay much juice in money line sports and certainly avoid big favorites like the plague. But when a moderately priced favorite comes up in a good situation I will not hesitate to step in. The Canucks have dropped down into the -140 price range for this one and that makes them well worthy of non-Top Play 8* pick in this spot. The home team won both meetings 5-2 last season. Not only are the Canucks at home for this one, they also swept the series with the Senators the season before last as well. I am well aware of the fact that Vancouver has struggled badly early this season but the Senators aren't exactly lighting the world on fire early this season either. Also, the Sens are playing just their 2nd road game of the season and they lost their first one 6-3 and, overall, have lost 4 straight games. I know the Canucks have struggled with costly turnovers resulting in odd man rushes going the other way and also have allowed far too many goals so far this season. However, they'll be ready here. For one thing, Vancouver just faced a Montreal team that has looked great early this season and has won 4 of 5 games. Now the Canucks faced a Senators team that is rebuilding and enters on a 4-game losing streak. Vancouver had a great practice session yesterday and addressed the areas of concern and I look for a revitalized and re-energized Canucks team to take the ice Monday ready to take advantage of a 3-game series hosting one of the worst teams in the NHL. This is Vancouver's chance to turn things around early this season and they know it. 3 games in 4 days against the rebuilding Senators. Lay it! 8* VANCOUVER

Professional Annihilation - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NBA Rotation #503 Monday 10* Top Play Philadelphia 76ers (-) @ Detroit Pistons @ 7:05 ET - The Pistons are still without Derrick Rose for this one. Blake Griffin is expected back tonight but he has not been as effective as in years past. As for the 76ers I am aware of the Joel Embiid situation but he might play with tomorrow being an off day for Philly too. Plus Dwight Howard has really raised his level of play at times when Embiid is out. The Pistons did get the cover on Saturday but Detroit outscored Philly by 18 points from 3-point land in that one. Had they simply been dead even from beyond the arc, the Sixers win that game by 22 points. Also, lets look at this match-up from another vantage point as well. Philadelphia is currently at the very top of the Eastern Conference standings while Detroit - you guessed it - is at the very bottom of those same standings. Yes the Pistons have a home court "edge" here but have lost 7 of 9 games on their home floor this season! The 76ers, were it not for the 3-point shooting disparity, would have won Saturday's game by 22 which is not a huge surprise as their other road wins this season have come by an average of 22 points per game too! When these teams met over the weekend, the Sixers were of back to back huge wins against the Celtics so it was the perfect spot to fade them and, indeed, the Pistons delivered the ATS cover. Now, things are back to normal and we can lay a rather small number here and have the best team in the east against the worst team in the east so far this season. 10* PHILADELPHIA

Early Dominator - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CBB Rotation #850 Monday 10* Top Play Portland Pilots (+) vs Loyola Marymount Lions @ 5 ET - The Pilots perfectly fit the classic ugly home dog theory. Yes Portland enters this game on a long losing streak but the Pilots are 5-4 SU at home this season and they have revenge from a home loss in the most recent meeting between these West Coast rivals. Inexplicably, the Pilots lost that game to the Lions despite having 20 more shot attempts from the field. It was a terrible shooting nigh for Portland from everywhere on the floor and they lost the game despite only having 9 turnovers while Loyola Marymount actually had 22 turnovers in that game! Coming into this game the Lions are on an overall 0-4 ATS run plus this is a team that has gone 0-4 SU on the road this season. Of course Loyola Marymount is the better team and that is why they are favored big on the road but I feel the points will prove to be far too many and that the Pilots will be tough to put away in this one. I know the Lions rate as the better team defensively but also note that Portland is averaging 76 points per game at home this season while Loyola Marymount is averaging just 61 points in road games. The Lions may defeat the Pilots here but I expect the game to be decided by a very slim margin. 10* PORTLAND

Earliest Cash - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NHL Rotation #5 Tuesday 8* Philadelphia Flyers Money Line (-) @ New Jersey Devils @ 7:05 ET - Great spot a play on the Flyers. They are off back to back losses including an ugly 6-1 defeat at the hands of the Bruins. The only other time they got blasted this season it was also a 6-1 loss and Philadelphia responded with a 3-0 shutout win. The Flyers have had two days off to think about what went wrong against Boston and they're fired up and ready to respond well here. Keep in mind, the Flyers lost the first game of that two game set in a shootout as they were up 2-0 heading to the third period and let it slip away and then lost 5-4 to the Bruins. Philadelphia, prior to the ugly loss Saturday, had scored an average of 3.8 goals per game this season. The Devils are off a 2-0 shutout win over the Islanders so the set-up here is perfect. Additionally, New Jersey's low-scoring victory marked the 4th time in 5 games this season that they have been held to 2 or less goals. They won't be able to keep up with the revenge-minded Flyers here. Philly got embarrassed 5-0 on home ice despite a 46-19 edge in shots on goal the last time these teams met. Payback time! 8* PHILADELPHIA

MVC Total of the Year - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CBB Rotation #603 Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Indiana State Sycamores vs Southern Illinois Salukis @ 5 ET - Back to back match-up and yesterday's game between these teams had 98 points with about 14 minutes to go. With the game ending 69-66 for a total of 135 points that means the teams combined to average only about 2.5 points per minute over the final 14 minutes of the game. Very unusual and won't be repeated here as the first 26 minutes of the game averaged 3.77 points per minute. It was on pace for about 150 points at that point. We should see at least 140 here. Since the calendar turned the page to 2021, the Sycamores had one low-scoring game that was a complete aberration. In the other 6 games Indiana State has averaged 72 points per game. Southern Illinois has allowed an average of 78 points per game their last 4 games but are a very strong 3-point shooting team and will get their fair share of points in this one too. This total opened up in the upper 130s but has dropped into the mid-130s and is offering excellent line value as a result. 10* OVER the total in Indiana State

Total of the Month - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach EPL Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER 3 goals in West Bromwich vs Manchester City @ 3:15 ET - The last time these teams met it was a 1-1 draw and that was at Manchester City last month. In their other 9 home fixtures this season Manchester City has won 7. In other words, that result was unacceptable. That is why Manchester City will not take their foot off the gas in this one and I am expecting plenty of goals. I know that Manchester City does not score a lot of goals on the road, at least so far this season, but this match-up is different. No team in the league has conceded more than West Bromwich's 43 goals on the campaign. Also, Manchester City wants payback for the 1-1 home draw plus they can move to the top of the table by picking up all 3 points here. Will West Bromwich get on the scoresheet here? I say yes as they have scored an average of 2 goals per match over their last 3 matches across all competitions. Look for West Bromwich to score at least 1 goal in this one and I fully expect Manchester City to score at least 3 goals as well. Prior to the 1-1 draw between these clubs the 3 most recent meetings in Premier League action averaged a total of 4 goals per fixture. I am looking for at least 4 in this one today as well. 10* OVER 3 goals in West Bromwich