**UPDATE**

It looks as if both teams are starting backup goaltenders today. Kappo Kahkonen is being said to be in net for San Jose and Kevin Lankinen is slated to start for the Preds. I like both offenses in this situation and will be pivoting to the Predators team total and the game total. Plays are now posted in the article.

Preds TT over 3 -175: 1u

Preds/Sharks game total over 5.5 -140: 2u

Hey everyone, I have a family birthday tomorrow and will be out during the game. The lines for tomorrow have changed since I last checked and it’s making me like the game more. I don’t see anything changing in this matchup for the Sharks to stress a loss. Nashville has dominated San Jose in their past four matchups, and even though trends shouldn’t be a basis here, the fact is Nashville is a better team than last year and San Jose is a worse team this year. The difference over the offseason between these two has grown even bigger than their matchups last year. Last season the Preds dominated their wins against them in three games. In those three games, the Preds outscored the Sharks 12-1 winning all three. The Preds continued their shut down play of the Sharks again today and Hertl’s goal for San Jose came off a beautiful bounce at the end of a powerplay that saw him rip it past Saros short side. It was a beautiful goal in real time. I told you yesterday the Sharks have skilled players and we saw it today.

I will be playing looking to play the team total. On the books, the Sharks flip to being the “home team” tomorrow giving them the last change to match lines. Being home favors the Sharks and is why the line is lower for tomorrow than it was for today’s game at -180. When a ML drops it should tell you that the team total has dropped too. Knowing this I immediately look at the team total and see we can get 3 on the regular line for Nashville at only -140 as opposed to the -175 we paid for today. Personally, I don’t think tomorrow’s game is a game we need to bet. I understand that you all didn’t sign up to be told not to play tomorrow but I would rather be the most profitable in the long run than have the most fun each day. We are all here to make money and I personally feel tomorrow’s and even Monday’s games aren’t MUST plays. We want edges, we want lopsided lines, we want to be smart, hit the right targets, and cash out and enjoy. Tomorrow is a back to back game on the second day of the season so just like today, the variables of being early in the year before the rest of the league, a mid day game, being out of the country, now being a back to back game, makes taking the wins from today and not playing tomorrow not a bad idea.

How I would play it though would depend on my bankroll. I do believe this game ends in similar fashion as this game. Following how dominant the Preds have been, if you remove any variance, the Preds win this game no question. I would prefer the ML here instead of the team total because I do believe the Preds winning is more likely to be a low scoring win than a high scoring win or loss. If you want to play the alt team total knowing that your base total for today is 3 makes getting the team total of 2.5 or 2 possible for a parlay. For alt lines in games that you like, when you see a flat line of 3 at the -150 range it should automatically tell you going forward that the alt team totals of 2.5 and 2 are immediately in play for you. I will parlay team totals and I have done significantly well with them, but they are not skill plays that should be put out. I will play them to get even money or better and I won’t lay money on it. The goal here is for even money on games I like the most or by parlaying multiple alt totals to get +200 or better odds. On a bigger slate I would use the Preds team total of 2 for example in a play. I will not be putting these out but I know the majority of us will put extra plays in so I am more than willing to answer any alt line total questions in chat.

Prediction:

Preds win 3-1 or Sharks win 4-3. I don’t think the team total hits tomorrow at 3 and if i want a way to win the bet I am playing the Preds on the ML.