The Cincinnati Bengals came through for all of us last night as they played great on defense (minus two drives) and took control of that game right from the start. As a fan I’m glad they are back in the playoffs but am hoping for at least one playoff win from them as the one-and-dones are getting old hat.

It’s on to the NHL tonight though for my free premium selections as there are plenty of games on the board before the league takes a few days off for the holiday season.

Game: Carolina (+133) vs. New Jersey (-147); Total set at 5

The Hurricanes and Devils are both marred in losing stretches right now and are desperate to head into the break on a winning note. Both teams were shutout in their last game as offense has been a concern for both teams this year, but I don’t think that will be the case tonight.

First off, because of those shutout losses it’s no surprise to see nearly 90% of the action come in on the ‘under’ tonight. Both teams rank near the bottom of the league in scoring (29th and 27th respectively) and if you were to apply their averages (2.06/game for Carolina, 2.14/game for NJ), this game would stay ‘under’ the total.

However, playing ‘overs’ after a team gets shutout is a strategy I generally subscribe too, and when both teams are coming off a shutout loss, that strategy becomes even stronger. Carolina is starting backup Anton Khudobin tonight who has yet to win a game this year (0-8-2), but he did look sharp in the shutout loss last time out. Yet this is not a guy you can trust to have great performances in consecutive starts and if you eliminate that 1-0 loss from his last outing, you’ll see that in six road starts this year he’s allowed at least three goals against in five of them. In fact, in all seven of his road starts this year, the only time(s) he hasn’t allowed three or more is when he’s played the Rangers. Carolina is 4-1-1 O/U in their last six trips to New Jersey and with Khudobin in net, the offensive guys know they need to push things to get the W.

The last 10 times these two have played the ‘over’ has either cashed or pushed eight times and the Devils are 5-2-1 O/U after losing by 3+ goals. Both teams allow about 2.7 goals per game this year, so if that pace holds up tonight, we will be getting a push at worst here, but the + money on the over more than makes up for that.

Take Over 5 goals at +101