Bryan Power Sports: Free Picks & A Handicapper Review

10* Winnipeg (3:05 ET): If the Jets are to snap Canada's quarter century long Stanley Cup drought, it's going to take one heck of a comeback. They are down three games to one to the Golden Knights in this Western Conference Finals, a cruel bit of irony considering this is the first year of professional hockey in Las Vegas while Canada invented the sport. But fortunately for the Jets, even though they're facing elimination, is that tonight's game is on home ice. So too would be Game 7, if things were to get that far. Here in Winnipeg, the team was 32-7-2 straight up in the regular season. Not only was that the fewest number of home regulation losses in the entire league, they also led the league in scoring on home ice at 3.8 goals per game. I can't see the Jets' season ending today.

Now, Winnipeg did lose the last time here, which was Game 2 of this series. They've actually now lost three of four on home ice, dating back to the Nashville series. That's pretty stunning, given the regular season success, and something I cannot see continuing. They did win all three home games in their first round series, outscoring Minnesota 12-3. In fact, they won their first four home playoff games w/ a 19-7 scoring edge. So that's a 36-7-2 SU record before dropping three of the last four. (You can see why I think it's likely they get back on track here). This is also tied for the longest overall losing streak of the Jets' season (3 games). Only twice during the regular season did they lose three in a row. Both of those streaks were entirely comprised of road games. In each instance, they came back and won the next time out at home. The final scores of those two games were: 5-1 and 6-2. 

The Jets have outshot the Knights in all four games of this series and certainly "looked" like the better team in the third period Friday. But it was still not enough as they lost 3-2 to put themselves on the brink. Part of the issue is that Golden Knights' goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is having himself a phenomenal postseason as his save percentage is .945. But I'm not confident he can sustain that, especially going against a team that has proven itself so prolific in goal scoring here at home. Counterpart Connor Hellebuyck has not had a great series by comparison, but the Jets are 35-10 SU this season when he starts at home. 10* Winnipeg

8* Seattle (4:10 ET): You've got to give a lot of credit to the Mariners in this series as they easily could have rolled over like dogs in the wake of the Robinson Cano suspension. Instead though, they've roared like lions and are now in a position to take three of four from the visiting Tigers. After the teams exchanged one-run victories in the first two games of this series, Seattle won easily last night, 7-2, behind another strong effort from starter James Paxton, who threw a three-hit complete game. Detroit has now lost 9 of its last 10 games at Safeco Field and tonight must deal with another hot Seattle starter, that being Wade LeBlanc. Look for the M's to make it three in a row here. 

LeBlanc has a 0.60 ERA and 0.733 WHIP after three starts and has been outstanding in all of them. He's allowed just one run in 15 innings of work (on a solo homer) and has a 10-1 KW ratio. He's allowed just 10 hits. Last time out, he tossed six scoreless innings against Minnesota in his longest - and strongest - effort to date. Whether or not he can maintain this over a full season - he's 33 and been designated for assignment seven times in his career - remains to be seen. But I'm confident that he should keep rolling against these Tigers, who I'll remind you are just 79-106 on the road the L3 seasons. Detroit has also scored just nine runs total in this series. 

The Tigers counter here w/ Francisco Liriano, who is off his roughest outing of the season to date. He allowed five runs - and gave up two home runs - in just 4 2/3 IP against Cleveland. Fortunately for him though, he was bailed out late and the team won 9-8. Liriano had certainly pitched well before that, but he also hasn't made it past the fifth inning in B2B starts. I just don't like his - nor his team's chances Sunday against a Seattle team that is a "sneaky good" 26-19 this year, just 2.5 games back of the division leading Astros! 8* Seattle

10* Under D'backs/Mets (1:05 ET): For the 1st time in a month, the Mets have won B2B games. I was on them Friday as they prevailed 3-1 behind a strong effort from starter Jacob deGrom, who achieved a career high 13 strikeouts. The team then won a very foggy game yday, 5-4, after rallying for three runs in the final two frames. As I wrote in my analysis for Friday's opener, neither club came into this series playing well. The Mets' 11-1 start is a "thing of the past" as they'd go onto drop 19 of their next 28 under 1st year manager Mickey Callahan. Arizona similarly got off to a red-hot start (21-8) and as a result has led the NL West "wire to wire" so far. But they too have "hit the skids," losing 9 out of the last 10 games. Neither team's offense has done much to impress me in this series - or beyond, for that matter - and I'm on the Under Sunday. 

Having Noah Syndergaard on the mound this afternoon should certainly give Mets' fans hope that they can pull off their first sweep since April 9-11 in Miami. Syndergaard checks in as a heavy favorite on the money line and for good reason, as he has yet to allow more than 3 ER in any of his nine starts this season. Last time out, he allowed just two runs on five hits in what ended up being a very easy 12-2 win over Toronto. Syndergaard has a 2.89 ERA in three career starts vs. the D'backs and should flourish this time around as the entire Arizona offense is in a giant slump. Not once over the L10 games have the D'backs scored more than four runs. A strong effort from Syndergaard and the Mets here could lead to a situation where we avoid having to play the bottom of the ninth, which sometimes can be the difference between winning and losing an Under bet.

It's a familiar name pitching for Arizona today, though not one we've seen in 2018, let alone in a D'backs' uniform. Clay Buchholz will toe the rubber for the 1st time since April of last year when his opponent was - ironically - these same Mets. Buchholz, then a member of the Phillies, did not fare well that day as he allowed six runs in just 2 2/3 IP. A torn flexor tendon in his right arm ended last season, but now he's back and ready to show he still belongs in a big-league rotation. Facing the Mets anemic offense should be an ideal spot as this is a team that had scored three runs or fewer in 8 of 10 games going into yday. The Mets are tied for 27th in all of MLB in runs scored. 10* Under D'backs/Mets

10* Houston (8:05 ET): The Rockets tied up this best of seven Western Conference Finals w/ a convincing 127-105 win in Game 2. It feels as if that game took place "eons ago," (Wednesday to be exact), so allow me to remind you that Houston's back was really "up against the wall" in that one as the chances of them overcoming a 2-0 series deficit to the Warriors, with both losses coming at home, was next to nil. Now the scene shifts to Oakland for Game 3 and it's no surprise that the Dubs are prohibitive favorites to reassert control in the series. However, I see them being favored by too many here as I'll remind you that Houston was the better team - whether you're talking record, net efficiency or point differential - in the regular season. Take the points here.

It's not as if the Rockets' postseason performance should result in any sort of "downgrade" here either. Like Golden State, they needed just five games to advance past their first two opponents. Tonight marks the first time in these playoffs that they will be an underdog. After basically failing to exceed their season average in points per game six straight times, Houston finally "woke up" offensively in Game 2, scoring 127 points on 51.1% shooting and they made 16 three-pointers. It's not like the team's scoring average dips that much on the road where they are averaging over 110 PPG for the season. They also have the best road record in the league mind you at 34-11 SU. They've won the L3 road games, one in Minnesota and two in Utah, by an average of almost 18 PPG (all by 13 or more).

Now Golden State is obviously a "step up" from those two aforementioned teams (actually, SEVERAL steps up), but with the points this is more than "doable" for the Rockets and, in fact, I believe they can take this game straight up. Yes, Kevin Durant has been as good as any player not named "LeBron James" in these playoffs. But what about Steph Curry? He is averaging only 17.0 PPG and has missed 11 of 13 three-point attempts. The "knee-jerk" reaction would be to call for a breakout performance here in Game 3, but I'm not so sure of that. Plus, Houston scores so much that the Warriors' margin for error in covering this spread is pretty small. That's if they even win. Note that the Dubs are just 10-22 ATS when facing an opponent w/ a winning record the second half of the season. This one can go either way, so I'm definitely taking the points. 10* Houston