Art Aronson

This is an 8* on DETROIT +1.5 (PUCK LINE)

Detroit looks to “shock the world” on Friday as they host surging Pittsburgh. Although the Red Wings may have the fewest points in the league and the Penguins are 8-2-1 SU their last 11  games, we feel the underdog is likely to stay within a goal here and could pull the upset. That’s because Pittsburgh is coming in without rest having played in Boston last night. That hard fought game (a 4-1 loss) will have taken its toll and let’s not forget that before beating the Wild 7-3, the Pens previous three wins were all by one goal. Detroit is rested and while it comes off an awful 8-2 defeat at the hands of the Islanders, we think that will have them a little more motivated to come out and play hard Friday. Play Detroit +1.5 (PUCK LINE)

AAA

This is a 10* on WASHINGTON

We may have played against Washington two nights ago in Chicago, but here we like them getting the points against Toronto. It’s more points that they’re getting obviously and it comes at a time when the team is getting much healthier. In terms of making a run at the playoffs, it might be too late to save the season, but the Wizards are probably an undervalued team right now. As for Toronto, who has been dealing with its own set of injuries, they took care of business in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. It was a 130-121 win as a 1-pt underdog. But not since Christmas have the Raptors put together two straight  wins. This is probably their best shot to do so, but as mentioned earlier, it’s a very large number that they’ll be laying and it's to an opponent that averages 114.6 points/game. The Wizards led both at halftime and in the fourth quarter in Chicago. While they’ve gone 4-20 vs. Toronto going back seven seasons, they lost by just four here last month. The Raptors are 2-8 ATS in games with a total of 220 or more this season. Play on WASHINGTON  

AAA

This is a 10* on IONA

Iona is having a bad season (so far) but a lot of that can be attributed to the fact they haven’t played many home games. This will be just the fourth game all season at the Hynes Athletic Center for the Gaels, who have yet to win any of the previous three tries! As a result, it’s a 3-8 SU overall record and they’re 1-9 against the spread. After picking up a nice road win at Rider last Friday, the Gaels promptly dropped a one-point decision here to Niagara 70-69 as 8.5-point favorites. The fact they are favored again probably tells you all you need to know about the strength of the opponent, Fairfield, who is actually in off two straight wins. But those two wins came at home. While the Stags are 12-4 ATS overall and an unbelievable 9-1 ATS as underdogs, you have to think they’ve caught the eye of the oddsmakers and won’t be covering at that rate much longer. On the other hand, Iona is far too experienced a team to have these woes continue. Fairfield just played Wednesday when it knocked off St. Peters, whose leading scorer was held to only five points. Iona last played on Sunday so they are the “fresher” of the two teams and we’ll back them in this attractive spot. Play on IONA

AAA