Playing it straight on a Tuesday night

It's best to keep it simple here on this quiet Tuesday, as both the NHL and NBA slates are relatively small. We're loading up a pair of straight bets, one for each league.

Back the Canadiens to score tonight

As we scan the NHL board, the clearest spot for expected goals lies with Montreal. The Canadiens host the Buffalo Sabres this evening, a team that has been far looser when skating as the visitor. The Sabres are allowing nearly 34 shots per game and 3.8 goals per game on the road, and they are not dictating the shot pace when away from Buffalo. Montreal is averaging 3.5 goals per game at home, and they have gone over their team total in seven of 10 home games this season.

The last five games between these two teams to be played in Montreal have seen plenty of goals, particularly from the Canadiens, who have averaged 4.4 goals per game when hosting Buffalo since 2017. The Sabres' penalty kill is one of the NHL's worst, which should help aid some Montreal scoring tonight. Tonight, the Sabres goalie is expected to be Craig Anderson, who has allowed 12 goals in his last three starts. We're backing Montreal's team total, but if you'd like a specific goal scorer, might we recommend Cole Caufield at +140? Caufield has a goal in seven of 10 at home this year and poured on six shots against Buffalo when these two teams met in October.

Betting: Montreal Canadiens over 3.5 goals (+105 DK)

Expect points in this Kings-Grizzlies game

The Sacramento and Memphis contest this evening popped off the page relatively quickly thanks to how fast both teams play. The Kings and Grizzlies each rank inside the top 12 of possessions per game, otherwise known as pace. Not only do they play fast, but neither's defensive efficiency is something to write home about, as Sacramento's defense ranks third-worst and Memphis's is 11th-weakest.

That alone could be a reason to bet the over; fast offenses and struggling defenses are a solid recipe for points. The Kings in particular own an intriguing distinction as the league's highest-scoring team while also allowing the fifth-most points per game. The Grizzlies aren't far behind in either metric, which has us excited for this one, even with Ja Morant out of the lineup. 

Tonight's total is set at 232 points. These two teams met a few weeks ago, and the total tally reached 235. We've seen enough on our end to feel confident in another high-scoring affair. 

Betting: Kings-Grizzlies over 232 points (-110 DK)

In the news ...

World Cup roundup: U.S. draws, and Tuesday morning brings massive upset — A late penalty kick goal by Gareth Bale knotted the U.S.-Wales game at 1, and that's where the match ended. A tough penalty by U.S. defensemen Walker Zimmerman was the difference, and the result feels like a loss for the U.S. despite grabbing one point on Monday. They dominated the first half and were just 10 minutes from winning their first World Cup match in eight years. Earlier this morning, the largest upset victory in World Cup history went down, as Saudi Arabia beat Argentina as a 25-to-1 underdog.

Newest CFP rankings will be released tonight, keep an eye on USC — The latest batch of College Football Playoff rankings will be released tonight at 7 p.m. ET, and while the top four is going to remain the same, there are a handful of teams jockeying for a position in the playoff. The one we have our eye on is USC, who has entered the top 5 of the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2017. As it stands, the Trojans are +155 to make the playoff, behind Georgia (-20000), Ohio State (-750), TCU (-150), and Michigan (+150). Michigan-Ohio State this weekend will dictate much of what is to come in College, and TCU continues to find themselves in close games.

Users experiencing issues and potential fraud from DraftKings accounts — Consider this your friendly reminder to go ahead and change your passwords on all your sportsbooks accounts. News from the sports betting industry on Monday brought with it reports that some DK accounts were hacked, with users saying their accounts were drained. Both DraftKings and FanDuel sent notices suggesting users change their account passwords in the wake of this security breach. We'd recommend you take some time now and do so on your own books.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll