Nick Parsons Premium Picks

This is a FREE PLAY on the New Jersey Devils.

These teams are evenly matched, but the home side comes in as the more motivated club and I expect it to find a way to get the job done at the end of the night.

The Wings are 13-8 overall, and 3-1 in their last four after a tough OT home win over Columbus. But after three straight home contests, I think Detroit will have difficulty maintaining its motivation here in this particular contest.

The Devils are 13-7 overall, but they return home after going 2-3 on their road trip, including losing the final three. Because of the way that road trip ended with three straight losses, it's safe to say that the Devils won't be "looking past" their dangerous opponent on Monday night.

Overall the Wings are averaging 2.9 goals per game, which ranks 25th, while conceding 3.2, which ranks 23rd.

The Devils, on the other hand, are averaging 3.0 goals per game, which ranks 18th, while allowing 3.0 goals per game as well, which is also ranked 18th.

Cam Talbot is 9-2 with a 2.66 goals against for Detroit, while Jakob Markstrom 5-3-1 with a 3.83 GAA for the Devils.

Talbot has the better stats to this point, but I believe these goaltenders are essentially a "wash," especially with Markstrom getting the advantage of playing at home.

Detroit has exceeded expectations to this point, but regression does feel imminent at some point to me. While the Wings enter with a pedestrian 5-4 road record, the Devils enter with a perfect 7-0-1 record at home.

IF New Jersey lost its first two games of that road trip, and then won the final three, I'd almost assuredly be going against the Devils in this spot.

But after the three straight losses, I expect the focused and determined home side to risk life and limb today to find a way to get the job done.

Considering the overwhelming situational circumstances working in favor of the Devils in this spot in my opinion, I believe this is a very fair price to pay on the home side in this matchup.

Consider NEW JERSEY on Monday.

Good luck, NP

This is a NFC TOM on the UNDER Panthers/49ers.

For a number of different reasons I'm expecting the Monday nighter to be a lower-scoring defensive battle, rather than a higher-scoring shootout.

San Francisco is 7-4, including 2-2 straight up and 1-3 against the spread at home, while Carolina is 6-5 overall, including 3-3 SU and 4-2 ATS on the road.

The 49ers have been trading wins and losses over their last nine games and they're coming off a high-scoring 41-22 victory at Arizona. The week prior they lost 42-26 at home to the Rams.

San Francisco is playing in a tough division this year, with the Seahawks at 7-3 and the Rams at 8-2.

Overall the 49ers average 349.4 yards per game, which ranks tenth, while conceding 352.9, which ranks 25th.

They've struggled against the pass, conceding 249.1 YPG, but they catch a break this week facing Bryce Young and the Panthers.

San Francisco has been decent against the run, conceding 103.8 rushing yards per game, which ranks 12th.

One week after getting crushed 40-9 by Buffalo, the Panthers then won 16-13 at Green Bay as a 13.5-point dog. Then it lost 17-7 at home as a 5.5-point favorite to the Saints.

And then last week Carolina survived a 30-27 overtime win at Atlanta as a 3.5-point underdog.

So which team shows up this week is the big question for the Panthers, but as I mentioned, they've been very competitive on the road all year, entering 4-2 against the spread as the visitor.

Carolina's strength, though, has not been on the offensive end, as it averages 314.3 yards per game, which ranks 22nd.

The Panthers have been better on the defensive end, conceding 325.9 yards per game, ranked 15th.

Considering some of the issues that each team has had to deal with this year, I'd say that both have exceeded most pundits expectations to this point.

I see a highly-competitive battle being a very defensive one, where field position, the men in the trenches, and the team that protects the ball the best will eventually come out on top.

This one has UNDER written all over it!

Good luck, NP