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02/13/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins appear to have rediscovered their winning ways following one of the worst stretches in their history. The Florida Panthers, on the other hand, are still searching for answers in matching their longest losing streak of the season.
The Panthers will be out to avoid a sixth consecutive defeat when they host the resurgent Bruins tonight at the BankAtlantic Center in the final game for both teams before the Olympic break.
Boston went 0-6-4 during a 10-game span from January 16-February 6, but have since rebounded with three straight victories to open a road trip that concludes tonight. After besting fellow Northeast Division members Montreal and Buffalo to begin the swing, the Bruins held on for a wild 5-4 triumph over Tampa Bay Thursday at the St. Pete Times Forum.
The Bruins roared to a commanding 4-0 lead after one period, with Michael Ryder scoring two of those goals and adding an assist, and extended the margin to five early in the second period on Milan Lucic's second tally of the night. The Lightning's Martin St. Louis would light the lamp twice before the end of the middle stanza, however, and a pair of goals by Steve Downie in the third brought Tampa within 5-4.
Boston would hold off the Lightning the rest of the way, though, with Tampa Bay mustering only one shot after Downie scored his second goal with 3:13 left to play.
"I'm happy with the win. Those two points are so valuable right now," said Boston head coach Claude Julien afterward. "I think we deserved to win, but we certainly did everything to shoot ourselves in the foot and make it exciting."
Tuukka Rask made 31 saves for Boston in his fifth straight start between the pipes. The youngster has replaced the struggling Tim Thomas as the team's regular netminder for the time being and has posted a 1.90 goals-against average and .942 save percentage since taking over for the reigning Vezina Trophy winner.
The Bruins, who led the Eastern Conference with 116 points last season, are presently tied with Tampa Bay for the final playoff spot in the East with 63 total points.
They'll be trying to pick up two more at the expense of a reeling Panthers team that has generated a mere four goals over its five-game skid and was shut out for the second time during the losing streak on Thursday, when Vancouver's Roberto Luongo turned aside all 31 shots he faced in the Canucks' 3-0 win.
"[The puck] just isn't going in right now," said Panthers defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. "We just have to keep working hard, and hopefully the next game we get the bounces."
Tomas Vokoun finished with 32 saves for Florida, which also lost five in a row between November 23-30. The Panthers' last six-game slide occurred between October 25-November 8, 2008.
These teams have split two previous meetings this season, with the Bruins' earning a 2-1 decision at the BankAtlantic Center on December 27 behind 25 saves from Thomas. The win was Boston's fourth in its last five visits to Sunrise.
<< Flyers, Canadiens wrap testy home-and-home set at Bell Centre
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to sweep their second
home-and-home series this week when they visit Montreal and the Bell Centre
this evening just over 24 hours after besting the Canadiens at home on Friday
night.
The F
<< San Diego heads north to take on No. 16 Gonzaga
Spokane, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After capturing sole possess of first place in
the West Coast Conference, the 16th-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs will play host to
the San Diego Toreros this evening at the McCarthy Athletic Center.
The Toreros are s
<< Runnin' Rebels visit Aztecs in Mountain West showdown
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 23rd-ranked Runnin' Rebels of UNLV try to
remain in the national spotlight this afternoon as they make the trip to San
Diego State to challenge the Aztecs in a Mountain West Conference bout at
Viejas Arena.
<< K-State hopes to avoid upset in home bout with Colorado
Manhattan, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Kansas State Wildcats try to
make school history today as they shoot for their 20th win of the season when
they suit up against the Colorado Buffaloes in a Big 12 Conference showdown at
Bramlage
Soderling tops Davydenko in Rotterdam semis >>
Rotterdam, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sweden's Robin Soderling toppled
Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in the first of Saturday's semifinals at the ABN
AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
The third-seeded Soderling earned a 7-6 (7-3), 6-
Dementieva outlasts Oudin to reach Paris final >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Elena Dementieva of Russia rallied from a set
down to beat American Melanie Oudin in the semifinals of the GDF Suez tennis
tournament.
The top-seeded Dementieva posted a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over last year
Sixers should feel obligated to keep Iguodala >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I'm not a big fan of obligation.
Albert Einstein once said "It is every man's obligation to put back into the
world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it." While I'm not
claiming to be on the
Michigan State ends slide with win over Lions >>
University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kalin Lucas scored 24 points in his
return to the starting lineup, as 10th-ranked Michigan State halted a three-
game skid with a 65-54 victory over Penn State at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Lucas in
Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year
Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.
Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.
With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.
Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.
Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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