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Canucks aim for playoff berth in AnaheimHockey Betting Lines04/02/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though the Ducks have been playing playoff-caliber hockey over the last few weeks, it is the Canucks who again have a chance to lock up a postseason berth tonight. Vancouver will try to halt a four-game road losing streak this evening against an Anaheim squad that has won its last five games at the Honda Center. The Canucks actually had a chance last night to claim their second straight trip to the postseason, but they were instead routed by the hosting Kings, 8-3. Vancouver can still get in this evening with a point in this game or any type of loss by ninth-place Calgary, which visits Colorado tonight. The Avalanche trail the Canucks by seven points for first place in the Northwest Division. Kyle Wellwood scored a pair of goals and Ryan Kesler also tallied for the Canucks, who have lost four of their last six. "It definitely wasn't one of our best performances of the year," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "At the same time, we had quite a few players that didn't have a very good game and the score obviously indicated that." Already without 30-goal scorer Mikael Samuelsson (shoulder) and defenseman Shane O'Brien (disciplinary), Daniel Sedin missed the contest due to back spasms and Alex Burrows left early after getting hit in the throat by the puck. Samuelsson, Sedin and Burrows have combined for 89 goals and 193 points this season. Samuelsson might return this weekend after sitting out the last seven games, while Sedin and Burrows' status for tonight is unknown. Henrik Sedin had an assist last night to up his NHL-leading points total to 105, but Roberto Luongo allowed all eight goals on 29 shots. Vancouver could go with Andrew Raycroft tonight after deciding not to use him in relief Thursday. Raycroft is 3-1-0 with a 3.39 goals-against average and .880 save percentage lifetime versus Anaheim, splitting two starts against the club this season. The Ducks picked up their third straight win on Wednesday and helped the Canucks out in the process by handing the Avalanche a 5-2 defeat. Jason Blake matched a club record with five points on a goal and career-high four assists, while Teemu Selanne netted the 601st goal of his career to match Jari Kurri for 17th on the all-time list and for the most scored in the NHL by a Finnish skater. "It's a big honor," Selanne said of tying Kurri. "When I was young I would have never expected this. He was my idol." Saku Koivu registered a goal and three assists and both Steve Eminger and Scott Niedermayer scored for the Ducks, who have also won seven of their last nine games to go along with their home winning streak and are 24-11-3 as the host this season. Despite Anaheim's recent run, it is seven points back of the eighth-place Avalanche in the West with six games to play. Curtis McElhinney made 27 saves in the win, as Jonas Hiller missed his second game in a row with back spasms. Hiller is questionable for tonight, meaning McElhinney should make his first ever start versus Vancouver. Ryan Getzlaf, the team leader with 50 assists, is also likely to miss his fourth game in a row with a sprained left ankle. The Ducks won their first two meetings with the Canucks this year by a 10-4 margin, stretching their series winning streak to four games, before a 4-1 setback at Vancouver on March 24. Anaheim has still won two straight and four of its last six at home over Vancouver.
<< Flames visit Avs for important West battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Avalanche want to strengthen their hold on the Western Conference's final playoff spot, they need to keep doing what they have been doing all season. That is, beat the Flames. Colorado will try to increase its lead
<< Stars and Oilers clash in Big D
<< Eastern powers collide as Cavs host Hawks
<< Sharks hope to avoid defeat against Wild
<< Blackhawks visit Devils in matchup of playoff-bound clubs
Heat put win streak to the test in Indy >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat put a season-best six-game winning streak on the line in tonight's matchup with the suddenly-dangerous Indiana Pacers from Conseco Fieldhouse. The Heat appear to be playing their best ball of the season
Bucks, Bobcats collide in Charlotte >>
Bulls hit the road to Washington >>
Purdue signs Painter through 2016-17 season >>
Eagles send Brown, Gocong to Browns for Hall, picks >>
FOOTBALL BETTING LINESNFL Football Sports BettingTwo playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count. New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend. His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates. HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game. The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup. RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day. First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08. The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition. These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years. New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5. You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff! Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
Betting the NFL preseasonRule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games." When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night. The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine. “I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.” The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark. “We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.” The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long. “It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.” Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play. “You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt." So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps? “Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says. Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins. Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet. Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter. “If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says. Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider. The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason. “We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003. Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
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