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03/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One day after getting a season-long road trip off to a desired start, the Boston Bruins will try to keep up their recent success in enemy venues when they visit Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena this afternoon for a battle with the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins.
Boston began its current seven-game trek with Saturday's 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders, the Bruins' sixth triumph in their past seven games. Four of those wins came on a road stretch from February 7-13 that preceded the NHL's break for the Winter Olympics.
David Krejci and Marc Savard scored within a 4 1/2-minute span in the second period to snap a 1-1 tie and back an excellent performance from goaltender Tim Thomas, who racked up 37 saves in his second consecutive start.
Thomas, the 2008-09 Vezina Trophy winner, had been supplanted by Tuukka Rask as Boston's No. 1 netminder last month after a string of inconsistent showings, but has been called upon to start the team's past two contests after Rask hurt his knee in Tuesday's 4-1 loss to Montreal. He responded by stopping 24-of-26 shots against Toronto on Thursday, then thwarted all three skaters he faced in the shootout to help the Bruins to a 3-2 decision over the Maple Leafs.
Rask is considered day-to-day with his injury, making Thomas a likely candidate to draw the assignment again this afternoon. The 35-year-old made 27 saves to shut out the high-scoring Penguins in Boston on November 10, but struggled in a 6-5 overtime defeat at the Igloo four days later.
Thomas and the Bruins will have to deal with a Pittsburgh squad that had its offense cranking in Saturday's matchup against Dallas, with Sidney Crosby amassing two goals and an assist to lead the Pens to a 6-3 rout.
Jordan Staal and Chris Kunitz had a goal and an assist in the win, Pittsburgh's third in a row since returning from the Olympic shutdown. Alexei Ponikarovsky, acquired Tuesday in a trade with Toronto, also lit the lamp in his Penguins debut.
Marc-Andre Fleury, coming off a shaky outing in Thursday's 5-4 overtime win over the New York Rangers, rebounded with 27 saves to record his 30th victory of the season.
"We always know he bounces back," said Crosby of Fleury. "It's going to happen, we all have tough nights. He responds the best way possible every time."
One Pittsburgh player who didn't have a hand in Saturday's offensive outburst was Evgeni Malkin. The star center had a career high-tying 15-game point streak, in which he had piled up nine goals and 15 assists, come to an end after being kept off the scoresheet by the Stars.
The win pushed the Penguins' lead on idle New Jersey to three points for first place in the Atlantic Division and improved them to 20-10-3 at home for the season.
Boston's surge has propelled the 2008-09 Northeast Division champions into seventh place in the Eastern Conference, one point better than Montreal and three ahead of Atlanta and the Rangers in the tightly-bunched playoff race.
"We've won two in a row which is a good thing, but there's areas where we can do better," said Thomas after Saturday's game. "At this point in the year, we need as many wins as we can get so we're not going to complain about them too much."
The Bruins are an impressive 11-3-2 with two ties over their last 18 visits to Mellon Arena, but have come out on the losing side in each of their past two games as the visitor in this series.
<< Flames aim for revenge against division-rival Wild
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames will have an opportunity to avenge a
recent shutout loss to the Minnesota Wild when the two Northwest Division foes
face off for the second time in less than a week this afternoon at the XCel
Energy Center.
<< 30 Something: Durant, Thunder visit Kings
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder will close out a
three-game road trip Sunday against the Sacramento Kings at ARCO Arena.
Durant led the Thunder to a 104-87 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on
Friday, pu
<< Predators to host Canucks in key conference clash
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Vancouver Canucks continue on a record sequence
of road games, the Nashville Predators have been enjoying their time at home
as of late.
The playoff-hopeful Predators shoot for a third straight win at Bridgestone
<< Raptors face home test vs. Sixers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors have been solid defenders of their home
floor and will try to keep it that way Sunday afternoon versus the Atlantic
Division-rival Philadelphia 76ers at Air Canada Centre.
The playoff-hopeful Rapto
Celtics return home to face Wizards >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics will face another inferior foe from the
Eastern Conference tonight, when they return home to take on the Washington
Wizards at TD Garden.
Boston battled back in Friday's 96-86 victory over the Phila
Playoff-hopeful Rockets make a stop at Detroit >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets are still fighting for a playoff spot
in the crowded Western Conference. Their chances of gaining ground in the race
look promising with tonight's matchup against the slumping Detroit Pistons at
The Pal
Lakers take losing streak to Orlando >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant and the suddenly-slumping Los Angeles Lakers
have dropped two straight games and hope to get back on track Sunday afternoon
against Eastern Conference power Orlando at Amway Arena.
In a rematch of last yea
Thrashers, Canes to face off in clash of surging Southeast squads >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing at home has been good as of late for the Atlanta
Thrashers, who head back to Philips Arena tonight to take on the Carolina
Hurricanes in a Southeast Division showdown.
Atlanta has won its last three tests as the ho
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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