Kings visit Blackhawks for clash between West powers
Hockey Betting Lines
03/10/2010 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the Western Conference's best teams will meet
tonight in the Windy City as the Chicago Blackhawks host the Los Angeles Kings
at United Center.
The Blackhawks are first in the Central Division and second in the West with
91 points. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is one of the league's biggest surprises
this year and is currently third in the Pacific and fifth in the conference
with 82 points.
The Kings and Blackhawks have split two meetings this year with each club
winning on its home ice. The teams have split the last six encounters overall,
but LA has lost three straight and four of its last five in Chicago.
Los Angeles avoided a third straight loss its last time out by posting a
convincing home victory Monday against Columbus.
Jonathan Quick needed to stop just 11 shots for his third shutout of the
season and Los Angeles scored four first-period goals on its way to a 6-0 rout
of the Blue Jackets.
"Mentally it can be a bit of a battle to stay focused a full 60 minutes, but
the team played great the whole game," Quick said. "It was real easy for me.
We had some big goals, and it was just a great game."
Alexander Frolov had a goal and three assists while Michal Handzus and Fredrik
Modin each added a goal and an assist for the Kings.
Kings leading scorer Anze Kopitar recorded an assist to push his point streak
to seven games. The Slovenian star has four goals and three assists during the
tear and leads all LA skaters with 68 points this year.
LA is 20-12-1 as the guest this year, but has lost two of its last three road
games. The Kings will cap a brief two-game swing Friday night in Dallas.
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are completing a four-game homestand this evening.
Chicago, which is 25-7-2 as the host this year, opened this residency with
back-to-back wins before getting dealt a close regulation loss by Detroit
Sunday. Andrew Ladd posted a hat trick for Chicago in the 5-4 loss, which saw
the Red Wings score all five of their goals in the second period.
The first three-goal game of Ladd's career wasn't enough for Chicago. Duncan
Keith had the other goal for the Blackhawks, who lead Nashville by 14 points
for first place in the Central.
Cristobal Huet started in net for Chicago and got pulled after yielding four
goals on 17 shots. Antti Niemi made seven saves the rest of the way.
Patrick Kane had an assist in the loss and extended his point-scoring streak
to eight games. He has four goals and nine helpers during the stretch.
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Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew earned a hard-fought 2-2
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League quarterfinal series in Columbus on Tuesday night.
Steven Lenhart scored tw
<< Mavs aim to push win streak to 13 vs. Nets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's worst team takes on its hottest when the New
Jersey Nets meet the Dallas Mavericks in Big D tonight.
Despite playing short-handed the Mavs earned their 12th straight victory on
Monday in Minneapolis whe
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break seemed to have caught up with the Devils in their most recent contest.
New Jersey now returns home for the first time in nearly a month this evening
when it pl
<< Raptors make a stop in Sacramento
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reeling Toronto Raptors aim to right the ship tonight
as they resume a four-game western road trip against the Sacramento Kings.
The Raptors are now fighting for their playoff lives after dropping the opener
of thei
<< Thunder return home to face Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Oklahoma City Thunder seem to be well on their
way towards ending a playoff drought, the New Orleans Hornets enter tonight's
showdown between these teams in danger of missing out of the postseason fray.
The injur
Pearce: Owen's England career not over >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The England door remains open to Michael
Owen despite his season-ending injury, according to Under-21 coach Stuart
Pearce.
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Bobcats hope to end road woes in Philadelphia >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" easily coincides
with how the Charlotte Bobcats have been playing this season. The road less
traveled would be the one headed towards Charlotte, and that's made all the
difference for
Heat begin key homestand with visit from Clippers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat are fighting for their playoff lives and
hope to gain some ground during a six-game homestand that starts with
tonight's matchup versus the Los Angeles Clippers at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat have won t
Spurs, Knicks square off in Alamo City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs will have to continue their playoff
push tonight against the New York Knicks without star guard Tony Parker.
The team did receive some good news on Monday, however, when it was learned
that Park
Surging Jazz shoot for another win over Pistons >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keeping up with Denver in both the Northwest Division and
Western Conference standings could get a bit easier tonight for the Utah Jazz,
who will shoot for their 10th straight win over the Detroit Pistons.
Utah has won 11
NFL Football Betting Online
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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