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Streaking Kings try to continue mastery of rival DucksHockey Betting Lines02/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings will be aiming to extend a franchise- record winning streak tonight. If recent history is any indication, the Anaheim Ducks may not be posing much of a problem towards achieving that feat. The Kings shoot for an unprecedented 10th consecutive victory, as well as a sixth straight triumph over the Ducks, when these two area rivals face off once again tonight at the Honda Center. Los Angeles established its new club mark with Saturday's 4-3 win over visiting Detroit, in which the Kings overcame a three-goal deficit after one period. The Kings stormed back on second-period goals by Alexander Frolov, Michal Handzus and Ryan Smyth to tie the contest, then went ahead when Handzus scored again with 2:21 left to play. "We have a lot of confidence right now, and we know that if we stick to our game most nights we will be successful," said Handzus. "We knew we did not play well in the first period. We came out a little flat, and they came to us pretty hard. We decided not to try and hit a home run, we just stuck to our game plan." Goaltender Jonathan Quick bounced back from a shaky beginning between the pipes by stopping all 15 shots he faced over the final two periods. The Kings' youngster turned aside only 5-of-8 chances during the opening frame. Saturday's victory came on the heels of a 6-4 decision over Anaheim Thursday at the Staples Center, where Los Angeles blew an three-goal advantage before regrouping to win. The Kings took a seemingly-comfortable 4-1 lead on Jack Johnson's one-timer through a Handzus screen 1:44 into the third period, but goals by Troy Bodie, Matt Beleskey and Ryan Carter within a span of just over six-minutes pulled the Ducks even. The game remained tied until 5:32 remaining in regulation, when the Kings' Dustin Brown knocked home a rebound of an Anze Kopitar shot. Kopitar, who racked up two goals and two assists in the wild win, later added some insurance with a power-play tally in the final minute. It's definitely not how we wanted to win, but in the end, we got two points and that's most important," said Kopitar afterward. "It shows we cannot let up in the third period. We need to shut these games down." Recently-acquired Jason Blake logged a goal and an assist for Anaheim, which had a three-game win streak come to an end, while Ryan Getzlaf set up two of the Ducks' scores. Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller allowed all six goals on 31 shots in Thursday's defeat. The Swiss standout had let up just one goal on 80 shots over his previous two outings, which came immediately after he signed a four- year contract extension. "We kind of lost our game," said Hiller of the loss. "We had to take some penalties and they scored two goals (on the power play). They were right back into the game. We fought back, had a chance and I think that's a positive." The Ducks have not played since Thursday's setback, giving them some additional time to try to work out their troubles in this series of late. Los Angeles has won the last five meetings between these Pacific Division foes and has amassed 14 goals over its three victories against Anaheim this season. Hiller has particularly struggled lately against the Kings, having recorded a subpar 4.59 goals against average in losing his last five starts versus Los Angeles. In contrast, Quick is 5-0-0 with a 2.60 GAA lifetime against Anaheim, although he managed to save only 18-of-22 shots in Thursday's game.
<< Devils, Flyers ready to renew rivalry
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ilya Kovalchuk will seek his first goal in a New Jersey Devils uniform when his new team visits the rival Philadelphia Flyers tonight at Wachovia Center for the opener of a home-and-home series between Atlantic Division foes.
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<< Giguere seeks to continue hot streak as Leafs host Sharks
<< Ramblers try to cool off red-hot Bulldogs
<< Jayhawks and Longhorns duke it out in Austin
Coyotes hope to rebound against visiting Oilers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After stumbling in their last trip to the ice, the Phoenix Coyotes will be seeking a bounce-back performance when they return to Jobing.com Arena tonight to take on an Edmonton Oilers squad trying to avoid setting a franchise
Bolton's Cahill could miss remainder of season >>
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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?" A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook. In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small. "Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets." But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?" Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year. This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here. Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions. In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries. No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning. And that's all any bettor can ask for. To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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 . |
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