03/20/2008 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Franzen's third-period goal proved to the game-winner, as the Detroit Red Wings downed the Nashville Predators, 6-3, at the Sommet Center.
Pavel Datsyuk scored twice for the Red Wings, who lead the Western Conference and NHL with 104 points. Dominik Hasek stopped 26-of-29 shots to pick up his 23rd win of the season.
Alexander Radulov lit the lamp twice for the Predators, who have dropped two straight and five of their last six games overall. Martin Erat also scored, while J.P. Dumont had two assists. Dan Ellis allowed two goals on 13 shots before he was lifted in favor of Chris Mason, who finished the game 19 saves.
Nashville remains four points back in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the west.
The Predators tallied twice early in the third period to erase a two-goal deficit.
Shortly after Nashville killed off a 5-on-3 power play, Radulov ripped a shot that beat Hasek on the short side at 2:17. Twenty-two seconds later, Brian Rafalski was called for hooking and Nashville capitalized on the power play, as Erat snapped a wrister behind a screened Hasek at 4:35.
Detroit regained the lead on Franzen's 21st goal of the season at the 7:45 mark. Franzen collected the puck in the left corner, wheeled around the faceoff circle and fired a wrister that eluded Mason.
The Red Wings grabbed a 5-3 lead when Datsyuk broke in alone on Mason and fired a shot that beat the goaltender low to the stick side with 5:06 remaining. Datsyuk added an empty-net goal in the final minute to seal the win.
Radulov's first goal in 12 games opened the scoring with 3:11 remaining in the first period. On an innocent looking play, Radulov simply threw the puck harmlessly at the net, but the puck ricocheted off Kronwall's skate in the slot and slid between the legs of a stunned Hasek.
The Red Wings erupted for three unanswered goals in the second period to forge ahead 3-1.
Detroit knotted the score on Niklas Kronwall's seventh tally of the season. The defense carried the puck over the blue line and fired a wrister that handcuffed Ellis with 55 seconds gone in the frame. Chris Chelios then unleashed a slap shot from the point that managed to make its way through a maze of bodies and in behind Ellis at 4:15.
Rafalski capped the scoring barrage on the power play at 7:24 when he rifled a shot from the top of the left circle high over the left shoulder of Mason.
Game Notes
Erat played in the 400th game of his NHL career...Nashville's David Legwand missed his sixth straight contest with a bruised foot...Detroit finished 1- for-6 on the power play. Nashville went 1-for-5.
<< Penguins down Lightning, keep pace in Eastern Conference standings
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Malkin posted a goal and an assist,
as the Pittsburgh Penguins doubled up the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2, at Mellon
Arena.
Jarkko Ruutu, Jordan Staal and Petr Sykora also scored for the Penguins, w
<< Senators rally to edge road-weary Blues
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Spezza's second period goal gave Ottawa a
lead it would never relinquish as the Senators edged the struggling St. Louis
Blues, 3-2, at Scotiabank Place.
Antoine Vermette and Christoph Schubert also score
<< Beasley, K-State topple USC in first round upset
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freshman sensation Michael Beasley posted game-
highs with 23 points and 11 rebounds as Kansas State used a late surge to
discard Southern California, 80-67, in opening round action of the NCAA
Tournam
<< Canadiens continue domination of Beantown to take top spot in East
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Kovalev scored twice and added an assist,
as the Montreal Canadiens moved to the top of the Eastern Conference standings
with a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins.
Andrei Kastsitsyn finished with a goal a
Luongo, Canucks top Oilers to keep pace in crowded Northwest race >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roberto Luongo made 33 saves, as the Vancouver
Canucks defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1, at Rexall Place.
Trevor Linden, Daniel Sedin, Matt Pettinger and Taylor Pyatt all scored for
the Canucks, who have
Texas Three-Step: Celtics complete Lone Star sweep in Dallas >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Allen scored 21 points, and made a crucial
three-pointer in the final minute to help the Boston Celtics top Dallas,
94-90, at American Airlines Center.
Paul Pierce finished with 22 points and a seaso
Notre Dame has no trouble with George Mason; advances to second round >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Harangody scored 18 points and raked down
14 rebounds as the fifth-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish ripped George
Mason, 68-50, in East Region action of the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Kyle
Flames edge Avs to keep pace in logjammed Northwest >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Craig Conroy and Daymond Langkow each scored
in the first period as the Calgary Flames held on to edge the Colorado
Avalanche, 2-1, in a crucial Northwest Division contest.
Miikka Kiprusoff stopped
Rule 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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