Bruins shoot for seventh straight win in visit to Carolina
Hockey Betting Lines
12/27/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will aim for their seventh consecutive victory when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes for this evening's matchup at RBC Center.
The Bruins, who lead the Eastern Conference and Southeast Division with 54 points, haven't lost since falling at Washington on December 10. In addition to winning six straight, Boston has also posted a 20-2-1 record in its last 23 outings.
Boston is 2-0 so far on a five-game road trip that will keep the team busy for the rest of the calendar year. The Bruins are 12-4-3 as the visiting club and have won three straight and five of their last six on the road. Boston will visit Atlanta on Sunday before stopping in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
The most-recent victory for the Bruins came Tuesday evening at New Jersey. Tim Thomas made 25 saves for his third shutout of the season, as Boston notched a 2-0 win over the Devils at the Prudential Center.
Milan Lucic and David Krejci lit the lamp for the Bruins. Phil Kessel, who was sporting an NHL-best 18-game point streak coming into the game, was held pointless in the victory.
Lucic is now tied for the longest point streak in the NHL at eight games, while Krejci has reached the scoresheet in six straight tests. Todd White of Atlanta also has an eight-game point streak.
Carolina won for the second time in three games on Friday night, as they edged the Thrashers in Atlanta. Eric Staal's third-period hat trick helped the Hurricanes overtake Atlanta, 5-4, at Philips Arena.
Staal scored his first goal of the game at 7:27 of the third period to knot the score at 3-3. After Bryan Little gave Atlanta a 4-3 edge, Staal then scored two more goals in a span of just over one minute around the midway point of the period to put the 'Canes ahead for good.
Chad LaRose and Patrick Eaves notched the other two goals for the Hurricanes, who have earned points in eight of their last 10 games, going 5-2-3 during that span.
Ray Whitney collected three assists, while Cam Ward made 27 saves to pick up his 12th win of the season. Whitney has recorded a point in five straight games and has two goals and seven helpers during the run.
This evening's test marks the first of a three-game homestand for the Hurricanes, who are 9-8-1 as the host this year. Carolina has won three in a row on home ice after dropping its previous five tests in Raleigh.
Boston earned a 4-2 home win over the Hurricanes on December 20 in the first of four meetings between the clubs this year. The Bruins have won the last two encounters, but Carolina has still taken six of nine matchups in the series. The Bruins have won two of their last three games in Raleigh.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will kick off a four-game road trip when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins for this evening's battle at Mellon Arena. The Canadiens have played just one road game so far in December and that was a
<< Isles visit Sabres, aim for consecutive wins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off their first win in December, the New York
Islanders will try for back-to-back victories when they visit the Buffalo
Sabres for tonight's matchup at HSBC Arena.
The Islanders ended their longest losing streak in 1
<< Rolling Magic pay a visit to Minnesota
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Orlando Magic shoot for their seventh
straight win Saturday when they begin a three-game road trip against the
hapless Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center.
The Magic finished a perfect
<< Hawks continue homestand with Bulls
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks resume a season-long eight-game homestand
Saturday when they welcome the Chicago Bulls to Philips Arena.
The Hawks improved to 5-1 on the residency Tuesday when Joe Johnson recorded
his second career
<< Bobcats welcome Nets down south
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats will try to extend their winning
streak to a season high three straight games tonight when they welcome the New
Jersey Nets to town in the back end of a home-and-home set.
The Bobcats will also h
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to avoid a fourth straight loss and snap a lengthy scoreless drought when they invite the Philadelphia Flyers for tonight's interconference matchup at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets h
Rangers, Devils tangle at MSG >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers will try to avoid losing three
straight games for the first time this season when they welcome the rival New
Jersey Devils for an Atlantic Division showdown at Madison Square Garden.
The Devils and Ran
Bolts host Panthers in home-and-home finale >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning will shoot for a home-and-home
sweep as well as their third consecutive victory overall when they welcome the
Florida Panthers for a battle at St. Pete Times Forum.
The Lightning edged Florida in a
Stars begin homestand vs. Ducks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off their best offensive output of the year, the
last-place Dallas Stars begin a three-game homestand tonight against the
visiting Anaheim Ducks at American Airlines Center.
Just one season removed from a Western Co
Sharks try to continue dominance of Blues >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though the San Jose Sharks have been most vulnerable on the
road this year, they haven't had much trouble winning in St. Louis as of late.
They will try to extend their winning streak in the Gateway City to eight
games tonigh
Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
NFL Football Betting
BILLS (+10) at Steelers SPORTSBOOK LINES
It's impossible to gauge how a team will react after something like the Steve Everett situation, and it probably doesn't matter. That being said, the Bills are going to lose several games this year where they keep things close but fall short in the end to superior teams. Ben Roethlisberger and company could have a field day against Buffalo's decimated defense, but I like the Bills to cover.
BENGALS (-7) at Browns SPORTSBOOK LINES
All you can ask out of your NFL team is that it has a plan. You may not always agree with it as a fan, but as long as it appears the organization is going in some sort of direction, you have to go with it. Which brings us to the Cleveland Browns. You flip a coin to determine whether Chuck Frye or Derek Anderson should start the preseason opener. You start Frye in Week 1, but pull him in the first half. And then you deal him to the Seahawks for a sixth-round pick? Hmm... the Bengals could get six turnovers again this week.
COLTS (-7) at Titans SPORTSBOOK LINES
Tennessee signed ex-Colts cornerback Nick Harper in the offseason so that should help slow down Peyton Manning. Just ask Jason David and the Saints. Oh wait... One of these weeks, I'm going to learn to not pick against Tennessee, which has won seven of its last eight games. But it's not happening against Indy.
TEXANS (+6.5) at Panthers SPORTSBOOK LINES
Houston's Mario Williams, the first pick in the '06 draft, has more touchdowns than Reggie Bush after one week. Somehow I don't see that lasting. Meanwhile, Carolina bottled up what was expected to be a pretty high-octane offense in St. Louis in Week 1. Could this be the Panthers' defense everyone expected last year? Maybe. This feels like a 20-16 Carolina win.
RAMS (-3) vs. 49ers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Absolutely love this game. Everyone's favorite pick for this year's surprise team -- the 49ers -- laid an egg on Monday night (not that anyone was watching with the game ending in the middle of the night for those of us on the East Coast). St. Louis wasn't much better, delivering a lackluster effort against the Panthers that included two Steven Jackson fumbles and panic from his fantasy owners. Jackson rebounds this week, and the Rams get their first win.
PACKERS (+1.5) at Giants SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Do you really trust this guy to win an NFL game if Eli Manning can't go? I say no. I'd feel alot better about this Packers team if it had any semblance of a running game, but I still think Green Bay's defense is good enough to give it a 2-0 start.
JAGUARS (-10) vs. Falcons SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Does it scare me to pick Jacksonville to cover a double-digit spread after it scored just 10 points last week against the Titans? Absolutely. But can I bring myself to pick Atlanta under any circumstances? No. Check out this poll on ajc.com. It asks what Atlanta's most urgent deficiency is: offense, defense, specials teams or all of the above. "All of the above" has 57 percent of the votes. Ouch.
SAINTS (-3) at Buccaneers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
I'm picking way too many road teams this week. Oh well. New Orleans has had some time to reflect on its lackluster showing in the opener, and the Buccanneers just aren't a very good football team. Anyone else surprised Tampa Bay hasn't made a move to sign Byron Leftwich? I thought that's what they do.
VIKINGS (+3) at Lions SPORTS BETTING LINES
Run the ball and stop the run. Minnesota can do both, and that will keep them in a lot of games this season. Even though it was only one week, Adrian Peterson looks like he was a steal at No. 7 in last year's draft. Not only will he produce, but Peterson delivers excitement to what otherwise would be one of the league's most boring teams.
DOLPHINS (+3.5) vs. Cowboys SPORTS BETTING LINES
Lost in the Tony Romo lovefest is just how bad the Cowboys' defense was last week. I know they're banged up, but Dallas' 'D' allowed 438 yards to the Giants' offense, and backup running back Derrick Ward averaged 6.8 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Cam Cameron's decision to split carries between Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman sounds about as can't-miss as Larry David's plan to show up to Marty Funkhouser's party a night late. Still, gotta go with Miami to cover at home.
SEAHAWKS (-2.5) at Cardinals SPORTS BETTING LINES
I'm probably missing something, but this game seems too easy. Arizona blew Monday night's game against the 49ers in typical Cardinals fashion, and the Seahawks beat Tampa Bay by two touchdowns. Love Seattle in this one.
BRONCOS (-9.5) vs. Raiders SPORTS BETTING LINES
Special teams was a major story line in Week 1. Take a look at the Broncos. They had to rush on to the field to get a Jason Elam field goal as time expired against the Bills. Denver drove into Buffalo territory on eight of 10 drives but came away with just a pair of field goals and a touchdown. Look for more scoring from the Broncos this week against an Oakland defense that gave up 36 points to Detroit in Week 1.
BEARS (-12) vs. Chiefs SPORTS BETTING LINES
Everyone talks about Rex Grossman when dissecting the Bears' offense, but Chicago's quarterback got no help in last week's loss to the Chargers. Meanwhile, Kansas City confirmed what we all thought while watching Hard Knocks: The Chiefs are going to stink this year. It could be a rough first month for Larry Johnson fantasy owners. Kansas City's RB was limited to 43 yards on 10 carries in Week 1, and the Chiefs face the Bears, Vikings and Chargers the next three weeks, all formidable run defenses.
RAVENS (-10) vs. Jets SPORTS BETTING LINES
A big dose of Willis McGahee and a usual sound defensive effort will give the Ravens their first win. According to Football Outsiders, no team in the NFL rushed only three defenders on pass plays last year more than the Jets. And according to my special Jets correspondent Ben Stauber, New York did the same in Week 1. Whoever starts at quarterback for the Ravens should have all day to throw.
PATRIOTS (-3) vs. Chargers
Friends and I were discussing how Bill Belichick goes about paying his $500,000 fine for cheating. Does he just write one check to the NFL? Do you need some sort of clearance to make such a monstrous financial transaction? I guess I shouldn't complain about the security deposit I have to put down on my new apartment. Anyway, two of the league's best teams square off in what should be a good one Sunday night. The Patriots always respond well just when you think they're in trouble. And their offensive attack was the story in Week 1.
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting.