Ruutu leads Penguins over Devils
Hockey Betting Lines
02/17/2007 -
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jarkko Ruutu scored a pair of goals to
guide the Pittsburgh Penguins past the New Jersey Devils, 5-4, at Continental
Airlines Arena.
Sidney Crosby added a goal and an assist while Marc-Andre Fleury came up with
27 saves for the Penguins, who have won five in a row and have now registered
a point in 15 consecutive contests. With the victory, Pittsburgh pulled within
five points of the Devils for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Brian Rafalski and Patrik Elias had a goal and an assist each for New Jersey,
which has dropped two of its last three outings. Martin Brodeur had an
uncharacteristic night, allowing five goals on 24 shots.
Pittsburgh jumped all over the Devils from the start, and built up a 3-0 lead
by the end of the first period.
The first goal of the contest came just 3:02 in, as Josef Melichar's shot from
the left point was deflected in front by Ruutu before slipping past Brodeur.
The road team struck again just over two minutes later to establish a 2-0
advantage. Seconds after the Devils were whistled for a penalty, Robert
Scuderi took a feed from Melichar just above the right circle and fired a shot
that made it through traffic in front and in.
The Penguins upped their lead to 3-0 with 2:06 remaining in the opening
stanza, when Michel Oullet corralled the puck and fed a blind backhanded feed
in front that was tapped in by Jordan Staal.
Rafalski put his club on the board 7:29 into the second with a wrister from
the right circle, but Crosby countered with his 26th goal of the season to re-
establish a three goal edge.
Elias then cut the deficit to 4-2 with 7:26 remaining in the middle stanza,
only to see Ruutu counter with a rebound putback just over four minutes
later.
New Jersey made things interesting down the stretch, however.
Zach Parise netted his 23rd marker of the season at the 2:38 mark, then a
fluky goal by Travis Zajac made it a one-goal game with 11:10 remaining. The
centerman cruised into the zone and released a seemingly harmless slapshot
from just inside the blue line that caromed off the glove of Fleury and in.
The netminder and his defense rebounded to pitch a shutout the rest of the
way, though, to seal the win.
Game Notes
The last time the Penguins lost in regulation was January 10 versus the
Florida Panthers...This was Ruutu's first two-goal game of the
year...Pittsburgh finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while New Jersey went 1-
of-4.
<< Harrington, Mickelson share lead at Riviera
Pacific Palisades, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Padraig Harrington carded a three-
under 68 Friday and Phil Mickelson posted a six-under 65 to share the lead
near the end of the second round at the Nissan Open.
Harrington and Mickelson sta
<< Yow-zer: NC State downs No. 2 UNC
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On the day that NC State named its basketball
court after women's head coach Kay Yow, the Wolfpack rewarded their long-time
leader with a 72-65 upset win of second-ranked North Carolina at Reynolds
Coliseu
<< Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA)
Signed guard Marta Fernandez.
<< Illini's Jamar Smith out for season; Carlwell out of hospital
Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Illinois head coach Bruce Weber announced
Friday sophomore center Jamar Smith will miss the remainder of the season
after being involved in a traffic accident Monday night.
Freshman center Brian Car
<< Several MLB rules changed for 2007
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball announced a number of
changes for in-game rules, starting this season.
This marks the first time that the rules have been changed since 1996, when
the strike zone was redefined.
Norrena, Blue Jackets blank Sharks >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Fredrik Norrena blocked all 29 shots
faced for his third shutout, as the Columbus Blue Jackets blanked the San Jose
Sharks, 3-0, at Nationwide Arena.
Fredrik Modin, Gilbert Brule and Sergei Fedorov
Sprague wins truck opener at Daytona >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jack Sprague captured the first Craftsman
Truck Series event of 2007. The No.60 Toyota crossed the finish line just
a few feet ahead of Johnny Benson.
The victory was Sprague's first of the season an
Blues finally beat Predators >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manny Legace stopped 19 shots for his fifth
shutout of the season and 18th of his career, as St. Louis snapped a 14-game
losing streak to Nashville with a 1-0 win over the Predators.
Bill Guerin scored
Chela advances to quarterfinals in rainy Brazil >>
Costa do Sauipe, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth seed Juan Ignacio Chela had
to wait an extra day, but finished off a straight-set win over Spaniard Ruben
Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals at the $456,000
Brasil
Patriots place franchise tag on Samuel >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots put the franchise tag
on cornerback Asante Samuel, which should keep the 26-year-old standout with
the organization for at least one more year.
A fourth-round pick in the 2003 NFL
Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook
Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds. The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.
Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.
Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).
Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.
World Series odds
Adam Dunn 15-1
Albert Pujols 5-1
Alex Rodriguez 12-1
Alfonso Soriano 15-1
Andruw Jones 25-1
Barry Bonds 50-1
Carlos Delgado 40-1
David Ortiz 8-1
Jermaine Dye 40-1
Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1
Lance Berkman 40-1
Manny Ramirez 20-1
Richie Sexson 40-1
Ryan Howard 6-1
Travis Hafner 20-1
Vladimir Guerrero 40-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards
|
