Red Wings aim to set new NHL home mark vs. Stars
Hockey Betting Lines
02/14/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will try to set a new NHL record for the longest home winning streak in league history when they host the Dallas Stars tonight at Joe Louis Arena.
Detroit matched a league standard with its 20th consecutive home win Sunday night against Philadelphia. The 4-3 regulation decision moved the Red Wings into a tie with the 1975-76 Flyers and 1929-30 Boston Bruins for the longest- ever home winning streaks and the Red Wings hope to have the record all to themselves after tonight.
The Red Wings haven't lost in the Motor City since a 4-1 setback against Calgary on Nov. 3 and Detroit is boasting a stellar 23-2-1 record at the Joe this season. The strong home play has helped offset a 15-15-1 road mark and is also a big reason Detroit is leading the Central Division, Western Conference and NHL with 78 points.
Detroit will also be trying to sweep the season series against the Stars after going 3-0 against Dallas so far in 2011-12. The Stars have won four of their last six games in Motown, but the Wings notched a 5-2 victory when the teams last met at the Joe on Nov. 12.
Johan Franzen scored 52 seconds into the third period on Sunday to break a 3-3 tie against the Flyers and the Red Wings were able to hold on for the win. Niklas Kronwall, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg also scored for the Red Wings, who are 3-0 at the start of a six-game homestand.
"It's been something special. Looking back, we've had some great teams over the last 20 years, but none that have been close to this record," said captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who played his 1,550th game -- all with Detroit. "So we should take a lot of pride in it."
Joey MacDonald had 26 saves in the latest victory, including 10 in the third period to keep the Flyers off the board. With regular No. 1 netminder Jimmy Howard sidelined with a broken finger, MacDonald has started the last four games for Detroit.
Howard suffered his finger injury on Feb. 2 and was originally expected to miss four-to-six weeks of action. That timeline has since changed dramatically and Howard could return to the crease as early as Friday's home test against Nashville.
In other injury news for Detroit, forward Danny Cleary is expected to miss a third straight game tonight with a lower-body issue.
The Stars are fighting desperately to stay afloat in the Western Conference playoff race, but losses in two straight and three of their last four games have not helped that cause. Dallas enters tonight as the 11th seed in the West and is four points behind the conference's final postseason berth.
After getting dealt a shootout loss Friday in Buffalo, the Stars returned to Texas and were handed Sunday's regulation loss by the Los Angeles Kings. LA scored the game's first two goals, but Dallas rallied to tie it at 2-2 by the early stages of the third period. The Kings, however, used the first goal of Jordan Nolan's NHL career and an empty-netter from Justin Williams to secure the win.
Loui Eriksson and Michael Ryder scored for the Stars, while Kari Lehtonen allowed three goals on just 15 shots in defeat.
"We didn't start well, that's for sure," Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We gave them a goal early and had to press from behind. We obviously weren't ready to play in the beginning."
Dallas is 13-13-1 as the road team this year and has lost four of its last six away from the Lone Star State.
Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray has missed the last two games with a foot injury and he is questionable for tonight. Dallas captain Brenden Morrow (neck/back) is still on injured reserve and sidelined indefinitely.
Morgantown, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - West Virginia and the Big East have agreed to settle their lawsuits, enabling the university to leave the conference and join the Big 12 in July. West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck would not d
<< Rangers, Bruins clash in Boston
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers have established themselves as the top
team in the East and the Blueshirts will try to increase their conference lead
when they visit the Boston Bruins tonight at TD Garden.
With 77 points, the Rangers
<< Sens begin road trip in Tampa
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After having little success on a recent five-game
homestand, the Ottawa Senators hope to have more luck when they kick off a
road trip tonight by battling the Tampa Bay Lightning at Tampa Times Forum.
The Senators went 1-2
<< Blues roll into Columbus
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues will try to extend their winning streak
to a season-high five games when they visit the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets
tonight at Nationwide Arena.
St. Louis is in the midst of its fifth four-game win stre
<< Devils try to bounce back in Buffalo
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils will try to get back in the win
column this evening when they visit the Buffalo Sabres for a clash at First
Niagara Center.
The Devils had won a season-high five straight heading into a two-game
home
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks continue to dig themselves out of an early-season hole that has made reaching the playoffs a difficult task. They'll try to pick up their latest victory over a Minnesota Wild team that continues to move sout
Blackhawks try to end lengthy slide in Nashville >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks didn't look like a team ready to
break out of their longest slump in four years the last time they hit the ice.
Doing so against the Nashville Predators may prove difficult as well.
The Blackhawks ho
Sliding Leafs shoot for rare win in Calgary >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Given that Toronto hasn't won in Calgary in over nine
years, the club didn't pick the best time to go on a three-game losing streak.
The Maple Leafs hope to avoid posting their longest skid of the season this
evening and s
Nets waive Bogans; sign Andre Emmett >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have waived guard
Keith Bogans, just a day after he underwent surgery that will keep him
sidelined for the remainder of the season.
Bogans had a torn deltoid ligament re
Gators take on Tide in Tuscaloosa >>
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-ranked Florida Gators seek a quick
turnaround, as they head to Coleman Coliseum for Southeastern Conference
competition with the short-handed Alabama Crimson Tide.
This game matches up an apprentice
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Betting Football
NFL Football Betting OnlineIs there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.