Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
02/07/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There may not be a more confident goaltender in the league right now than Nashville's Pekka Rinne. Vancouver should have plenty of positive feelings heading into Tuesday night after the way it won its last game.
The Predators look for their seventh victory in eight games and seventh in a row at home as they take on the Northwest Division-leading Canucks.
Nashville has posted the best record in the league since Dec. 28, going 14-3-0 and outscoring its opponents 55-33 in that span. Saturday's 3-1 triumph over St. Louis put the Predators a point ahead of the Blues for second place in the Central Division and Nashville enters tonight four points behind front-running Detroit for the most in the NHL.
Rinne has been a huge part of the Predators' recent run. He made a season-high 42 saves versus the Blues to extend his franchise-record win streak to 11 straight games. He made 19 of those stops in the third and hasn't lost since Jan. 5, giving up more than two goals just once over his win streak.
"I think the biggest thing is as a team we're playing consistent and well defensively," Rinne said of his win streak. "Confidence-wise, we have momentum going for us and we've been getting these one-goal games and a couple of huge comeback games. I think those kind of things just glue the whole team together and builds your confidence."
Rinne is just the fifth netminder since 1998-99 to post 11 straight victories in a season and he is 14-1-0 since Dec. 28 with a 1.72 goals-against average and .944 save percentage.
Martin Erat scored a goal and assisted on tallies by Sergei Kostitsyn and Mike Fisher for the Predators. Erat and Fisher both have 16 points in their past 17 games, while Kostitsyn has 15 in that span.
Vancouver comes in having won four of five while going 6-1-2 in its past nine, though it seemed like it was on its way to a regulation loss on Saturday in Colorado. The Canucks trailed by a goal late and the Avs' T.J. Galiardi sent the puck towards Vancouver's open net looking to seal things up.
However, Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa dove to prevent the puck from going in and then sent the game into overtime when he scored with 34.1 seconds to play. Mason Raymond then netted the lone goal of the shootout for an improbable 3-2 win.
"I just tried to put my body in front of it because it was a rolling puck and the ice was obviously bad, so I didn't want to risk swinging at it with my stick," said Bieksa.
"Then once we got into their zone, I'm not too sure what the puck hit, most likely a stanchion, but I just tried to put it on net because we had a pretty good screen in front."
Roberto Luongo made 44 saves for the Canucks, who own an 11-point lead in their division and trail the Red Wings by three in the overall NHL standings. Vancouver also moved to 4-11-5 when trailing after two periods this season.
Ryan Kesler netted his 16th goal of the season for the Canucks, giving him four tallies and an assist over a five-game point streak as well as goals in three straight.
The Canucks and Predators have split a pair of meetings so far this year, with both taking place in Vancouver. The two teams have combined for 17 goals in those encounters, though the Canucks' Daniel Sedin and Fisher are the only two skaters with multiple goals.
Sedin has five points in the two games and twin Henrik has four off a goal and three assists, while Colin Wilson is pacing the Preds with a goal and three helpers in the two meetings.
The Canucks have won six of their past eight during the regular season in Nashville, where the clubs are meeting for the first time since last season's Western Conference semifinals that Vancouver won in six games.
<< Surging Bolts host low-scoring Kings
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kings have struggled to score goals over the first two
games of their season-long road trip, failing to earn a point despite
excellent goaltending.
In fact, Lightning forward Martin St. Louis had more goals in his last
<< Elliott returns to Ottawa as Blues visit Sens
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators decided last season that they wanted to
upgrade their goaltending position. Now the man that they dealt away reappears
in town as an All-Star.
Brian Elliott makes his return to Scotiabank Place this eve
<< Pens close out road trip with test against Habs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins have gone through a rough patch to
begin February, but they'll try to get back on track tonight when they visit
the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
The Penguins ended January on an eight-game
<< Panthers, Caps again do battle for first place
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Another battle for first place in the Southeast Division is
on tap tonight, as the Washington Capitals host the Florida Panthers at the
Verizon Center.
Florida enters tonight with a one-point lead over the Capitals for the
Lehtonen, Stars welcome Coyotes to Big D >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time that Kari Lehtonen faced the Coyotes, the
Stars netminder suffered an injury that temporarily derailed his solid season.
The Finn has finally begun to find his form once again and carries a personal
three-gam
Sliding Blackhawks aim to get back on track in Denver >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to remain positive, but
that has been tough to do over their longest losing streak of the season. The
Colorado Avalanche are going through the same struggles, but at least the
'Hawks are stil
Zvonareva, Hantuchova advance; Cibulkova exits Pattaya Open >>
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion Vera Zvonareva
and reigning titlist Daniela Hantuchova posted first-round wins, while second-
seeded Dominika Cibulkova came up a loser Tuesday at the $220,000 Pattaya Open
tennis tou
Flyers seek rebound effort against Islanders >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to rebound after a dismal
weekend when they host the New York Islanders for tonight's Atlantic Division
battle at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers played divisional opponents on back-to-b
Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
Get free 2009 Super Bowl Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting VISA Mastercard
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting