Division-leading Devils, Flames tangle in New Jersey

Hockey Betting Lines

03/10/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of first-place teams will battle tonight in the Garden State, as the New Jersey Devils welcome the Calgary Flames to Prudential Center.

The Devils are the top team in the Atlantic Division and with 87 points are also the second seed in the Eastern Conference -- one point ahead of Southeast-leading Washington.

Calgary, meanwhile, is first in the Northwest Division and third in the West with 84 points on the year.

New Jersey will try to get back on track after having a four-game winning streak halted with Saturday's blowout loss against the New York Islanders.

The Devils made the trip across the Hudson River to face New York and were handed a 7-3 setback against the Islanders, who are last in the NHL with just 51 points this year. Sean Bergenheim posted his first career hat trick to lead the Isles at Nassau Coliseum.

Brian Gionta, Jamie Langenbrunner and Patrik Elias scored for the Devils, who also lost for just the third time in their last 12 outings. Langenbrunner has three goals and three assists during a five-game point streak.

Martin Brodeur took the loss, allowing six goals on 26 shots through the first two periods, and remains three victories away from tying Patrick Roy for the all-time win mark. Brodeur was dealt his first loss in five games since returning to action after elbow surgery had kept him sidelined for nearly four months.

Kevin Weekes finished the contest by stopping the only shot he faced in the final 20 minutes.

Tonight's test marks the first of two straight on home ice for the Devils, who will also host Phoenix on Thursday. New Jersey is 22-10-1 as the host this year and has won seven in a row in Newark.

The Flames are 2-2 so far on a seven-game road trip and have lost the last two legs on the swing. Since pounding Philadelphia, 5-1, on Thursday, Calgary was handed a 6-1 setback at Carolina on Friday and then lost 5-2 this past Sunday in Atlanta.

Jarome Iginla netted his 30th goal of the season for the Flames in the most recent loss to the Thrashers. It's the eighth straight season the Calgary captain has reached that mark. Iginla has also recorded a point in eight straight games, posting nine goals and eight assists over that stretch.

Olli Jokinen, who was Calgary's big acquisition at the trade deadline, has been held pointless in two games since notching a pair of goals in his Flames debut against the Flyers last week.

Miikka Kiprusoff gave up all five goals on 20 shots against the Thrashers and has been scored on a total of 14 times in his last four outings. Kiprusoff is 0-2-1 in his career against the Devils.

Calgary, which is 17-13-2 as the guest this year, will close its longest trip of the season with stops in Detroit and Toronto.

The Devils have won two of the last three meetings with the Flames, including a 1-0 overtime victory in Calgary on December 23 of last season. Calgary has taken two of three and four of its last six road tests in the series, but this will be the Flames' first game at the Prudential Center, which opened at the start of the 2007-08 campaign.

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Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

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Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
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