11/21/2008 - Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jiri Hudler tallied a pair of goals, including the eventual game-winner, as Detroit scored early and often before staving off a late Edmonton rally for a 4-3 victory.
Pavel Datsyuk had a goal for Detroit, which has won four in a row and six of seven overall. Tomas Kopecky lit the lamp for the Red Wings, who improved to an NHL-best 9-1-1 on the road. Chris Osgood stopped 31-of-34 shots for the win.
Lubomir Visnovsky registered a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who have dropped four of five. Andrew Cogliano and Sheldon Souray scored in defeat. Dwayne Roloson let in three goals on 10 shots and was yanked with 9:49 left in the first. Mathieu Garon came in and stopped 24-of-25.
The Red Wings got on the board 1:50 into the contest. Andreas Lilja took a one-timer from the high slot, but Roloson stopped it. The rebound, however, trickled to his left and Hudler was there to wrist the rebound over Roloson's glove for a 1-0 lead.
Detroit made it 3-0 later in the stanza as Datsyuk and Kopecky tipped in a rebound each 2:11 apart.
On the first, Brian Rafalski took a shot that was blocked but Datsyuk was there to tip in the rebound through the five-hole from inside the right circle for a 2-0 lead with eight minutes gone in the opening stanza.
The next saw Nicklas Lidstrom's shot get denied, but Kopecky was right there for a tip-in to make it 3-0.
The Oilers made it 3-1 with 6:41 left in the second period. As Detroit failed to clear the puck out of its zone, Cogliano skated towards the right side of the ice and gained control of the puck in the right circle. From there he skated in and slipped the disc into the net via the five-hole.
Hudler gave the Red Wings their three-goal lead back with 1:32 left in the middle frame. Derek Meech took a slap shot from the high slot which bounced off the glass and hit Garon in the back. As the puck was sitting next to the crease, Hudler wristed it into the cage for a 4-1 cushion.
During a 4-on-4 the Oilers pulled within two goals with 7:06 to go in the third. With Osgood out of position, the puck trickled into the slot where Visnovsky snapped it into the goal.
21 seconds later, with Valtteri Filppula in the penalty box for high-sticking, the Oilers closed within a goal as Souray's slap shot found its way to the twine.
Edmonton pulled its goalie late in the game for the extra skater, but Detroit didn't let up and held on for the victory.
Game Notes
The Red Wings recorded at least a point for the seventh straight game...Detroit has outscored opponents 21-13 over its last six wins. The Red Wings have also netted 38 goals in 11 road games this year...Shawn Horcoff became the 18th player in club history to skate in 500 games with Edmonton...Ales Hemsky now has 11 power play assists, which leads the NHL...Edmonton is 2-2-2 as the home team this year and will be off until next Wednesday, when it will host the Los Angeles Kings...Detroit had dropped three of four in Edmonton...The Oilers activated defenseman Ladislav Smid from injured reserve on Thursday. Smid was placed on injured reserve because of a concussion earlier in the month. He was hurt during a November 5 game against Columbus and had missed the last seven games. He has two assists in eight games this season...Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom didn't play because of back spasms and teammate Niklas Kronwall didn't play because of an undisclosed lower body injury.
<< Flames edge Avs
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miikka Kiprusoff needed to make just 18 stops to
post his second shutout of the season as the Calgary Flames edged the Colorado
Avalanche, 1-0, at the Pepsi Center.
Daymond Langkow scored the only goal of the ga
<< Gators power past Southern Utah
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Calathes scored 18 points, grabbed
seven rebounds and dished out four assists to lead 18th-ranked Florida over
Southern Utah, 64-50, at the O'Connell Center.
Dan Werner added nine points for the
<< Dwyer leads Georgia Tech past Miami
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 128 yards and a pair
of touchdowns, and Georgia Tech rolled up 472 yards on the ground in a 41-23
romp of 23rd-ranked Miami-Florida.
Quarterback Josh Nesbitt ran for 93 yards and
<< Kane scores twice as Chicago downs Stars
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patrick Kane scored twice to pace the Blackhawks
to a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars as Chicago continued its successful
six-game road trip.
Kris Versteeg had a goal and two assists, while Brian Campbel
Lakers roll past Suns >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant scored 24 points and Lamar Odom
filled the stat sheet with 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench, as the
red-hot Lakers rolled past Phoenix, 105-92.
Vladimir Radmanovic contributed 15 po
Kings cool off Capitals >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin Brown and Michal Handzus each had a
goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings beat Washington, 5-2, handing the
Capitals their first regular loss since November 1.
Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar an
Four share lead at Hong Kong Open >>
Hong Kong (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louis Oosthuizen fired an eight-under 62 on
Friday to spotlight a four-way tie for the lead after the second round of the
Hong Kong Open.
Oliver Fisher (65), Chawalit Plaphol (66) and European Ryder Cup
Rockets face Wizards in D.C. >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets will try to get back on the winning
track this evening, when they kick off a three-game road trip against the
Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.
Houston will also visit Orlando and Miami, and is
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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