Kings visit Blackhawks for clash between West powers

Hockey Betting Lines

03/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the Western Conference's best teams will meet tonight in the Windy City as the Chicago Blackhawks host the Los Angeles Kings at United Center.

The Blackhawks are first in the Central Division and second in the West with 91 points. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is one of the league's biggest surprises this year and is currently third in the Pacific and fifth in the conference with 82 points.

The Kings and Blackhawks have split two meetings this year with each club winning on its home ice. The teams have split the last six encounters overall, but LA has lost three straight and four of its last five in Chicago.

Los Angeles avoided a third straight loss its last time out by posting a convincing home victory Monday against Columbus.

Jonathan Quick needed to stop just 11 shots for his third shutout of the season and Los Angeles scored four first-period goals on its way to a 6-0 rout of the Blue Jackets.

"Mentally it can be a bit of a battle to stay focused a full 60 minutes, but the team played great the whole game," Quick said. "It was real easy for me. We had some big goals, and it was just a great game."

Alexander Frolov had a goal and three assists while Michal Handzus and Fredrik Modin each added a goal and an assist for the Kings.

Kings leading scorer Anze Kopitar recorded an assist to push his point streak to seven games. The Slovenian star has four goals and three assists during the tear and leads all LA skaters with 68 points this year.

LA is 20-12-1 as the guest this year, but has lost two of its last three road games. The Kings will cap a brief two-game swing Friday night in Dallas.

Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are completing a four-game homestand this evening.

Chicago, which is 25-7-2 as the host this year, opened this residency with back-to-back wins before getting dealt a close regulation loss by Detroit Sunday. Andrew Ladd posted a hat trick for Chicago in the 5-4 loss, which saw the Red Wings score all five of their goals in the second period.

The first three-goal game of Ladd's career wasn't enough for Chicago. Duncan Keith had the other goal for the Blackhawks, who lead Nashville by 14 points for first place in the Central.

Cristobal Huet started in net for Chicago and got pulled after yielding four goals on 17 shots. Antti Niemi made seven saves the rest of the way.

Patrick Kane had an assist in the loss and extended his point-scoring streak to eight games. He has four goals and nine helpers during the stretch.

Wwwthegreek Hockey Betting News

<< Columbus ties Toluca in Champions League
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew earned a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Mexican power Toluca in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series in Columbus on Tuesday night. Steven Lenhart scored tw

<< Mavs aim to push win streak to 13 vs. Nets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's worst team takes on its hottest when the New Jersey Nets meet the Dallas Mavericks in Big D tonight. Despite playing short-handed the Mavs earned their 12th straight victory on Monday in Minneapolis whe

<< Devils return home for battle with rival Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three straight road games out west following the Olympic break seemed to have caught up with the Devils in their most recent contest. New Jersey now returns home for the first time in nearly a month this evening when it pl

<< Raptors make a stop in Sacramento
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reeling Toronto Raptors aim to right the ship tonight as they resume a four-game western road trip against the Sacramento Kings. The Raptors are now fighting for their playoff lives after dropping the opener of thei

<< Thunder return home to face Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Oklahoma City Thunder seem to be well on their way towards ending a playoff drought, the New Orleans Hornets enter tonight's showdown between these teams in danger of missing out of the postseason fray. The injur

Pearce: Owen's England career not over >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The England door remains open to Michael Owen despite his season-ending injury, according to Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce. Pearce has dismissed suggestions that the 30-year-old Manchester Uni

Bobcats hope to end road woes in Philadelphia >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" easily coincides with how the Charlotte Bobcats have been playing this season. The road less traveled would be the one headed towards Charlotte, and that's made all the difference for

Heat begin key homestand with visit from Clippers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat are fighting for their playoff lives and hope to gain some ground during a six-game homestand that starts with tonight's matchup versus the Los Angeles Clippers at AmericanAirlines Arena. The Heat have won t

Spurs, Knicks square off in Alamo City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs will have to continue their playoff push tonight against the New York Knicks without star guard Tony Parker. The team did receive some good news on Monday, however, when it was learned that Park

Surging Jazz shoot for another win over Pistons >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keeping up with Denver in both the Northwest Division and Western Conference standings could get a bit easier tonight for the Utah Jazz, who will shoot for their 10th straight win over the Detroit Pistons. Utah has won 11

Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.