Bruins hang rare home regulation defeat on Blues
Hockey Betting Lines
02/22/2012 -
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Marchand scored twice as Boston doubled
up St. Louis, 4-2, at Scottrade Center.
Chris Kelly and Milan Lucic each posted a goal and one assist for the Bruins,
who had lost three of four coming in.
Tim Thomas stopped 30-of-32 shots for the win as Boston maintained its slim
two-point lead in the Northeast Division. Ottawa topped Washington earlier
Wednesday.
Chris Stewart and Ryan Reaves tallied for the Blues, who have dropped two in a
row. St. Louis suffered its first home regulation setback since a 5-2 loss to
Chicago on December 3.
Brian Elliott was shelled for four goals on only 19 shots in defeat.
Marchand sailed away up the middle and beat Elliott on the backhand for a key
insurance goal which gave Boston a 4-2 advantage with 9:14 played in the third
period. Tyler Seguin's lead pass set up the strike.
Marchand's knuckling wrister put the Bruins on the board less than three
minutes into the contest, and Lucic made it 2-0 just under four minutes later
by tipping a Joe Corvo floater.
Stewart slapped home a rebound from the left side at 7:17, then B.J. Crombeen
outwaited Thomas and fired the right side where Reaves chopped it out of mid-
air and over the goal line with 7:45 to play.
Kelly scored with 40 seconds left to send Boston up 3-2 at intermission,
redirecting a Lucic feed home from the slot.
In a scoreless second period, Thomas made 14 saves and Elliott four stops.
Early in the stanza, Johnny Boychuk appeared to have given the Bruins a two-
goal edge, but a review determined his shot hit the left post and crossbar
before caroming back into play.
Game Notes
Marchand notched his first multi-goal effort since tallying three times in an
8-0 win over Florida on December 23...St. Louis hadn't given up as many as
four goals in any game since a 6-4 win over Columbus on December 18, a span of
27 contests...Elliott tied a season low for saves in a loss, having stopped 15
Flames chances in a 3-1 loss on October 28 at Calgary.
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"From start to finish tonight we played our game. We kept attacking
even after
NFL Football Betting Online
Is 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.
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