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03/16/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stefan Ruzicka recorded the first three- point game of his young career, posting a goal and two assists to lead Philadelphia over Atlanta, 3-2.
Derian Hatcher scored a goal to end a 125-game goal-less drought and Geoff Sanderson added a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who had lost three of their previous four games.
Netminder Martin Biron was huge for Philadelphia, finishing the game with 37 saves.
The Flyers, saddled with the worst record in the NHL, completed a four-game sweep of the Southeast division-leading Thrashers and have won six straight overall in the series.
Keith Tkachuk had a goal and an assist and Kari Lehtonen made 33 saves for Atlanta, which has lost two of three.
With the score tied at 1-1 in the second period, Ruzicka scored just his second goal of the season to give Philadelphia the lead. Atlanta center Bobby Holik leveled Flyers defenseman Joni Pitkanen deep in the Philadelphia zone, but Pitkanen still managed to poke the puck to Sanderson, who raced down the length of the ice to create a 2-on-1 break with Ruzicka. Sanderson rifled a shot on net and the rebound kicked out into the slot for Ruzicka, who backhanded the puck past Lehtonen to put Philadelphia in front.
Then, just under five minutes into the third period, R.J. Umberger dumped the puck behind the Atlanta net and Ruzicka one-timed a pass in front to Sanderson, who beat Lehtonen to give Philadelphia a much needed two-goal cushion.
With 5:32 remaining, the Thrashers pulled back within a goal as Eric Belanger redirected Tkachuk's shot from the high slot past Biron to make it 3-2.
Atlanta had several golden opportunities to tie the game as time ran out, but were unable to net the equalizer. With 1 1/2 minutes left in the third, Shane Hnidy found himself all alone in front of the Flyers net, but the defenseman's shot ringed off the left post.
The Thrashers pulled Lehtonen after that near miss and Pascal Dupuis was then all alone in front of Biron with just under a minute to play, but he fanned on the shot and Biron was able to cover up.
Hnidy was called for hooking late in the opening period and the Flyers took advantage with Hatcher's first goal since December 3, 2005. With 42.6 seconds left on the clock. Ruzicka threw the puck on net and the rugged defenseman, stationed in front of Lehtonen, was there to stuff home the rebound.
Atlanta came back to tie the game just over a minute into the second period. Ilya Kovalchuk circled around the Flyers net and then sent a pass into the slot that Niclas Havelid one-timed on net. Biron made the initial save, but Tkachuk was there to pick up his 25th tally of the season.
Game Notes
Philadelphia forwards Mike Knuble and Ben Eager returned to the Flyers lineup. Knuble had been out since his violent collision with Brendan Shanahan of the Rangers on February 17. Knuble suffered a fractured cheekbone and orbital bone. The Flyers, though, were still without top-goal scorer Simon Gagne, who is out with a groin injury. On top of that, Philadelphia lost forward Scottie Upshall in the second period with an upper body injury.
<< Oden leads Ohio St. to first-round rout
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freshman sensation center Greg Oden scored 19
points and pulled down 10 rebounds, as Ohio State rolled into the second-round
of the NCAA Tournament with a 78-57 victory over Central Connecticut State.
Jamar
<< Kuznetsova, Bammer reach Pac Life semis
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Russian Svetlana
Kuznetsova overcame sixth-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova on Thursday to reach
the semifinals at the $2.1 million Pacific Life Open.
The 2004 U.S. Open champion
<< Evansville hires Simmons as men's basketball coach
Evansville, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Evansville hired Marty
Simmons as men's head basketball coach on Thursday, returning the alum and
former assistant coach to his old stomping grounds.
Simmons played at Indiana be
<< Falcons sign free agents
Flowery Branch, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Falcons signed
unrestricted free agent guard Toniu Fonoti and free agent wide receiver
Derrick Hamilton on Thursday.
Fonoti, 6-foot-4, 350 pounds, has appeared on three t
UCLA pounds Weber State >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arron Afflalo posted 22 points and eight
rebounds, as the second-seeded UCLA Bruins rolled to a 70-42 rout of the
Big Sky Tournament champion Weber State Wildcats in the first round of the
NCAA To
Maynor, VCU topple Duke in thriller >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Maynor nailed a jumper from the top of the
key with under two seconds remaining as Virginia Commonwealth toppled Duke,
79-77, to hand the Blue Devils their first loss in the opening round of the
NCAA To
Second-half run powers Butler past ODU >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Graves scored 18 points as Butler used a
big second-half run to topple Old Dominion, 57-46, in the first round of the
Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Mike Green scored 14 points and grabbed
Senators skate past Isles >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Emery stopped 28 shots to lead Ottawa over
the New York Islanders, 5-2 at Scotiabank Place.
Antonie Vermette and Mike Comrie had two assists apiece for the Senators, who
have won three of four and regain
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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.
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