Gagne, Flyers down Senators

Hockey Betting Lines

12/23/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Simon Gagne had a goal and an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers downed the Ottawa Senators, 6-4, at Wachovia Center.

Matt Carle, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Andreas Nodl and Joffrey Lupul each had a goal for the Flyers, who have won two of their last three games.

Antero Niittymaki made 17 saves in the win for Philadelphia, which has won six straight at home.

Dany Heatley had two goals and an assist while Alex Auld gave up five goals on 31 shots for the Senators, who have dropped three of four.

Philadelphia held a two-goal lead starting the third, but Ottawa scored twice to tie the game.

However, Gagne gave the team the lead as he fired a shot on net from the left boards that hit off of bodies in front and got past Auld for a 5-4 lead with 5:30 to play.

Richards' empty-net goal in the final moments of the contest sealed the win for Philadelphia.

Ottawa took the early lead as Nick Foligno jammed home the puck after Niittymaki stopped the initial shot for a 1-0 advantage just 5:01 in.

Philadelphia, though, scored just 1:32 later as the team won a left circle faceoff and the puck went back to Carle, who snapped a quick shot on net that fooled Auld.

The Flyers took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission as, shortly after a power play expired, Scott Hartnell fired a shot on net from a sharp angle at the right side that hit off of Lupul, who was battling with a Senator next to Auld, with 1:29 left in the frame.

Ottawa took advantage of a 5-on-3 power play to tie the game as Jason Spezza fired a pass from the left side to the right where Heatley had the easy slam dunk just 2:58 into the second.

However, the Flyers got a power-play goal three minutes later to regain the advantage. Braydon Coburn blasted a shot from the right point that went wide of the net, but took a hop off the backboards and went back out front. Hartnell then got the puck to Carter, who knocked the puck home for his league-leading 26th goal of the season.

The Flyers took a two-goal lead less than two minutes later as Kimmo Timonen fired a shot on net from the left point that Nodl deflected past Auld for his first career goal.

Ottawa, though, scored twice less than three minutes apart in the third to tie the game.

On a broken play, the puck squirted out to the left circle and Heatley buried it at the 7:40 mark.

A bit later, a slap shot at the left point by Chris Phillips got past a screened Niittymaki to tie the game.

Game Notes

Philadelphia begins a six-game road trip in Chicago on Friday...Ottawa continues its eight-game road trip in Calgary on Saturday...Philadelphia has won four of the last six games in the series...Ottawa defenseman Anton Volchenkov left the game less than a minute into the first period after slamming into the boards. He was attended to by a trainer on the ice for several minutes before being helped off the ice. Also, Foligno left the game in the third period after he was hit in the face with a stick.

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Betting Football

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.