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Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic is expected to miss two weeks after taking a slap shot to the face from Buffalo Sabres defenseman Christian Ehrhoff on Saturday. Hamonic needed help to get to the dressing room and left a trail of blood in his path. He suffered a broken nose on the play, which required surgery and stitches.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Not having their starting goaltender over the weekend did little to help Detroit shake off its road issues. However, a trip to Phoenix just might do the trick. The Red Wings look to record a sweep of their season series with the Coyotes, but must do so once again tonight without All-Star Jimmy Howard in net.
MacDonald stopped 22-of-23 shots faced the rest of the way, but yielded two goals in the shootout.
The Red Wings trailed 3-1 at the end of the first, getting a short-handed goal from Valtteri Filppula, but netted three straight goals in the third. Todd Bertuzzi had two of them to give him 301 goals in his career, but Edmonton tied the game with 39 ticks left in regulation.
Detroit's two-game win streak came to an end with only its second loss in 11 games. It still sits on top of the NHL standings with 72 points, one more than the East-leading New York Rangers.
The Coyotes conclude a season-long six-game homestand with this meeting and improved to 2-2-1 on the stand with Saturday's 5-3 win over the Sharks. That victory has Phoenix tied for 11th in the Western Conference, four points back of a playoff spot.
Mike Smith made 32 saves, but did yield a score with 32 seconds left in the game to make it a one-goal contest. However, Radim Vrbata accounted for the final margin with an empty-net tally as the Coyotes bounced back from last Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Ducks with their third victory in 10 games (3-4-3).
Whitney is slated to skate in the 1,200th game of his career this evening.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames took care of business at home on Friday before hitting the road for a few games. The task gets a little daunting right off the bat tonight as they aim for their first victory against the Ducks at Anaheim in over eight years. The Flames put the brakes on a two-game losing streak on Friday with a 3-1 win over the Blackhawks. It was also Calgary's first victory in its past four home games and has the club tied for 11th in the Western Conference with 54 points, four shy of a playoff spot.
On a night when he became Calgary's all-time leader in games played by a goaltender, Miikka Kiprusoff made 26 saves in his 299th career win. He passed Mike Vernon's previous mark of 526 games played.
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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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