05/12/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded Detroit Red Wings will try to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals tonight, when they visit the Dallas Stars for Game 3 at American Airlines Center.
Detroit has grabbed a two games to none lead in this series after posting wins in Games 1 and 2 on its home ice. The Red Wings recorded a 4-1 decision in the opener last Thursday and followed with a 2-1 triumph on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.
The Red Wings have won eight straight games since head coach Mike Babcock made a goaltending switch and replaced Dominik Hasek with Chris Osgood. Detroit was tied with Nashville 2-2 in the opening round series, but won two straight to win that set and then swept Colorado in four games during the conference semifinals.
In Game 2 against Dallas, Chris Osgood needed to make just 17 saves to help the Red Wings earn the 2-1 decision over the Stars. Osgood is 8-0 with a 1.40 goals against average and .939 save percentage in this postseason.
Darren Helm and Henrik Zetterberg each scored a goal for the Red Wings, who are a perfect 7-0 on their home ice in the postseason.
Detroit was without forward Johan Franzen, the leading goal-scorer of the playoffs with 12, who was scratched from the lineup because of concussion- like symptoms. Franzen, who has 27 goals in 27 games dating back to the regular season, is also expected to miss tonight's contest.
Stephane Robidas scored the lone goal while Marty Turco stopped 32 shots in the loss for the Stars.
In addition to losing the game on Saturday, Dallas also saw two-way forward Jere Lehtinen leave due to a leg injury in the second period. Lehtinen, a three-time Selke Trophy winner as the league's top defensive forward, is questionable for tonight's test.
Mike Ribeiro, Dallas' leading scorer in the regular season and the playoffs, was involved in a controversial altercation with Osgood late in the third period of Game 2. After Osgood appeared to hit Ribeiro in the face with the butt-end off his stick, the Stars forward then took a two-handed swing from behind the net and hit the goaltender in the chest with his stick. Ribeiro was given a 10-minute game misconduct for the slash.
After much speculation, Ribeiro was not suspended, but rather both he an Osgood were fined an undisclosed amount by the NHL. Ribeiro is leading Dallas with 15 points (3 goals, 12 assists) in the playoffs after posting a team-high 83 points during the regular season.
The Red Wings are in the conference finals for a second straight year. Detroit lost to eventual Stanley Cup champion Anaheim in six, hard-fought games last season.
The Stars are in the conference finals for the first time since 2000. Dallas ousted Anaheim in six games in the first round and raced out to a 3-0 series lead against San Jose in the conference semifinals before moving on with a 2-1 victory in the fourth overtime of Game 6. Dallas is just 1-4 since taking a 3-0 lead on the Sharks in the second round.
The Red Wings won three of the four regular-season meetings with Dallas this season. The Stars found goals hard to come by in those contests, as they managed to score just five times in the four tests.
Detroit has won all three of its postseason meetings with the Stars franchise. The teams last met in the 1998 conference finals when the Red Wings beat Dallas in six games en route to their second straight Stanley Cup crown.
The Stars had a solid 23-16-2 record as the home club this season, while the Red Wings were terrific on the road with a 25-12-4 mark.
Game 4 of this series is scheduled for Wednesday night in Dallas.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting an unscheduled day off due to bad weather,
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with a doubleheader from Progressive Field.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League's hottest team during the month of May
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<< LeBron, Cavs host Garnett, Celtics in Game 4 of East semis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers attempt to knot their Eastern
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<< Red Wings' Franzen out for Game 3
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen is still
experiencing concussion-like symptoms and will not be available to play in
Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Stars on Monday.
Franzen
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the ser
Brewers to wrap up series with slumping Cards >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers seem to have found their winning ways
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Cardinals tonight at Miller Park.
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Rays try to extend home winning streak vs. Yankees >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays try to extend their franchise-record
home-winning streak to 10 games this evening when they start a four-game
series with the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field.
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Pirates, Braves play two at PNC Park >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jair Jurrjens seeks a fifth straight start without a loss
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Sunday's scheduled
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The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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