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02/15/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After watching his team get shut out for the second time in three games, Claude Julien would like the Boston Bruins to get back to basics tonight when they visit the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
Boston has lost two of three and four of its last six games and was handed a 3-0 setback by Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
The Bruins fired 42 shots at Lundqvist, including 18 in the third period, but they couldn't solve the Swedish netminder. Boston had also been shut out last Wednesday in a 6-0 rout in Buffalo before rebounding with Saturday's 4-3 shootout win over visiting Nashville.
Tuesday's loss dropped the Bruins nine points behind the Rangers for the top seed in the East. The defending Stanley Cup champions are still four points up on Ottawa for first place in the Northeast Division.
Boston is just 6-7-1 in its last 14 trips to the ice and Julien believes his team's recent struggles are a result of the Bruins getting away from what they do best.
"We're a checking team that scores. That's our identity," Julien said after Tuesday's loss. "We're a checking team that scores, but right now, we're not checking and we're not scoring."
Julien hopes Boston can find its physical game on the road, as the B's are kicking off a six-game road trip tonight. The Bruins have a solid 16-8-0 record as the guest this year.
While the Bruins fired a ton of shots at Lundqvist on Tuesday, Tim Thomas stopped just 17-of-20 shots for Boston.
"We certainly could have done more," Julien added. "They won more battles than we did tonight."
Tuukka Rask will likely get the start in net tonight, although he is 1-6-1 with a 2.76 goals-against average in nine career games against Montreal.
Tyler Seguin led Boston with seven shots on net on Tuesday, but he went without a point for the sixth time in seven games. Seguin, who has one goal over that stretch, is tied for the team lead with 20 goals this season.
Tonight's test marks the sixth and final scheduled meeting between the Habs and Bruins this year. Montreal took the first two encounters back in October, but Boston has won three straight since. The Bruins have still been handed losses in six of their last eight trips to Quebec.
The Canadiens will try to get back on track tonight after having a four-game winning streak halted by the visiting Carolina Hurricanes. Montreal had tied its longest hot streak of the season with the four consecutive victories, but the Habs squandered a 3-2 lead in the third period of Monday's test against the Hurricanes.
Eric Staal netted two goals and added an assist -- all in the third period -- to lift Carolina to the 5-3 decision at Bell Centre.
Tomas Plekanec, Erik Cole and David Desharnais scored and Carey Price made 30 saves in defeat for the Canadiens, who were trying to post five straight victories for the first time since March of last season.
Montreal is currently 12th in the Eastern Conference and is seven points out of a playoff spot.
The Canadiens are completing a brief two-game homestand tonight and are just 11-12-7 in Montreal this year.
<< Panthers hope to solve visiting Sens
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers are in position to win four in a row
for the first time this season, but to do so they'll need to beat the Ottawa
Senators for the first time in nine meetings.
That's the task for the Panthers tonight
<< Maple Leafs aim to end slide in road test with Oilers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to end their longest
losing streak of the season when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for tonight's
battle at Rexall Place.
The Maple Leafs have lost four in a row -- all in regulation -- an
<< Wolves hope to get healthy against visiting Bobcats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been a history-making year thus far for the Charlotte
Bobcats. Unfortunately, it's not the type of records they'd like to be
associated with.
Tonight, Charlotte attempts to snap their franchise-record 15-game losing
<< Pistons and Celtics clash at TD Garden
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Before exiting the New England area for five straight
games, the Boston Celtics will take care of some business at home when the
Detroit Pistons pay a visit to TD Garden this evening.
The Celtics opened a brief two-game ho
Wizards seek third straight road win against Clippers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards will try to extend a rare road
winning streak when they face off with an LA Clippers team returning to SoCal
for the first time in nearly two weeks.
The Wizards have opened up a five-game t
Blazers take on Warriors without Aldridge >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers will be without All-Star forward
LaMarcus Aldridge tonight when they square off with the surging Golden State
Warriors in Oakland.
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Hawks continue road trip at Phoenix >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta will resume a five-game road trip tonight in the
desert when it takes on a Phoenix Suns team finishing up a tough three games
in three nights stretch.
The Hawks, who will also visit Portland, Chicago and New
Mavs host Nuggets in Big D >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dirk Nowitzki has finally started to heat up and the Dallas
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they host the Denver Nuggets tonight in Big D.
Nowitzki had an uncharacteristicall
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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