Resurgent Red Wings try to get over on rival Blackhawks

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings are making a strong push for the playoffs, but the perennial postseason participants still have a long way to go if they want to catch the Chicago Blackhawks, who'll be hosting their longtime Central Division rival this afternoon at the United Center.

Although they're certainly no guarantee to be making a 19th consecutive playoff trip, the reigning Western Conference champion Red Wings have enhanced their chances by winning three of their last four games. That surge has placed Detroit into the eighth and final postseason seed in the West at the moment, one point in front of Calgary.

The Red Wings stayed in front of the Flames with Friday's big 5-2 victory over fellow Central member Nashville at Joe Louis Arena. Darren Helm led the offense with a pair of goals, while Pavel Datsyuk scored once and assisted on another to help Detroit bounce back from a 6-3 home defeat to Vancouver on Wednesday.

"These are extremely important games for us now," said Helm after Friday's win. "Coming out flat like we did [against] Vancouver is not acceptable. [This] was a lot better effort by us."

Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom also had goals for Detroit, while goaltender Jimmy Howard needed to make only 20 saves to record his 23rd win of the season.

The Red Wings will now focus on attempting to beat the Blackhawks, a task that has proven rather difficult as of late. Chicago has bested Detroit in five of the last six matchups between the Original Six foes, including three of four meetings this season, and the Red Wings have been shut out in each of their past two visits to the Windy City.

Chicago also blanked the Wings by a 3-0 count in Detroit on December 23 behind a 33-save effort out of goaltender Antti Niemi.

The Blackhawks' offense was the difference in their most recent outing, when the Central Division leaders erupted for five first-period goals en route to a 6-3 triumph over visiting Vancouver on Friday.

Andrew Ladd, Duncan Keith, Troy Brouwer, Kris Versteeg and Jordan Hendry all lit the lamp in the opening session as Chicago won for the second straight game and sixth time in its last seven tilts. The Blackhawks began this current four-game homestand with a 5-2 decision over Edmonton on Wednesday.

"They carried the play in the first period," said Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo. "They came out strong and that was pretty much the game."

Patrick Kane assisted on Hendry's tally to extend his scoring streak to eight games, with the United States Olympian amassing four goals and eight helpers during that stretch. Keith has a goal and five assists over a five-game point streak.

Chicago begins today's play two points behind San Jose for the Western Conference lead with 91 points and is 16 points ahead of second-place Nashville in the Central standings. Detroit is three points back of the Predators in the division race.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.

It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.