Canucks set to challenge Red Wings' home record
Hockey Betting Lines
02/23/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting pushed below the .500 mark on the road in their last game, the Detroit Red Wings will try to extend the longest home winning streak in NHL history when they host the Vancouver Canucks at Joe Louis Arena in tonight's clash between first-place teams.
The Red Wings wrapped a perfect 6-0 homestand with Sunday's 3-2 win over San Jose. It was the 23rd straight win in the Motor City for the Red Wings, who haven't lost at home since Nov. 3 against Calgary. Before Sunday's game, Detroit already owned the league's longest home winning streak within a season and now also holds the record for most consecutive wins as the host over multiple seasons.
Detroit enters tonight with a five-point lead over St. Louis for first in the Central Division and the Red Wings are just two points in front of Vancouver for the top seed in the West. The Canucks will try to get back in the win column tonight after getting dealt their first regulation loss in over a month in Nashville on Tuesday.
Vancouver has lost two of three and four of its last six games in Motown and the Red Wings recorded a 2-0 decision when the clubs last met at the Joe on Oct. 13. Detroit has claimed two of three so far in this year's four-game season series and the Wings have won four of their last six overall meetings against the Canucks.
The Red Wings lost their third straight road game Tuesday in Chicago, as Marcus Kruger recorded the winner early in the third period to lift the Blackhawks to a 2-1 decision at the United Center. Corey Crawford also stopped 31 shots to frustrate Detroit and drop the Red Wings' road record to 15-16-1 on the season.
Valtteri Filppula notched a first-period goal for the Red Wings, while Jimmy Howard made his first start since February 2 and lost despite making 27 saves. Howard had been sidelined with a broken finger and fell to 32-12-1 on the season.
"We just couldn't find a way to get a couple past Crawford," Howard said. "It was another great game."
Prior to the game, the Red Wings announced that forward Pavel Datsyuk will miss at least the next two weeks following right knee surgery. Datsyuk is Detroit's leading scorer this season with 59 points on 16 goals and 43 assists.
The Canucks had recorded four straight wins and were 10-0-3 in their previous 13 games before dropping Tuesday's 3-1 decision in the Music City. Pekka Rinne made 32 saves to anchor the Predators in the win.
Vancouver, which leads the Northwest Division by 15 points over Calgary, was trying to match its season-high win streak of five games, but fell behind 2-0 in the second period and never recovered. Roberto Luongo gave up three goals on 28 shots in the loss and Dale Weise scored the only Vancouver goal.
Tonight marks the third stop on a six-game road trip for the Canucks, who are 20-10-2 as the road team this season.
The Canucks hope to get Keith Ballard back tonight from an upper-body injury. The defenseman has sat out the last seven games due to the ailment and is questionable tonight. Forward Byron Bitz is also questionable after missing the last two games with a hip problem.
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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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