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04/06/2007 - St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Niklas Backstrom made 22 saves, recording his second consecutive shutout and fifth of the season as the Minnesota Wild blanked the Edmonton Oilers, 3-0, at XCel Energy Center.
Mark Parrish, Keith Carney and Marian Gaborik all scored for Minnesota, which has already clinched a playoff berth, but sits in seventh place in the Western Conference. The team could earn a top three seed by winning the Northwest division, and with two games remaining are just one point behind Vancouver, which can clinch the division title with a win over Colorado on Thursday night.
Jussi Markkanen finished with 26 saves for Edmonton, which has dropped six straight games, and nine in a row on the road. The Oilers have lost 18 of 19 since February 25.
"Obviously it's tough to get yourself going for 100 percent when you're absolutely out of the playoff race," said Markkanen. "At the same time it tells a lot abpit the character of this locker room. We put the effort in, but obviously we haven't (gotten) any of the results, but at least the effort is there."
The Wild opened the scoring 5:57 into the first period, as Mikko Koivu moved along the right side-boards before sending a pass to Parrish in the high slot. Parrish then one-timed a shot through the five-hole past Markkanen to make it 1-0.
Minnesota doubled its lead with 1:09 left in the first, as Carney created a turnover at the blueline, then went on a breakaway toward the net in the middle of an Edmonton line change. The defenseman wristed a beautiful shot low on the blocker side that got past Markkanen to make it 2-0.
Gaborik made it 3-0 in the middle stanza when Wes Walz sent a pass through the neutral zone and put it right on the blade of Gaborik's stick. The right winger moved in on the breakaway, deking out Markkanen before lighting the lamp on the backhand shot at 9:58.
The Oilers managed seven shots in the third period, but could not solve Backstrom.
"I think we got lucky at times," said Parrish. "We started getting a little fancy and getting away from our game a little bit, but it's nice when it seems like every time that happens, Nik (Backstrom) stands tall for us and doesn't give the other team a chance to get any life going. We've got one more game to perfect that and get all those kinks out of our system, and get back to playing the hockey we were a week-and-a-half to two weeks ago."
Game Notes
The Wild have won five straight over the Oilers, and are 12-4-0 against them since the start of last season. Minnesota has outscored Edmonton 17-2 during the five-game winning streak...Gaborik has recorded a point in 12 of his last 13 games, registering seven goals and 11 assists in that span. He has seven goals and four assists in seven games against the Oilers this season... Edmonton concludes its season against Calgary on Sunday.
<< Islanders stay alive with win over Leafs
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Blake scored the go-ahead goal 3:46
into the third period and the New York Islanders kept their slim playoff hopes
alive with a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nassau Coliseum.
Aaron Asham and M
<< Brodeur sets record on championship night for Devils
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Brodeur used 34 saves to break the
all-time mark for wins in a single season and Jim Dowd scored the short-handed
game-winner midway through the third period, as the New Jersey Devils clinched
the Atl
<< Sabres rally to top Bruins
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Vanek scored twice and also notched an
assist as the Sabres doubled up the Boston Bruins, 4-2, in Buffalo's home
finale at HSBC Arena.
Derek Roy had a goal and one assist and Ales Kotalik als
<< Blueshirts lock up playoff spot
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jaromir Jagr had a goal and an assist and
Henrik Lundqvist made 25 saves as the New York Rangers clinched a playoff
berth with a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden.
Petr Pr
Legwand lifts Predators over Blues >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Legwand scored a pair of goals as the
Nashville Predators downed the St. Louis Blues, 4-1, at Nashville Arena.
Alexander Radulov and Peter Forsberg each had a goal for the Predators, who
snapped a
Boston College, Michigan State to meet in final >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nathan Gerbe had two goals and two assists
as the Boston College Eagles reached the championship game by defeating the
North Dakota Fighting Sioux, 6-4, in the Frozen Four.
Boston College will next due bat
Nash's OT goal lifts Blue Jackets past Stars >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rick Nash scored just 64 seconds into overtime
to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars at
Nationwide Arena.
Nash fought off a checker along the right wall, grabbed the pu
Rice basketball player dies in stabbing >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Bailey, a walk-on member of the Rice
basketball team, was killed Thursday morning.
The Houston Chronicle reports Bailey, who turned 22 on Wednesday, was stabbed
to death after a confrontation at
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards
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