Avalanche attempt to win season series versus Stars

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will try to win their first season series with the Dallas Stars in five campaigns as the two clubs meet for the fourth and final time in the regular season this afternoon at American Airlines Center.

Colorado took its first two meetings with the Stars this year at home before dropping a 3-2 decision in Dallas on Jan. 29. The Avalanche haven't won this season series since taking three of four in 2003-04, though the clubs have split the four-game set in each of the previous two campaigns.

The Avs, who have lost two straight and seven of their last eight in Dallas, were last in action on Thursday and posted a 3-0 victory over Florida. Craig Anderson made 27 saves versus his former club and is among the league leaders with seven shutouts. He also recorded the 14th blanking of his career while making his 22nd start in a row.

One of Anderson's seven shutouts this year came at the expense of Dallas and he is 1-1-0 with a 1.52 goals-against average in two starts versus the club this year.

Paul Stastny scored twice, Mark Hendricks had the other goal and Chris Stewart posted two assists versus the Panthers for the Avalanche, who are five points behind the Canucks for first place in the Northwest standings and rebounded from Tuesday's 6-4 loss to Vancouver in which they squandered a pair of three- goal leads.

"We've bounced back well all year," said Stastny, who has two goals and eight assists over a six-game point streak. "A couple of us had a big let down and wanted to respond, so that's what we did as a team. We played a patient game and a smart game."

Stastny isn't the only Colorado player that has played well as of late. Stewart has eight goals and 10 assists in his last 10 games, while Peter Mueller has posted a pair of tallies and five helpers in five games since being acquired from Phoenix.

While the Avalanche are still trying for a division title, the Stars have lost five of six since the Winter Olympic break to fall seven points back of the eighth spot in the West.

The Stars did earn a point last time out, falling to the Kings, 2-1, in a shootout on Friday. Marty Turco made 27 saves and stopped the first five skaters he saw in the extra session before allowing Jarret Stoll to score for Los Angeles in the sixth round.

"You know we have to gain some ground here if we want to get back in the playoffs. Unfortunately you can't do that unless you win," said Turco, who is 11-9-0 with three ties and a 2.58 GAA lifetime versus the Avalanche franchise and lost his only start against them this year. He will start for Dallas today.

Brenden Morrow notched the lone goal for the Stars, who dropped the opener of a six-game homestand for their third loss in a row at American Airlines Center.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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