Flyers visit Rangers in Atlantic Division battle

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Flyers hope that they made a statement with their last- second victory on Saturday against one of the best teams in the NHL. They've already made their impression on the Rangers this season.

Philadelphia visits Madison Square Garden this afternoon looking to win for the fourth time in five games, while hosting New York aims to end a lengthy scoring drought against its Atlantic Division rival.

The Flyers squared off with the Blackhawks, the Western Conference's second seed, Saturday afternoon and seemed in danger of losing a close contest. However, Scott Hartnell halted a 13-game goal drought to tie things with 2:04 left in the third before defenseman Chris Pronger tipped a Claude Giroux pass by Chicago's Cristobal Huet with just 2.1 seconds left in regulation for a 3-2 victory.

"It's huge. We didn't want to get this to end in overtime or have it end 4- on-4 or in a shootout," said Pronger. "We need to play with that fire and competitiveness. We had that attitude that we've lost and need to learn how to keep."

All five goals were scored in the third period. Simon Gagne netted the Flyers' first goal and his seventh in the last 10 games while Hartnell found the back of the net for the first time since Jan. 30.

Michael Leighton halted 39 shots in his 13th straight start, as the Flyers improved to 8-2-1 in their last 11 games while remaining tied with the Canadiens for the sixth spot in the East with three games in hand. Philly is also just three points behind fifth-seeded Ottawa.

The Flyers could decide to give Brian Boucher his first start since Dec. 21 in the opener of a four-game road trip. Boucher has made three relief appearances since that start and is 4-3-0 with a 2.51 goals-against average in his career versus the Rangers.

Leighton, meanwhile, notched a 22-save shutout over the Rangers on Dec. 30 and Ray Emery, currently on injured reserve because of hip surgery, then posted a 24-save blanking of New York in Philadelphia on Jan. 21. In fact, New York hasn't scored versus the Flyers since Artem Anisimov's second-period tally in a 2-1 victory at Philadelphia back on Dec. 19, giving the Rangers a 155 minute and 14 second scoring drought in the series.

The Rangers will try to end that drought in the fourth meeting of the season between the teams. Leighton's shutout came in the only matchup so far in New York, as Gagne added a hat trick in the 6-0 victory.

These two clubs end the regular season against each other in home-and-home set on April 9 and 11.

But first, the Rangers will try to get themselves back into the playoff picture. They had lost four straight prior to Friday's 5-2 victory over Atlanta and are three points behind Boston for the eighth spot in the East.

Vinny Prospal had two first-period goals to go along with an assist, while Marian Gaborik also lit the lamp during New York's big opening period. Gaborik finished with two assists as well and Ryan Callahan added a goal and a helper.

"We have another game coming up against Philly so we're going to have to be better," said New York head coach John Tortorella afterwards. "At times we played in spurts so we have some things to work on."

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 shots in the win and he is 1-2-0 with a 2.61 GAA in three matchups versus the Flyers this year.

Sean Avery was a healthy scratch for the first time this year on Friday and it is unknown if he will return to the ice today. He was replaced in the lineup last time out by Enver Lisin.

New York begins a three-game homestand today and has dropped six of its last eight at home, going 2-4-2 in that span.

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2007 online football betting Preview

My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."

The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.

To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.

However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.

Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.

Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.

Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.

2007 College Football Betting Preview

There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.

The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.

So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.

USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.

USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.

Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.

That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.

The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"

The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.

Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.

Las Vegas Sports Lines

The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.

It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."

The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.

The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.

Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.

After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.

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