Sharks aim to maintain home mastery of Jackets

Hockey Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks have gotten off to a bit of a slow start since the Olympic break. A visit from the Columbus Blue Jackets could provide the spark they need.

San Jose continues a five-game residency tonight seeking an 11th straight victory at home over Columbus.

The Sharks began their post-Olympic schedule -- and current homestand at HP Pavilion -- on Tuesday versus the New Jersey Devils, who scored the game's first four goals. San Jose responded with a trio of third-period markers but couldn't complete the comeback in a 4-3 setback.

San Jose then hosted Montreal on Thursday and trailed by one goal entering the third period before Dany Heatley and Manny Malhotra scored in a 2:33 span to lift the Sharks to a 3-2 victory.

Patrick Marleau scored earlier for San Jose while short-handed to break a six- game goal drought, his career-high 39th tally of the season to surpass the 38 he netted in 2008-09. Evgeni Nabokov totaled 28 saves and stopped all 11 he saw in the final period as the Sharks snapped a brief two-game slide and won for the sixth time in their last nine home games.

The contest with the Canadiens was a chippy one and it took a scary turn in the third, when San Jose's Scott Nichol was drilled into the boards from behind after hitting the post on a breakaway attempt.

"It was a really dirty hit," San Jose's Dan Boyle said of the incident. "You can paralyze a guy like that. There's no place for that in hockey."

San Jose remains tied with Chicago for the most points in the Western Conference and are also three back of Washington for tops in the NHL.

Tonight the Sharks will try to avoid dropping their first home game to the Blue Jackets since January 8, 2004, as Columbus is 0-9-1 in 10 trips to San Jose since.

The Sharks have won seven of their last nine overall versus the Blue Jackets, but did drop a 3-0 decision in Columbus when the clubs last met on February 10.

Steve Mason made 40 saves and Rick Nash, Jakub Voracek and Antoine Vermette all scored in that win, which was Columbus' third straight under Claude Noel since he replaced former head coach Ken Hitchcock on February 3 on an interim basis.

Columbus is 0-1-2 since and dropped its first game after the Olympics on Tuesday versus Vancouver, a 4-3 setback in overtime despite goals from Vermette, Derek Dorsett and Andrew Murray, who broke a 41-game goal drought. Mason made 27 saves in defeat.

"The game was what I thought it would be," Noel said. "You're playing a good team. When you look at the game, our power play wasn't very good."

Columbus, which plays its next three games on the road and is 11 points back of a playoff spot, will have a different look tonight following Wednesday's trade deadline. The Blue Jackets made a host of trades, shipping out forwards Fredrik Modin (Los Angeles), Raffi Torres (Buffalo) and Alexandre Picard (Carolina) as well as defenseman Milan Jurcina (Washington) and Mathieu Roy (Florida).

The Blue Jackets totaled three draft picks in return as well as forwards Matt Rust (Florida) and Chad Kolarik (Phoenix) and defenseman Nathan Paetsch (Buffalo). Paetsch may play tonight for Columbus, while blueliner Mike Commodore should return from a lower-body injury that had sidelined him since January 30.

Center Derick Brassard, though, will miss his second game in a row thanks to a hand ailment.

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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend.  Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend.  With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.

MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1

Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

Seattle Sonics 5000-1

Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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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.

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