Williams leads 'Canes past Thrashers

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02/25/2007 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Williams scored two goals and John Grahame made 28 save to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers in a Southeast Division battle at Philips Arena.

Ray Whitney had a goal and an assist and Mike Commodore added a goal for the Hurricanes, who have won three of four.

Carolina now has 71 points and sits in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Islanders and Montreal and is just two points behind Tampa Bay for first place in the Southeast Division.

Garnet Exelby scored the lone goal and Kari Lehtonen stopped 24-of-27 shots for the slumping Thrashers, who have dropped six of their last seven games.

Atlanta has 72 points and currently holds the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference and is one point behind Tampa Bay.

The Hurricanes got on the board late in the first period when Williams wristed in a loose puck from the left circle for a 1-0 lead with 4:53 left in the opening frame.

Less than three minutes later, Rod Brind'Amour sent a backhand pass from the left side that went through the legs of an Atlanta defender to the right side where Commodore wristed it in for a 2-0 lead.

Grahame stopped nine shots thrown at him in the first period to keep Atlanta off the scoreboard.

The teams combined for 13 shots in the second period, seven by Atlanta, but neither side was able to get the puck past the goaltenders.

Atlanta almost got on the scoreboard 1:30 into the third period when Greg De Vries blasted a shot from the slot, but Grahame swallowed the puck with the glove.

The Thrashers finally broke through Grahame when, while shorthanded, Exelby blasted a shot from the high slot that beat Grahame on the glove side to make it a 2-1 game 8:06 into the third.

Carolina, though, regained its two-goal advantage when Frantisek Kaberle grabbed the puck as he skated out of the penalty box and got it to Williams, who skated in alone and snapped a wrister over the glove of Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead with 6:35 to play.

Whitney added an empty-net goal with eight seconds to play to account for the final score.

Game Notes

Carolina hosts Ottawa on Tuesday...Atlanta travels to Boston for a game on Monday...Carolina has won four of six games against Atlanta this season...Brind'Amour finished the game with two assists...Neither team scored on the power play with Carolina having three chances and Atlanta two...Grahame also had an assist in the game, his third of the season.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.