Habs aim to make it three straight in clash with Isles

Hockey Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to post their longest winning streak in over three months when they visit the New York Islanders tonight at Nassau Coliseum.

The Canadiens have recorded recent home wins over Winnipeg and Pittsburgh, but the club hasn't notched three victories in a row since a season-high four-game run from Oct. 26-Nov. 4.

Meanwhile, the Islanders have won three of four and have recorded a point in five straight (3-0-2). New York is currently nine points out of a playoff spot in the East and is just one point ahead of Montreal in the conference standings.

The Canadiens outlasted the visiting Penguins on Tuesday, as Tomas Plekanec scored in the eighth round of the shootout to help Montreal take a 3-2 decision at Bell Centre.

In the eighth round, Plekanec beat Marc-Andre Fleury to the glove side with a wrister and Carey Price sealed the win as he kept out a low forehand shot from Jason Williams.

"I thought we played well the whole game," said Plekanec. "We tried to shut them down. We were able to get two points. That's the most important thing."

Louis Leblanc and Lars Eller both scored in regulation for the Canadiens, who had grabbed a 2-1 lead early in the third period before allowing James Neal to tie it with his 28th goal of the year at the 7:32 mark of the stanza. Price made 32 stops in the win.

Montreal is just 10-13-2 as the visiting team this year and is beginning a brief two-game trip tonight. The Habs will also visit the rival Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

The Islanders also won a shootout decision Tuesday night in Philadelphia, as Frans Nielsen scored the winner in the second round in a 1-0 victory over the Flyers at Wachovia Center. All around, it was an exciting day for Nielsen, who earlier on Tuesday signed a new four-year contract with the Islanders.

But the real story for New York on Tuesday was the magnificent play of goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, who stopped 45 shots through the 65 minutes of play for his second shutout of the season and 52nd of his career for the Islanders. Nabokov stopped both Flyers shooters in the shootout to get the win.

"When you look at the game, he made some huge saves for us," said New York head coach Jack Capuano. "Anytime you get goaltending like that, normally you win a hockey game and we did that tonight against a really good team."

John Tavares also scored in the decisive phase for the Isles on Tuesday.

The Islanders are hoping to get defenseman Milan Jurcina back tonight after he sat out the last three games with a lacerated elbow. New York will not have either defensemen Travis Hamonic (broken nose/facial lacerations) and Dylan Reese (knee), who will be out four-to-six weeks after suffering a sprained MCL against Philadelphia.

New York is kicking off a three-game homestand tonight and is 11-11-5 as the host this season. The Isles will also welcome Los Angeles and Florida during the residency.

The Isles had won three straight against Montreal before the Canadiens evened the season series at one game each with a 5-3 home win on Dec. 13. New York has won two in a row and three of the last four meetings on Long Island.

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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview


“You play to win the game!”

Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.

The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.

The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.

Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?

Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.

New York Giants betting lines

Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.

Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.

Dallas Cowboys betting lines

Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.

The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.

Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.

Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.

Oakland Raiders betting lines

This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.

First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”

The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason. 

Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.

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