01/18/2007 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny scored twice, Milan Hejduk posted a goal and two assists, and Tyler Arnason finished with three helpers as Colorado held on to beat Phoenix, 4-3.
Andrew Brunette had a goal and an assist and Peter Budaj made 29 saves for the Avalanche, who have won seven straight against Phoenix.
Georges Laraque had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes, who saw their six- game road winning streak come to an end.
Curtis Joseph yielded all four Colorado goals on 29 shots for Phoenix, which has not won in Colorado since October 30, 2000.
Down 4-1 late in the third period, Phoenix rallied to pull within a goal. Michael Zigomanis made it 4-2 when his shot from the left point beat a screened Budaj with 6:25 remaining.
Then, just over a minute later, Ladislav Nagy ripped a slap shot that bounced off the right post and into the slot for Shane Doan, who stuffed home the rebound to make it a one-goal game.
Phoenix then pulled Joseph with under a minute to play for an extra attacker, but the Avs held on for the win.
"Our power play had been scoring on opportunities, (but) not tonight," said Doan about the Coyotes' power play unit, which squandered six chances with the man-advantage. "We were stubborn on our entry. They held the blue line well (and) we couldn't get established in their zone."
Colorado struck first 7:28 into the opening period as Arnason, from the right circle, found a streaking Stastny for the goal.
Phoenix answered with Laraque's tally 4:14 into the middle stanza before the Avs answered just over six minutes later on the power play as Hejduk scored on a pretty tic-tac-toe play. Brunette, from the high slot, sent the puck to the left circle for Joe Sakic, who found Hejduk in front of the net for the score.
Brunette made it a two-goal game with 40.9 seconds left in the second. Arnason skated in on Joseph, got Coyotes defenseman Travis Roche to crash into the net and then found Brunette for the goal.
Stastny's second goal of the game at the 7:21 mark of the third period made it 4-1.
Game Notes
Sakic finished with two assists for the Avs...Colorado improved to 12-10-2 at home this season...The Coyotes' franchise record for consecutive road wins is eight, set during the 1984-85 season when the team was located in Winnipeg.
<< Cornhuskers top Wildcats
Lincoln, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kiera Hardy scored 22 points and grabbed six
rebounds as Nebraska posted a 70-63 decision over the 25th-ranked Kansas State
Wildcats at the Devaney Center.
Kelsey Griffin donated 15 points and seven rebou
<< No. 7 Sooners take down rival Oklahoma State
Stillwater, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Courtney Paris scored 17 points and grabbed
14 rebounds, and the seventh-ranked Oklahoma Sooners defeated Oklahoma State,
76-60.
Leah Rush and Kendra Moore scored 11 points apiece for the Sooners (14-1, 4
<< Colorado-Texas A&M postponed
College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The women's basketball game between
Colorado and 17th-ranked Texas A&M was postponed Wednesday due to inclement
weather. The game will be played on Thursday, January 17, at 7 p.m. (et) at
Reed Arena.
T
<< No. 2 Wisconsin edges Purdue
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Flowers led a balanced Wisconsin attack
with 15 points, as the second-ranked Badgers held off Purdue, 69-64, to win
their 14th straight game.
Alando Tucker ended with 14 points, while Jason Chappe
Boston College dismisses McLain, Williams from hoops team >>
Chestnut Hill, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston College forward Akida McLain and
center Sean Williams, both suspended earlier this season, have been kicked out
of the men's basketball program for unspecified violations of team rules.
Men's bas
Bryant powers Lakers past Spurs >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 34 points,
dished out eight assists and pulled down six rebounds to lead the Los Angeles
Lakers over the San Antonio Spurs, 100-96, at the At&T Center.
Bryant finished 12-
Suns rally past Rockets, stretch winning streak to 11 >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash played catalyst again for Phoenix
with 21 points and 14 assists, as the Suns stretched their winning streak to
11 games by rallying from a 15-point deficit in the second quarter for a
100-91
Blazers pound road-weary Cavs >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Randolph scored 26 points and pulled down
12 rebounds, as the Portland Trail Blazers rolled to a 94-76 victory over the
road-weary Cleveland Cavaliers.
Brandon Roy added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the
MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds
With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.
Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season. Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money.
This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy. A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.
Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:
| Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame) Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma) Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State) Michael Bush (RB, Louisville) Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia) Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville) Chris Leak (QB, Florida) Mike Hart (RB, Michigan) Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State) Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame) Drew Tate (QB, Iowa) Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal) Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn) Chad Henne (QB, Michigan) Kyle Wright (QB, Miami) Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State) Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama) JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU) Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State) Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina) Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech) |
5-2 7-2 7-1 10-1 10-1 12-1 12-1 18-1 18-1 20-1 30-1 35-1 35-1 40-1 50-1 50-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 |
For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.
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.
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