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12/30/2008 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marc Savard and Dennis Wideman each had a goal and two assists to help the Boston Bruins to their first nine-game winning streak in 25 years with a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the front end of a home-and-home set at Mellon Arena.
Zdeno Chara had a goal and an assist while Martin St. Pierre and Phil Kessel each had a goal for the Bruins, who last won nine straight from January 8-29, 1983. Tim Thomas made 32 saves in the victory.
Pascal Dupuis and Petr Sykora each had a goal for the Penguins, who have dropped three of four. Marc-Andre Fleury was charged with all five goals on 40 shots in the loss.
These teams will meet on New Year's Day in Boston.
Trailing by a goal to start the second, Boston scored a pair of power-play tallies to take the lead.
The first goal came at the 4:46 mark as P.J. Axelsson had the puck at the right side and sent it to a wide open Chara, who wristed it home from the low left circle for his seventh goal of the year.
Close to five minutes later, Boston took a 2-1 advantage as David Krejci skated down the left wing and from the low left circle sent a beautiful feed across the net to Savard, who went top-shelf with a wrister.
Pittsburgh tied the game with 4:47 left in the second as Dupuis blew a slap shot from the left circle past Thomas.
However, Boston took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission as Savard's pass from the low left side was tipped into the net by Kessel in front with 3:17 left in the frame.
Skating shorthanded, Savard brought the puck into the Pittsburgh end and found St. Pierre, who was skating along and he flung a shot into the net for a 4-2 lead at the 5:28 mark of the third.
Wideman lasered a slap shot past Fleury with 10:22 left in the game to give the Bruins a 5-2 lead.
The Penguins drew first blood as Dustin Jeffrey flew down the left wing and from the deep boards threw it out front where Sykora eventually whacked it in with three minutes left in the first.
Fleury was busy in the first period and faced 16 shots, but he was up to the challenge as he turned all aside to keep Boston off the board.
Game Notes
Boston has won three of four against Pittsburgh...The Bruins have won 14 of its last 15 contests, overall...Boston went 2-for-8 on the power play while Pittsburgh finished 0-for-3, which also included a shorthanded goal against...The Penguins have lost four straight at home while Boston, which just wrapped up a five-game road trip, has won six straight as the guest.
<< Illinois knocks off No. 9 Purdue in OT
West Lafayette, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Tisdale scored 18 points to lead
the Illinois Fighting Illini to a 71-67 overtime victory over the ninth-ranked
Purdue Boilermakers in the Big Ten opener at Mackey Arena.
Alex Legion and Mike Dav
<< Johnson, Hawks defeat Pacers
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson tallied 12 of his game-high 27
points in the fourth quarter, and the Atlanta Hawks got by the Indiana Pacers,
110-104.
Johnson also chipped in seven rebounds and five assists, while Josh S
<< Theodore strong as Caps clip Sabres
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Theodore made 31 saves as the Washington
Capitals downed the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2, at HSBC Arena.
Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist while Brooks Laich also lit the
lamp for the Capitals, w
<< Oglesby, Clemson handle South Carolina
Columbia, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Terrence Oglesby had 25 points as the 20th-
ranked Clemson Tigers handled the South Carolina Gamecocks, 98-87, at The
Colonial Center.
K.C. Rivers had 20 points and five boards while Trevor Booker add
Habs edge Lightning in shootout >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maxim Lapierre notched the deciding shootout
goal, as the Montreal Canadiens clipped the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, at St.
Pete Times Forum.
After both clubs scored in the first round of the extra segm
Washington helps Arkansas shock Oklahoma >>
Fayetteville, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Washington scored 24 points, as
Arkansas nearly blew a big early lead but eventually held on for a 96-88 upset
over No. 4 Oklahoma at Bud Walton Arena.
Stefan Walsh scored 19 points and Rotnei
Flyers' Gagne leaves game >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers forward Simon Gagne left
Tuesday's game against the Vancouver Canucks with an upper body injury and
will not return.
Gagne absorbed a questionable hit only 15 seconds into the c
Avs F Stastny has surgery >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Avalanche center Paul Stastny had
successful surgery on Tuesday to repair a fractured right forearm.
The Quebec native and University of Denver product suffered the injury late
in the third p
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The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
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