Sharks try to continue dominance of Blues
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12/27/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though the San Jose Sharks have been most vulnerable on the road this year, they haven't had much trouble winning in St. Louis as of late. They will try to extend their winning streak in the Gateway City to eight games tonight in a road test with the Blues at Scottrade Center.
The Sharks have been near unbeatable this year, as they are coming off back- to-back home wins to improve to 27-4-3 on the year for an NHL-best 57 points. San Jose's 5-0 win over Vancouver on Tuesday improved it to 18-0-2 as the host this year and 26-0-3 in 29 home games dating back to last season.
If San Jose has shown any flaws, it is that its four regulation losses this year have come on the road, where the Sharks are 9-4-1 on the year and have lost two straight.
However, San Jose hasn't lost in St. Louis since December 18, 2003. The Sharks have also won seven straight overall in the series, picking up a pair of home wins versus the Blues already this year.
In Tuesday's win over the Canucks at home, Evgeni Nabokov notched his second shutout of the season and 42nd of his career with 33 saves. Both shutouts have come over his last six starts and he is 4-1-1 with a 2.32 goals against average in that span.
Patrick Marleau continued his bounce-back season with a goal and two assists. A 30-goal scorer in 2005-06 and '06-07, Marleau was limited to just 19 goals and 29 assists in 78 games last year. He has 18 goals and 22 assists already this season and leads the club in goals and points (40).
Devin Setoguchi and Joe Thornton logged a goal and an assist apiece in the win over Vancouver, while Rob Blake and Tomas Plihal also lit the lamp. Dan Boyle added a pair of helpers.
The Sharks will play their next three on the road starting tonight and will also visit Dallas and Minnesota on this swing.
The Blues seem to pose little threat to the Sharks right now, as they have lost seven of their last eight games. The club was also in action on Tuesday and dropped a 4-1 decision to the Detroit Red Wings.
Patrik Berglund scored the only goal for the Blues, an unassisted third-period tally. Berglund has 12 goals on the season and three in his last five games.
Manny Legace gave up four goals on 41 shots and has been tagged for 11 goals in his last three games (1-2-0) since returning from a mild concussion suffered versus the Ducks on December 10.
Backup netminder Chris Mason hasn't been much better, as he is 0-5-1 with a 4.36 GAA in seven games this month. Also, Mason is 0-6-1 with a 3.42 GAA all- time versus the Sharks.
St. Louis, last in the Western Conference and Central Division with 29 points, is 8-7-2 at home this year and starts a three-game residency tonight.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off their best offensive output of the year, the last-place Dallas Stars begin a three-game homestand tonight against the visiting Anaheim Ducks at American Airlines Center. Just one season removed from a Western Co
<< Bolts host Panthers in home-and-home finale
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning will shoot for a home-and-home
sweep as well as their third consecutive victory overall when they welcome the
Florida Panthers for a battle at St. Pete Times Forum.
The Lightning edged Florida in a
<< Rangers, Devils tangle at MSG
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers will try to avoid losing three
straight games for the first time this season when they welcome the rival New
Jersey Devils for an Atlantic Division showdown at Madison Square Garden.
The Devils and Ran
<< Sliding Blue Jackets welcome Flyers to town
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to avoid a fourth
straight loss and snap a lengthy scoreless drought when they invite the
Philadelphia Flyers for tonight's interconference matchup at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets h
<< Bruins shoot for seventh straight win in visit to Carolina
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will aim for their seventh consecutive
victory when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes for this evening's matchup at
RBC Center.
The Bruins, who lead the Eastern Conference and Southeast Division with 54
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will try to rebound from just their third loss of December when they visit the Colorado Avalanche for this evening's battle at the Pepsi Center. The Red Wings and Avs have built a fierce rivalry with
Coyotes welcome Kings for home-and-home finale >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes will aim for a home-and-home sweep of
the Los Angeles Kings when they host the finale tonight at Jobing.com Arena.
The series between these Pacific Division foes began in Los Angeles on Friday
and the C
Sens head west to face Flames >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators begin the western part of their eight-
game road trip tonight, as they visit the Calgary Flames and Pengrowth
Saddledome.
Ottawa kicked off its longest road trip of the season on Tuesday in
Philadelphi
McDonald gives Celtic seven-point edge >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott McDonald's goal in the 58th minute
proved to be the difference as Celtic extended its lead atop the Scottish
Premier League to seven points with a 1-0 win over Old Firm rivals Rangers at
the Ibr
Flyers Timonen, Hartnell hurt >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen
and forward Scott Hartnell both suffered injuries during Friday's 5-1 loss to
the Blackhawks.
Timonen chipped a bone in his right ankle and Hartnell broke
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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