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02/12/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins tied a season-high for goals in a game on Saturday and will try to carry some of that offense into tonight's contest when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning at Consol Energy Center.
The Penguins hosted Winnipeg on Saturday afternoon and posted an 8-5 victory over the Jets. It was the second time this year that Pittsburgh had scored eight goals, as it also defeated Buffalo by an 8-3 count back on Dec. 17.
Evgeni Malkin padded his lead atop the NHL scoring race, as he registered a goal and four assists in Saturday's high-scoring affair against the Jets. The Russian superstar has 67 points on the year and leads Philadelphia's Claude Giroux and Tampa's Steven Stamkos by five points for the league lead.
Kris Letang added two goals and an assist and Jordan Staal scored in his first game back from a knee injury for the Penguins, who had gone 1-2-1 over their previous four games. Chris Kunitz added a goal and three assists, while Marc- Andre Fleury made 20 saves in the win.
"We wanted to play a little bit of a better game," said Staal, who played for the first time since Jan. 6. "We obviously did a great job offensively to stay ahead of them but we have to play better defensively if we want to keep winning."
With 67 points, Pittsburgh is currently fifth in the Eastern Conference, where it is two points behind Philadelphia and one ahead of New Jersey.
Tonight's tilt marks the middle portion of a three-game homestand for the Pens, who are 16-7-2 as the host this season. Pittsburgh will complete the residency Wednesday against Anaheim.
Tampa Bay is eight points out of a playoff spot in the East and was able to record two points in Saturday's road victory over Buffalo. Although the Lightning have won just two of three games so far in February, they are 7-1-2 over their last 10 trips to the ice.
Stamkos lit the lamp and added an assist while Mathieu Garon stopped 26 shots for Tampa in its 2-1 regulation win over the Sabres. Steve Downie also scored for Tampa Bay.
Stamkos scored the game-winner with 6:44 left in the third, when he beat Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller after a 2-on-1 pass from Teddy Purcell.
"I just tried to get the shot off as quick as I could," Stamkos said. "Miller gets over there quick, so it was nice to get that two-goal lead obviously. They scored one late but it was nice to hold them off at the end."
Tampa hopes to get a boost from a returning player tonight, as forward Ryan Malone is questionable with an upper-body injury that has caused him to sit out the last seven games. Malone has 10 goals and 17 assists in 41 games this season and is questionable for tonight.
This evening's test marks the end of a three-game road trip for the Lightning, who are just 9-16-4 as the guest this season.
Tampa and the Pens met twice earlier this year in Florida and split those encounters. Pittsburgh has taken three of five overall in the series and the Lightning have dropped two in a row and four of their last five in the Steel City.
<< Ducks try to bounce back in Columbus
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will try to rebound from a loss tonight,
when they play the second test of an eight-game road trip against the Columbus
Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
The Ducks became the 19th straight opponent to los
<< Isles, Panthers clash at the Coliseum
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Florida Panthers will try to post their
first three-game winning streak since early December when they visit the New
York Islanders for today's clash at Nassau Coliseum.
Florida, which leads Washington by t
<< U.S. finishes off Davis Cup sweep of host Swiss
Fribourg, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States had already
clinched a victory over host Switzerland in their best-of-five Davis Cup tie
before capping off the weekend on Sunday with two more singles wins in a 5-0
sweep i
<< Lakers finish Grammy Road Trip in Toronto
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a bad case of Linsanity safely in the rearview mirror
the Los Angeles Lakers will get back to business and finish their annual
Grammy Road Trip north of the border against the Toronto Raptors.
The Lakers served as not
Red Wings shoot for NHL home record vs. Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will try to tie the NHL record for
consecutive home wins when they shoot for their 20th straight victory at Joe
Louis Arena tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers.
It's fitting that the Red Wings wil
Last-place Novara stuns Inter at San Siro >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Unfortunately for last-place Novara, it does
not play Inter Milan again this season.
Andrea Caracciolo scored in the 56th minute Sunday and Novara won for just the
third time in Serie A this season - and the
Host Czechs whip Italians 4-1 in Davis Cup >>
Ostrava, Czech Republic (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The host Czech Republic advanced
to the Davis Cup quarterfinals with an easy 4-1 victory over Italy this week.
The Czechs had already clinched the best-of-five tie with a doubles victory in
Ostra
Liverpool's Suarez makes a bad situation worse >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City's continued rise to prominence, Chelsea's
sudden decline and Tottenham's blistering form have each been major storylines
in the 2011-12 English Premier League season.
Yet racism has emerged as the hot-butto
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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