Bruins aim for 10th straight win, sweep of Penguins

Hockey Betting Lines

01/01/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will aim for a 10th consecutive victory when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Banknorth Garden tonight in the finale of a home-and-home series.

The Bruins have won nine in a row for the first time since the 1982-83 season and can record their first 10-game winning streak since late in the 1972-73 campaign, when Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito were leading the way for Boston.

Boston's club-record winning streak of 14 games was set during the 1929-30 season.

The Bruins have been far and away the best team in the Eastern Conference this year, as they currently have 60 points and are sporting a 23-2-1 record since the start of November.

Tuesday's game in Pittsburgh was a one-sided affair, as Marc Savard and Dennis Wideman each had a goal and two assists to help the Bruins notch the 5-2 decision at Mellon Arena.

Zdeno Chara had a goal and an assist and Martin St. Pierre and Phil Kessel each had a goal for the Bruins, while Tim Thomas made 32 saves in the victory.

David Krejci recorded an assist for Boston to extend his point streak to nine straight games, and he has reached the scoresheet in 18 of his last 19 outings. The 22-year-old Czech native is second to Savard on the Bruins with 40 points this season.

Pascal Dupuis and Petr Sykora each had a goal for the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury was charged with all five goals on 40 shots in the loss.

It was the third loss in four games for Pittsburgh and the club's fourth consecutive setback on home ice. The Penguins are currently fourth in the Atlantic Division with 42 points.

Pittsburgh is 11-6-2 as the guest this season and the club has won three straight on the road. Boston, meanwhile, is 13-1-1 as the host this year and hasn't lost in Beantown since its first two home games of the season. The Bruins' club record of 20 straight home wins was also set during the 1929-30 campaign.

The Penguins, along with Toronto, are one of the two teams to win a game in Boston this year. Pittsburgh earned a shootout victory over the Bruins on October 20, with Tuesday's meeting the first between the clubs since that game at the Garden.

Pittsburgh has won five of its last eight encounters with the Bruins and has taken three of the four most recent matchups in Beantown in the series.

Sportsilne Hockey Betting News

<< Red-hot Caps host Lightning to ring in New Year
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals will try to continue where they left off in 2008 when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning in a New Year's Day contest between Southeast Division rivals at Verizon Center. The Capitals head into the 20

<< NHL takes its game to Wrigley Field with latest Winter Classic
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2009 edition of the NHL's Winter Classic is on tap today at Wrigley Field in Chicago, where the Blackhawks will battle the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. This is technically the finale of a home-and-

<< 95th annual Rose Bowl pits Nittany Lions against Trojans
Pasadena, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 95th Rose Bowl boasts one of the better matchups of this postseason, as the fifth-ranked USC Trojans take on the sixth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions in a rematch of the very first Rose Bowl game played at t

<< Outback Bowl features Hawkeyes against Gamecocks
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The South Carolina Gamecocks and Iowa Hawkeyes are in Tampa, Florida to square off in the 23rd annual Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. It took until his fourth season as head coach, but Steve Spurrier has f

<< Hokies and Bearcats tangle in 75th annual Orange Bowl
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 75th edition of the Orange Bowl is set for Dolphin Stadium on New Year's Day, as the Cincinnati Bearcats take on the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Bearcats will be playing in their first January 1st bowl since 19

Leafs resume homestand with test from Sabres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a career milestone, it's back to business as usual for Toronto's Curtis Joseph tonight. The backup netminder will make his second straight start when the Maple Leafs host the Buffalo Sabres at Air Canada Centre.

Hurting Canucks head to Music City to battle Preds >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Injuries forced the Vancouver Canucks to add a goaltender during their last game. The team will hope for stability at the position in tonight's road clash with the Nashville Predators at the Sommet Center. With Roberto Luo

Tulsa, Graham agree to new 10-year contract >>
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Tulsa and head football coach Todd Graham have agreed to a new 10-year contract through the 2018 season, as announced by athletic director Bubba Cunningham on Thursday. Financial terms of the

Walker named New Mexico State football coach >>
Las Cruces, NM (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Mexico State has named DeWayne Walker its new head football coach. Walker spent the past three seasons as UCLA's defensive coordinator and also served as defensive backs coach for Southern Californ

Cal's Tedford signs two-year extension >>
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Tedford is staying as head football coach at California through the 2015 season after signing a two-year contract extension, as announced by athletics director Sandy Barbour on Thursday. In seven

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.


NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.