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02/19/2007 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves in his NHL debut to guide the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
Saku Koivu, Michael Ryder and Francis Bouillon all scored for the Canadiens, who snapped a six-game losing streak. Koivu and Ryder also added primary assists in the win.
Halak was called into action after Cristobal Huet suffered a hamstring tear in Montreal's 5-2 loss at New Jersey on Wednesday. Huet was expected to undergo surgery on Sunday, and will be out indefinitely.
Nikolai Zherdev and Gilbert Brule both had goals in the third period for Columbus, which has dropped six of its last eight contests. Pascal Leclaire made 25 stops in a losing effort.
Montreal erupted for three goals in the second period to assume control.
The first goal of the game came 18 seconds into the stanza, as Ryder took a feed from Koivu along the left side of the net and snuck a shot past Leclaire for the power-play marker.
The Canadiens broke out on an odd-man rush moments later, with Ryder barreling into the zone before deeking past the lone defender. With the attention squarely on him, Ryder dished the puck to Koivu, who tucked the puck home from the doorstep.
Bouillon's wrister from the point with 11:23 left in the second made it through traffic and into the back of the net to make it a three-goal game.
Zherdev got his club on the board 8:05 into the third, and Brule beat Halak with a wrist shot from the left circle just over three minutes later to make it 3-2.
The Blue Jackets applied heavy pressure in the closing seconds with their goalie pulled, but came away empty.
Game Notes
Columbus went 2-4 on its franchise-long six-game homestand. The Blue Jackets are 14-14-3 at Nationwide Arena for the campaign...This clash marked the first encounter between these teams since they fought to a 1-1 tie in Montreal on November 11, 2003. The Canadiens have only visited Columbus one other time previously, back on October 12, 2001. The Habs came away with a 3-1 decision.
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Mickelson birdied the 17th hole in regulation
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<< No. 11 Georgia downs Auburn
Auburn, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Janese Hardrick scored 20 points to lead No. 11
Georgia past Auburn, 62-55, on Sunday.
Tasha Humphrey netted 14 points for Georgia (23-5, 10-3 Southeastern), which
won its fourth straight. Christy Marshall ad
Blues skate past Wild >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Backes' pair of scores lifted the Blues
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Jamal Mayers, Jay McClement, and Keith Tkachuk also lit the lamp for St.
Louis, which has won three in a
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San Jose.
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Sun Devils stun USC >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Pendergraph scored 14 points and grabbed 15
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end, as Arizona State recorded its first Pac-10 win of the season, 68-58, over
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Kings top Ducks in shootout >>
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Visnovsky added a goal and an assist in regulation and
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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