11/21/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues will attempt to halt their home losing streak tonight, as they host the Anaheim Ducks at Scottrade Center.
The Blues are 4-4-1 as the host this year, but have dropped three straight and five of their last six in St. Louis. That includes a 3-2 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.
Montreal's Alex Kovalev had the lone tally in the shootout, beating Blues netminder Manny Legace with a backhander under the crossbar.
Legace ended with 24 saves, as St. Louis lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
Steve Regier accounted for both St. Louis goals, the first two of his NHL career. The 24-year-old Regier, who was recalled from the team's American Hockey League affiliate in Peoria before the game, was playing in only his 19th career NHL contest. His previous 18 games were with the New York Islanders.
St. Louis will play without Andy McDonald, who suffered a fractured left leg in the first period of Sunday's game. The 31-year-old will not need surgery, but will miss the next eight weeks of action.
McDonald has six goals and 12 assists for a team-high 18 points in 16 games this season, his second with the organization. St. Louis acquired the forward from Anaheim on December 14 of last year.
McDonald's old team wrapped a six-game homestand on Wednesday with a 6-4 loss to Washington. The setback gave the Ducks a 2-3-1 mark on the residency.
Bobby Ryan contributed two goals and an assist for Anaheim, Ryan Getzlaf added a goal and an assist, while Corey Perry notched three assists in the loss. The Ducks now hit the road, where they have won five straight after dropping their first two as the visiting club to begin the season.
Coming off his first-career shutout, Jonas Hiller made his second straight start but was pulled after he allowed three goals on six shots. Jean-Sebastien Giguere finished with 24 saves.
Hiller was in net for Anaheim's 5-2 win over the Blues in early November, his first-career start against them. Giguere, who is 0-3-1 in his last four starts with a 4.26 goals against average, is 13-6-1 with a 2.23 GAA lifetime against St. Louis.
The Ducks have won three straight and nine of their last 12 against the Blues, but have dropped two in a row and six of their last nine in St. Louis.
Legace is 10-2-1 with a 2.04 GAA in his career against the Ducks.
<< Storm front: 'Canes try to extend win streak vs. Coyotes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes will try to earn their first three-
game winning streak of the season when they welcome the sliding Phoenix
Coyotes for tonight's meeting at RBC Center.
The Hurricanes are in the midst of a four-gam
<< Islanders shoot for fourth straight win in test with Devils
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders will try to extend their season-high
winning streak to four games when they visit the New Jersey Devils for an
Atlantic Division matchup at Prudential Center.
After sweeping a home-and-home series wi
<< Jazz pay a visit to San Antonio
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz head south to the Alamo City in search of
their third consecutive win Friday when they meet the San Antonio Spurs at the
AT&T Center.
C.J. Miles scored 25 points to lead Utah to a 105-94 comeback
<< Lakers welcome Nuggets to Staples Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top dog in the NBA's Western Conference, the Los
Angeles Lakers, welcome the red-hot Denver Nuggets to Staples Center on
Friday.
The Lakers improved to a gaudy 9-1 on Thursday when Kobe Bryant scored
Streaking Ajax confident ahead of AZ test >>
Alkmaar, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marco van Basten's Ajax side is
brimming with confidence as they head to DSB Stadion to face fourth-place AZ
Alkmaar on Sunday.
After taking just seven points from its first five games under V
Aston Villa takes aim at top four >>
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In recent seasons, Arsenal, Chelsea,
Liverpool and Manchester United have had a near stranglehold on the top four
places in the Premiership, but Aston Villa is poised to challenge those
heavywe
Juventus aims to keep momentum going against Inter >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus carries a five-game winning streak in
Serie A play into its top-three showdown against Inter Milan on Saturday at
the San Siro with the two sides separated by only three points.
It looked like th
Motherwell hoping to rediscover scoring touch >>
Motherwell, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been nearly 300 minutes since
Motherwell has scored a goal in league play, and the team will try to snap
that streak on Saturday at home against Hibernian.
Mark McGhee's Motherwell put tog
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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