Flames beat Coyotes, inch closer in playoff race

Hockey Betting Lines

04/01/2010 - Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miikka Kiprusoff was very strong in net with 29 saves, and the Calgary Flames edged the Phoenix Coyotes, 2-1, to give their playoff chances an enormous boost.

Rene Bourque and Ales Kotalik each scored for the Flames, who have won two straight to climb to within two points of the fading Colorado Avalanche, the current eight seed in the Western Conference. The Avs, who lost Wednesday to Anaheim, will host Calgary at Pepsi Center on Friday in a game that has huge playoff implications.

Kiprusoff notched his 34th win of the season for the Flames.

Lee Stempniak scored the only goal for the Coyotes, who have lost four of five and squandered a chance to gain ground on the Sharks in the Pacific Division. Phoenix, which has already set a franchise record for wins and points, stands four points behind San Jose with four games to play. Phoenix is still six points ahead of fifth-place Nashville.

Jason LaBarbera, getting the start because the team rested Ilya Bryzgalov, allowed both goals on 31 shots in defeat.

Neither team could get on the scoreboard in the opening period, with Kiprusoff making 11 saves and LaBarbera nine.

Calgary finally broke through with a power play tally with 5:37 remaining in the second. With Mathieu Schneider off for holding, Ian White sent a blistering shot from the left side that deflected off Bourque's right knee and into the top right corner of the net.

Phoenix nearly tied it in the final moments of the frame, but Stempniak was denied by Kiprusoff at point-blank range.

The Flames then doubled their advantage 3:46 into the third period on Kotalik's snap shot from the slot that found its way underneath LaBarbera's left pad.

Stempniak made up for his earlier failure with a one-timer from close range at the 13:08 mark, but the Coyotes couldn't solve Kiprusoff again despite pulling the goaltender for an extra skater in the final seconds.

Game Notes

Stempniak tied a career-high with his 27th goal of the season. He has 13 goals in 14 games with Phoenix since coming over in a trade deadline deal from Toronto...The home team won each of the four games in this series...Phoenix had been 15-for-15 on the penalty kill in its previous five games, but Calgary went 1-for-4 with the man advantage on Wednesday...Calgary defenseman Jay Bouwmeester had an assist and extended his longest active NHL iron-man streak to 419 games.

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NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

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