05/11/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals tonight, when they host the rival Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2 at Mellon Arena.
The second-seeded Penguins, champions of the Atlantic Division, had an impressive showing in the series opener on Friday, downing their division rivals and fellow Pennsylvanians by a 4-2 count in the Steel City.
With the victory, Pittsburgh improved to 9-1 in this postseason and has won 20 of its last 26 games dating back to the regular season. Pittsburgh swept the Ottawa Senators in four games during the opening round and then notched a five-game series victory over the rival New York Rangers.
The Pens were an excellent home team during the regular season, going 26-10-5 at the Igloo. They are 6-0 in Pittsburgh during the postseason. Philadelphia was 21-15-5 as the visiting team this year and 4-4 on the road in the playoffs.
The series will shift to the other side of the Keystone State for Games 3 and 4. The Flyers will host the third meeting on Tuesday night at the Wachovia Center.
Evgeni Malkin scored twice and added an assist, as Pittsburgh doubled up Philadelphia in Game 1 at the Igloo.
Sidney Crosby and Petr Sykora also tallied for the Penguins, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves to earn his ninth win.
Malkin leads Pittsburgh in goals (8) and points (17) this postseason. The sophomore sensation is a finalist for the Hart Trophy, which is given annually to the league MVP, after notching 106 points (47 goals, 59 assists) during the regular season.
Meanwhile, Crosby's goal was his first since scoring against Ottawa in Game 4 of the opening round. Last year's Hart Trophy recipient has three goals in this year's postseason and has also added a team-high 12 assists.
Mike Richards scored twice for the Flyers, who fell to 8-5 on the playoff year. Martin Biron had an uncharacteristically off night in net, allowing four goals on only 21 shots in the loss.
The sixth-seeded Flyers also lost Game 1 in both of their previous series this postseason. Philadelphia defeated Washington in seven games during the opening round and needed just five games to oust top-seeded Montreal in the conference semifinals.
Philadelphia missed the impact of veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who is likely lost for the remainder of the playoffs with a blood clot in his left leg.
Timonen, an All-Star in each of the past two seasons, is averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time in the playoffs and was used by the Flyers to help contain Alex Ovechkin in the Washington series and Montreal's Alex Kovalev in the next round. The 33-year-old Finn was expected to take a similar role against Crosby and Malkin.
The Flyers are in the conference finals for the first time since 2004 and last made it to the Stanley Cup finals in 1997, when they were swept by Detroit.
Pittsburgh is in the conference finals for the first time since 2001. The Pens haven't made it to the Stanley Cup finals since winning the second of back-to- back championships in 1992.
The Flyers won the season series against Pittsburgh, 5-3, but Philadelphia posted four of those victories prior to the All-Star break, before the Penguins really started to click.
The Penguins then won three straight in the series before Philadelphia posted a 2-0 victory on the final day of the regular season.
The Flyers are 3-0 all-time in playoff series against the Penguins with the most recent meeting coming in the 2000 conference semifinals. Philadelphia fell behind 0-2 in that series, but won the final four outings, including a memorable five-overtime matchup in Game 3.
<< Floyd leads Pale Hose at Seattle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners will have a tough task ahead of them,
as they will have to battle the red hot Gavin Floyd and the Chicago White Sox
in the finale of a three-game set at Safeco Field.
Floyd was at the top of his ga
<< Big Unit takes on Cubs at Wrigley
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Randy Johnson will try to keep his perfect record against
the Cubs intact this afternoon, when the Arizona Diamondbacks wrap up a three-
game series at Chicago's historic Wrigley Field.
Johnson, who is 2-1 with a 5.06
<< Pirates, Braves continue series at PNC Park
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jair Jurrjens seeks a fifth straight start without a loss
today when the Atlanta Braves enter PNC Park for the third game of a four-game
series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Jurrjens, an undrafted free agent from the Net
<< Reds visit Mets at Shea
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati rookie Johnny Cueto tries for a second straight
win today, when the Reds visit Shea Stadium to close out a three-game weekend
series with the New York Mets.
The 22-year-old Dominican burst onto the scene in
Santana leads Halos into Tampa >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second consecutive matchup the Los Angeles of
Anaheim will send an undefeated pitcher to the hill, as Ervin Santana will try
to shut down the Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of a three-game set at Tropicana
Field.
Jays, Tribe resume series in Cleveland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays will try to get back on the winning
track when they take on the Cleveland Indians this afternoon in the third
matchup of a four-game series at Progressive Field.
The Blue Jays have lost three
Pettitte leads Yankees against Tigers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees will try to inch their way up the AL
East standings when they take on the Detroit Tigers today in the finale of a
three-game set at Comerica Park.
Andy Pettitte will try to get back into the win c
Boston takes on Minnesota at Metrodome >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American League's top team, the Boston Red Sox, will
take the field this evening in hopes of winning the third test of a four-game
set against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome.
Tim Wakefield will take the hill toni
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.
You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sports betting
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting