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03/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the Western Conference's best teams will meet tonight in the Windy City as the Chicago Blackhawks host the Los Angeles Kings at United Center.
The Blackhawks are first in the Central Division and second in the West with 91 points. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is one of the league's biggest surprises this year and is currently third in the Pacific and fifth in the conference with 82 points.
The Kings and Blackhawks have split two meetings this year with each club winning on its home ice. The teams have split the last six encounters overall, but LA has lost three straight and four of its last five in Chicago.
Los Angeles avoided a third straight loss its last time out by posting a convincing home victory Monday against Columbus.
Jonathan Quick needed to stop just 11 shots for his third shutout of the season and Los Angeles scored four first-period goals on its way to a 6-0 rout of the Blue Jackets.
"Mentally it can be a bit of a battle to stay focused a full 60 minutes, but the team played great the whole game," Quick said. "It was real easy for me. We had some big goals, and it was just a great game."
Alexander Frolov had a goal and three assists while Michal Handzus and Fredrik Modin each added a goal and an assist for the Kings.
Kings leading scorer Anze Kopitar recorded an assist to push his point streak to seven games. The Slovenian star has four goals and three assists during the tear and leads all LA skaters with 68 points this year.
LA is 20-12-1 as the guest this year, but has lost two of its last three road games. The Kings will cap a brief two-game swing Friday night in Dallas.
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are completing a four-game homestand this evening.
Chicago, which is 25-7-2 as the host this year, opened this residency with back-to-back wins before getting dealt a close regulation loss by Detroit Sunday. Andrew Ladd posted a hat trick for Chicago in the 5-4 loss, which saw the Red Wings score all five of their goals in the second period.
The first three-goal game of Ladd's career wasn't enough for Chicago. Duncan Keith had the other goal for the Blackhawks, who lead Nashville by 14 points for first place in the Central.
Cristobal Huet started in net for Chicago and got pulled after yielding four goals on 17 shots. Antti Niemi made seven saves the rest of the way.
Patrick Kane had an assist in the loss and extended his point-scoring streak to eight games. He has four goals and nine helpers during the stretch.
<< Mavs aim to push win streak to 13 vs. Nets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's worst team takes on its hottest when the New
Jersey Nets meet the Dallas Mavericks in Big D tonight.
Despite playing short-handed the Mavs earned their 12th straight victory on
Monday in Minneapolis whe
<< Devils return home for battle with rival Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three straight road games out west following the Olympic
break seemed to have caught up with the Devils in their most recent contest.
New Jersey now returns home for the first time in nearly a month this evening
when it pl
<< Raptors make a stop in Sacramento
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reeling Toronto Raptors aim to right the ship tonight
as they resume a four-game western road trip against the Sacramento Kings.
The Raptors are now fighting for their playoff lives after dropping the opener
of thei
<< Thunder return home to face Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Oklahoma City Thunder seem to be well on their
way towards ending a playoff drought, the New Orleans Hornets enter tonight's
showdown between these teams in danger of missing out of the postseason fray.
The injur
Bobcats hope to end road woes in Philadelphia >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" easily coincides
with how the Charlotte Bobcats have been playing this season. The road less
traveled would be the one headed towards Charlotte, and that's made all the
difference for
Heat begin key homestand with visit from Clippers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat are fighting for their playoff lives and
hope to gain some ground during a six-game homestand that starts with
tonight's matchup versus the Los Angeles Clippers at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat have won t
Spurs, Knicks square off in Alamo City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs will have to continue their playoff
push tonight against the New York Knicks without star guard Tony Parker.
The team did receive some good news on Monday, however, when it was learned
that Park
Surging Jazz shoot for another win over Pistons >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keeping up with Denver in both the Northwest Division and
Western Conference standings could get a bit easier tonight for the Utah Jazz,
who will shoot for their 10th straight win over the Detroit Pistons.
Utah has won 11
Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
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