Garon solid in net as Blue Jackets down Ducks

Hockey Betting Lines

03/10/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mathieu Garon was strong with 36 saves to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.

Fedor Tyutin, Jakub Voracek and Antoine Vermette all recorded a goal and two assists for the Blue Jackets, who halted a five-game winless skid. Derek Dorsett and Derick Brassard each added a goal in the victory.

Lubomir Visnovsky and Ryan Getzlaf scored for the Ducks, who remained without a win (0-3-1) since the Olympic break and will continue their seven-game homestand on Friday against Nashville.

Jonas Hiller allowed three goals on 20 shots but was pulled in the second period. Curtis McElhinney, who was acquired last week from Calgary for Vesa Toskala, turned aside seven shots in relief. Ducks forward Bobby Ryan assisted on both goals.

Trailing 3-0 in the third period, the Ducks came to life with a pair of goals to make it interesting.

After Visnovsky's blazing slap shot from the slot brought Anaheim within two at the 9:11 mark, the Ducks made it 3-2 with 5:04 remaining in regulation when Getzlaf tallied. Getzlaf fought for control along the rear boards, drifted with the puck into the left circle and beat Garon with a wrister through traffic.

However, any chance for an Anaheim equalizer was essentially erased when Ducks veteran Saku Koivu was whistled for hooking with 2:31 to play. On the ensuring power play, Vermette's 21st goal -- a backhander between the pads from the top of the crease -- sealed the victory with 1:58 on the clock.

Brassard capped the scoring in the waning seconds.

The visitors grabbed a 1-0 lead at the 8:55 mark of the opening period. A shot from the right point was saved by Hiller, but the puck was loose in front. After several rebound attempts, Dorsett was finally able to poke the puck over the goal line from the top of the crease amid a scramble.

In the second period, a power-play goal pushed the Columbus edge to two. Skating 5-on-4, Voracek, from a sharp angle at the base of the left circle, found room over the short-side shoulder of Hiller with a laser wrist shot at 8:14.

Less than five minutes later, the Blue Jackets moved ahead by three goals. Tyutin's shot from the top of the left circle hit bodies in front of the net and the disc caromed directly back to Tyutin, whose momentum at that point had carried him into the lower portion of the circle. Tyutin's second attempt made it past a screened Hiller at 13:07.

Game Notes

The Ducks have dropped three straight and six of their last nine home games against Columbus, which is now 4-3-2 with interim head coach Claude Noel...The Blue Jackets played without All-Star forward Rick Nash, who left Monday's game against Los Angeles with a lower-body injury. Fellow forward Kristian Huselius also missed the game with a hand injury...Anaheim ended scoreless on seven power-play chances, while the visitors were 3-for-6 with the extra skater.

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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview


“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.

New York Giants betting lines

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.

Dallas Cowboys betting lines

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.

Oakland Raiders betting lines

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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