Avalanche playoff-bound after shootout win over Canucks

Hockey Betting Lines

04/07/2010 - Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Duchene scored in the third round of the shootout as the Colorado Avalanche clinched the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

Duchene was the last skater as all previous five shooters were stopped. He came in on net and faked to the forehand before stuffing the puck between Roberto Luongo for the win.

Just one season removed from the worst record in the Western Conference, the Avs find themselves back in the playoffs as they now have 93 points and sit in the eighth spot, three behind the Red Wings as both teams have three games to play.

Meanwhile, Vancouver has already clinched the Northwest Division and will begin the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist while Darcy Tucker and T.J. Galiardi each added a goal for the Avalanche, who have won their past two. Craig Anderson made 29 stops in the win.

Daniel Sedin had two goals and Mason Raymond scored the other for the Canucks, who had won three of four coming in. Luongo stopped 28 shots.

Colorado grabbed the 1-0 lead when an errant clearing attempt was picked up by Tucker and he fired a shot home from the right circle 6:17 in.

Vancouver tied the game with 2:01 to play in the frame on Sedin's 25th goal of the season, but the Avs grabbed the lead back just 57 seconds later on Galiardi's backhander that found its way into the net.

At the 7:11 mark of the second, Vancouver tied the game on a 2-on-1 break as Raymond's wrister on the fly from the left circle beat Anderson.

The Avalanche, though, got a 2-on-1 break of their own seven minutes later as Chris Stewart saucered a pass from the left circle over the stick of a defender and Stastny redirected it home.

Skating on the power play late in the third, the Canucks tied the game as Henrik Sedin skated down the middle and backhanded the puck over to the left side for his brother, who snapped a wrister into the right corner with 4:06 left in regulation.

Game Notes

Vancouver plays at San Jose on Thursday...Colorado plays in Edmonton on Wednesday...Vancouver took four of six from the Avalanche this season...Vancouver scored on its only power play of the game while Colorado went 0-for-2.

Betosports Hockey Betting News

<< Williams, Jazz sink Thunder in OT
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Deron Williams made the game-winning jumper with 1.1 seconds left in overtime and ended with a career-high 42 points, as the Utah Jazz snuck past the Oklahoma City Thunder, 140-139, at EnergyS

<< Sharks claim Pacific title; Flames out of playoff mix
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Nabokov made 38 stops to help the San Jose Sharks clinch the Pacific Division with a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames. The Sharks clinched their third straight Pacific Division title and fi

<< Report: Tulane to name Conroy new coach
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tulane has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at 3 p.m. (et), at which time the Green Wave are expected to name Ed Conroy as their new head men's basketball coach. The Times-Picayune reported that

<< Blackhawks down Stars, set franchise record for wins
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colin Fraser scored twice and Antti Niemi made 26 saves on 28 shots, as the Chicago Blackhawks bested Dallas, 5-2, to earn their fourth straight win and franchise-record 50th of the season. Jonathan Toews

<< McGehee, Fielder help Brewers top Rockies
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Casey McGehee went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer, and the Milwaukee Brewers posted their first victory of the 2010 season with a 7-5 win over the Colorado Rockies. Rickie Weeks also homered for the Brew

Mauer leads Twins over Angels >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning American League MVP Joe Mauer belted his first home run of 2010, and the Minnesota Twins claimed a 5-3 win over the Angels. Mauer, who set career-bests of 28 homers and a .365 batting average in 20

Jefferson leads Spurs over Kings in Parker's return >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Jefferson had 18 points and five rebounds, as the playoff-bound San Antonio Spurs took down the Sacramento Kings, 95-86. Manu Ginobili added 16 points and six assists for the Spurs, who have

Kings take shootout win as Ducks eliminated from playoff spot >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anze Kopitar netted the game-winning goal in the shootout to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. Alex Frolov, Justin Williams and Michal Handzus all scored in the

Spurs' Parker returns to lineup >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker was in the lineup during the team's 95-86 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night after being cleared to resume full basketball activities earlier in the

Cabrera, Young lead Padres over D'Backs >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everth Cabrera drove in four runs, and Chris Young pitched six scoreless innings of one-hit ball, as the San Diego Padres defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-3, at Chase Field. Young (1-0) was stellar w

Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

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)

The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.