Hartnell helps Predators top Coyotes

Hockey Betting Lines

02/20/2007 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Hartnell scored a pair of early second- period goals in a 23-second span for the fastest two goals ever scored by any Predator, as Nashville regained possession of first place in the Central Division with a 4-1 win over the slumping Phoenix Coyotes.

Jean-Pierre Dumont had a goal and an assist for Nashville, which briefly lost its grasp on the top spot in both the Central and the Western Conference following Saturday's loss to Minnesota at the Gaylord Entertainment Center, as the Wild spoiled Peter Forsberg's debut as a Predator by scoring three times in the third period en route to a 4-1 victory.

Forsberg, acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday in the year's biggest in-season deal thus far, was not a factor in his second game with his new club. While still held without a point in Nashville, the five-time All- Star and 2003 Hart Trophy winner was productive with five shots on goal.

Jason Arnott also scored for Nashville, which has split its last four games. Tomas Vokoun stopped 22 shots in goal. Standout defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who was scratched from the lineup against Minnesota with an upper-body injury, returned for this tilt.

The Predators are an outstanding 22-5-3 on home ice this season.

Oleg Saprykin scored for Phoenix, which is currently mired in a season-worst six-game losing streak, the club's longest since a six-game slide from March 22-31, 2003. Curtis Joseph stopped 31-of-35 shots.

With a penalty shot after getting taken down by Ed Jovanovski, Dumont got Nashville on the board with 1:11 remaining in the first period on a snap shot to the stick side, as the Predators held a 1-0 first-intermission lead.

In the second, they blew the game open. Arnott scored by backhanding in a loose puck after Steve Sullivan's centering pass just 39 seconds into the period.

Then, Hartnell got going. With 5:34 gone in the second, he led a 2-on-1 break and cut across the crease to beat a sprawling Joseph glove-side. Capping another fast-break, 23 seconds later, Hartnell took advantage of a pair of defenders colliding in the slot, and got off a wrister stick side for a 4-0 Nashville lead.

Phoenix finally got on the board when Saprykin deflected in Keith Ballard's missed shot from the point 17:14 into the final period.

Game Notes

Jovanovski got hit in the collarbone with a puck late in the third. He left under his own power, but did not return...This game marked the final meeting between these teams this season. The Coyotes won two of the three previous encounters, but dropped a 4-1 decision to the Preds in the Music City back in October...Phoenix has lost in each of its last five visits to Nashville and continued a seven-game winless streak (6 losses, 1 tie) at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The Coyotes' last road win in this series came on October 22, 2002.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

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