Crosby, Christensen lead Pens over Isles

Hockey Betting Lines

01/17/2007 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sidney Crosby and Erik Christensen notched a pair of goals each, lifting the Pittsburgh Penguins over the New York Islanders, 5-2, at Mellon Arena.

Michel Ouellet picked up a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who have won two in a row after a three-game losing streak. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 31 shots to post his 19th victory of the season.

Richard Park and Arron Asham tallied for the Islanders, who have lost three straight and nine of 11. Mike Dunham made only 17 saves in the loss, his first start since January 2nd.

Crosby put the home team on top, 3-2, 3:28 into the third, slamming home a loose puck at the side of the net. Prior to the goal, the young star fanned from that same spot when a point shot deflected off the crossbar and post behind Dunham and kicked out to where he was stationed.

Christensen provided some breathing room at 8:45, when his relatively harmless shot from 50 feet through a teammate's screen found its way past Dunham on the short side for a 4-2 Pens advantage.

With 6:15 to play, it was a 5-2 game when Crosby netted his 23rd goal of the year. The young phenom was the trailing skater on a 2-on-1 opportunity with Mark Recchi, and when the veteran's shot was turned aside by Dunham's pad, Crosby was right there to stash the rebound home.

Christensen recorded his first goal in seven games and the only score of the first period, just 2:32 into the game.

The Islanders were scoreless in five power-play attempts in the first, but picked up the tying tally at 1:57 when Park struck for an unassisted shorthanded goal, his fifth of the season.

The Pens went on top 2-1 on their fourth power-play chance of the middle period. From a goalmouth scramble, the puck found its way to Evgeni Malkin whose shot from a sharp angle caromed off Dunham out to Ouellet at the right circle, and he hit the open net at 11:35.

A pair of tough guys drew the Isles even at 2-2 with 2:16 to go. Chris Simon chased down a dump-in along the left boards and, with two defenders drawn to him, whipped a pass in front to a wide-open Asham for the easy tip-in.

Game Notes

The Pens have won five of the last seven meetings...Pittsburgh is 4-2 against New York this season, outscoring them by 23-18...New York finished 0-for-8 on the power play, while Pittsburgh was 2-for-8...Pens defenseman Sergei Gonchar picked up an assist on Crosby's first goal, tying him with Recchi for second on the team with 26...It was Crosby's fourth multi-goal outing of the season, and second in the month of January.

Wwwthegreek Hockey Betting News

<< Luongo denies all shots; Canucks blank Canadiens
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Kesler posted a goal and two assists and Roberto Luongo turned aside all 30 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season as the surging Vancouver Canucks blanked the Montreal Canadiens, 4-0.

<< Brodeur, Devils blank Rangers
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Brodeur turned in another All- Star-like performance with 26 saves for his league-leading eighth shutout of the season in New Jersey's 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers. Brad Lukowich sc

<< Hossa's hat trick powers Thrashers past Kings
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marian Hossa notched his second hat trick of the season to help the Altanta Thrashers to a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Philips Arena. Glen Metropolit added a goal and an assist and Kari Lehton

<< Gray, sixth-ranked Pitt down UConn
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Gray poured in 22 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked four shots as sixth-ranked Pittsburgh held off Big East foe Connecticut, 63-54. Ronald Ramon went 4-for-4 from three-point range and

<< Kuznetsova breezes into round three at Aussie Open
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova moved into the third round at the Australian Open with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australian wild card Monique Adamczak Wednesday. The 21-year-old Kuznetsova,

Royals avoid arbitration with OF Brown >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals avoided salary arbitration with Emil Brown on Tuesday, agreeing on a one-year contract with the outfielder for the 2007 season. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The 3

Streaking Senators surge past Capitals >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Comrie had a pair of goals as the streaking Ottawa Senators skated past the Washington Capitals, 5-2, at Scotiabank Place. Daniel Alfredsson and Peter Schaefer each had a goal and an assist, and Andrej Masz

Williams nets OT goal to lift Canes over Panthers >>
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Williams scored a power-play goal 1:47 into overtime to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers at BankAtlantic Center. Florida's Mike Van Ryn got called for hol

Falcons continue MAC surge by topping RedHawks >>
Oxford, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ali Mann scored 18 points to lead 18th-ranked Bowling Green to a 64-56 win over Miami-Ohio. Liz Honegger added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Falcons (15-2, 5-0 MAC), who won their eighth straight overa

Chimera's OT goal lifts Blue Jackets over Blackhawks >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Chimera scored 2:31 into overtime to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. Fredrik Modin, Sergei Fedorov and Rostislav Klesla also scored fo

FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.