Crosby, Pens win battle of young stars

Hockey Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a battle of two of the game's top young stars, it was Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins getting the best of this installment, downing Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals 3-2 at Mellon Arena.

Crosby finished with only an assist and Ovechkin went without a point for a bit of an anticlimactic outcome to the anticipated duel.

Instead it was Mark Recchi, Evgeni Malkin and Maxime Talbot scoring for the red-hot Penguins, who have registered a point in 16 straight games and have won six in a row. Jocelyn Thibault made 29 saves in victory.

Richard Zednik and Alexander Semin had the goals for Washington, which has dropped three straight. Brent Johnson finished with 23 stops.

The home team established a 1-0 lead 5:59 into the contest, as Sergei Gonchar's shot from the point was redirected by Recchi in front before slipping past Johnson for the power-play tally.

Washington scored in similar fashion just over a minute later to even the contest. With his team on the attack, Jeff Schultz ripped a shot from the point that caromed off Zednik and in with 12:56 to play in the opening frame.

Pittsburgh, though, countered with two unanswered goals to gain command.

With time running down in the second stanza, Malkin flew behind the net and then dished the puck to Gonchar, who fed it right back to Malkin in the right circle. The rookie center finished off the sequence with a one-timer to give his team a 2-1 advantage.

The Penguins made it a two-goal game 1:10 into the third on a one-timer by Talbot from the left circle.

The Capitals had a great chance to climb within one when Semin drew a penalty shot with 5:56 to play after being taken down from behind, but his backhand attempt rang off the post.

He made amends with 44 seconds remaining and his goalie pulled, when the left winger tucked a shot through the five-hole from the slot to make it 3-2. Thibault, though, was able to keep the Capitals off the board the rest of the way.

Game Notes

The Penguins have been dominant at home as of late. The team has won eight in a row at the Igloo and own an 18-8-4 record as the host this season...Ovechkin edged out Crosby for last year's Calder Trophy honoring the NHL's top rookie...Pittsburgh has taken all three meetings with Washington this season and has won seven of the last eight games in this series.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

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