Sillinger lifts Islanders over Penguins in final seconds

Hockey Betting Lines

02/19/2007 - Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Sillinger scored with 26.8 seconds to play, as the New York Islanders handed the Pittsburgh Penguins their first loss in regulation in over a month with a 6-5 win at Nassau Coliseum.

With time winding down in the third, Sidney Crosby set up Mark Recchi for a one-timer from the low right side, on which Rick DiPietro made a save.

The Islanders skated back down the ice on transition and, from the top of the right circle, Andy Hilbert sent a pass to Sillinger, who, from the slot, used Mark Eaton as a screen and snapped a shot on net. Marc-Andre Fleury slowed down the puck with his glove, but it retained enough momentum to trickle into the net with 26.8 to play.

Pittsburgh pulled Fleury from the net but was only able to get one shot on net, and the Islanders gave the home crowd a victory.

"It was a big win. Obviously any time you outscore Pittsburgh something is going right," said Sillinger.

Chris Simon scored two goals and Randy Robitaille added three assists for the Islanders, who have won three of their last four contests.

Rick DiPietro stopped 25 shots in the win for New York, which, with 66 points, is in a three-way tie with Toronto and Montreal for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Ryan Malone notched his second-career hat trick, Mark Recchi had two goals and three assists, and Sidney Crosby added four assists for the Penguins, who lost in regulation for the first time since January 10 and went 14-0-2 during that run.

"I think our mistakes were just big mistakes and the puck ended up in our net," said Crosby.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots for Pittsburgh, which has 73 points and moved into fourth place in the Eastern Conference thanks to the streak.

Pittsburgh broke a 4-4 tie just 48 seconds into the third period when Crosby flicked a shot on net from the right circle on which DiPietro made a save, but the rebound went right to the slot and on his second attempt Malone got the puck into the back of the net for a 5-4 win.

However, the Islanders tied the game a little over a minute later when Robitaille fed a pass from the left point to the top of the right circle and Simon blasted the disc into the left corner of the net.

The Penguins grabbed a 1-0 lead just 45 seconds in when Malone grabbed a loose puck out of the air, laid it on the ice and shot it between the pads of DiPietro.

The Islanders tied the game on the power play when Arron Asham sent a pass from the right boards to the high slot where Viktor Kozlov shot it under the right pad of Fleury with 5:11 left in the first.

However, Pittsburgh scored the next two goals to assume a 3-1 lead.

Shortly after a 5-on-3 advantage expired, Crosby sent a pass between the legs of two defenders from the left side of the net to the right side where Recchi tapped it in with just 49 seconds left in the first.

In the second period Malone tucked in a wraparound attempt from the right side of the net just 49 seconds in. The play was reviewed to see if the puck crossed the goal line, and after a lengthy review the goal was awarded.

New York, though, responded with three goals to grab a 4-3 lead.

Simon scored his first goal in 26 games when he accepted a pass from Robitaille at the inside of the left circle and redirected it into the net 2:03 into the second.

Just 15 seconds later on a delayed call Jason Blake banged an errant shot out of the air and into the net to tie the game.

A little less than six minutes later Kozlov snapped a shot from the right circle that Fleury saved, but Miroslav Satan pounced on the rebound and banged the puck into the net for his 21st goal of the year.

Recchi, though, tied the game when he banged in a loose puck during a 5-on-3 advantage with 1:59 remaining in the second.

Game Notes

Both of Malone's hat tricks have come against the Islanders, with the last one occurring on December 15...The Islanders host the Maple Leafs on Thursday...Pittsburgh travels to Tampa Bay for a contest on Thursday...The Penguins went 2-for-5 on the power play, while New York finished 1- for-3...Marc-Andre Bergeron, who the Islanders acquired on Sunday from the Edmonton Oilers, had two assists in his debut with New York.

Wwwthegreek Hockey Betting News


<< Davydenko, Djokovic win Rotterdam openers
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko and fifth-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic were among Monday's first- round winners at the $1 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The world No. 3

<< Schnyder wins Dubai opener
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder highlighted Monday's first-round winners at the $1.5 million Dubai Duty Free Women's Open. Schnyder snuck past Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-7 (5-7)

<< Webb moves to second in Rolex Rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Karrie Webb finished third on Saturday at the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay and, in the process, moved to second in this week's Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings. Annika Sorenstam, who has yet t

<< This Week in Golf - February 21st through February 25th
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS - WGC-ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP, The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain, Tucson, Arizona - Four months before he escaped the carnage a winner at Winged Foot, Geoff Ogilvy ne

<< Howell cracks top 20 in world rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charles Howell III collected his second PGA Tour win on Sunday, defeating Pebble Beach winner Phil Mickelson in a playoff at the Nissan Open. That win propelled Howell to 16th in this week's offici

A knockout round with a British flavor >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This week's Round of 16 Champions League slate offers up eight tasty matchups, with four featuring English League clubs. Much like a meal of fish and chips and warm beer, the first knockou

Rivera out in Chicago; eyeing Chargers >>
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears announced Monday that defensive coordinator Ron Rivera will not return for a fourth season. The club has given the former standout linebacker permission to speak with the San Diego C

Golf Course Review - Ocean Hammock Golf Club >>
Palm Coast, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FACTS & STATS: Course Architect: Jack Nicklaus. Year Opened: 2000. Location: Palm Coast, Florida. Slope: 147. Rating: 77.0. Par: 72. Yardage: 7,201. Hole-by-Hole: 1 - Par 4 380 Yds 10 - Par 5 522 Yds

Loit wins first-rounder in Bogota >>
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Frenchwoman Emilie Loit was among Monday's first-round winners at the $175,000 Copa Colsanitas Santander tennis tournament. Loit leveled Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-1 on the re

Kotalik out 4-to-6 weeks >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Sabres forward Ales Kotalik is expected to be sidelined the next 4-to-6 weeks due to a right knee injury. Kotalik suffered the injury in Saturday night's shootout loss to Boston. He has 14 goals an

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 .

Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.