Stars aim to get right against hapless Blue Jackets

Hockey Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Columbus Blue Jackets are playing for pride, the Dallas Stars have stumbled as of late in their chase of a postseason spot.

The Stars hope to break out of their scoring slump and get back on the winning track this evening against the hosting Blue Jackets.

Dallas currently sits 12th overall in the Western Conference with 56 points, two back of Phoenix and Minnesota for the eighth spot. The Coyotes leapt past the Stars in the standings by notching a 4-1 victory over them on Tuesday.

Michael Ryder had the lone goal for Dallas, which was unable to carry momentum from a 2-1 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday and lost for the seventh time in 10 games. The Stars have been held to a pair of goals or less in all but one of those contests.

Kari Lehtonen was tagged for all four goals on 24 shots in defeat, ending his personal three-game win streak in which he had allowed just three goals.

"Awful, atrocious," Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray said of his team's performance. "We've gotten by on a really good goaltender in the last three or four games and it's not good enough. We can talk about it and try to figure it out and point fingers, but really as a whole we've really been letting each other down these last three or four games, especially with how important this stretch of games is and what it means."

The Blue Jackets did prevent the Stars from falling further behind in their playoff chase after notching a 3-1 win over the Wild. It marked only the second time this season that Columbus has won two games in a row, having first done so back on Nov. 19-21.

Columbus hasn't won three straight since Feb. 18-25 of last year.

"Obviously we'd like to have more [winning streaks], but I think lately that our game has kind of been coming around. Guys are battling hard and we're getting rewarded," said Blue Jackets forward Jeff Carter.

Carter missed 10 straight games with a separated shoulder, but returned to action last Friday and scored a goal in a 3-2 overtime win at Anaheim. He then made it two straight contests with a goal on Tuesday, while David Savard scored the first of his career and added an assist.

Antoine Vermette lit the lamp as well and Curtis Sanford made 28 saves for a Blue Jackets club that sits last in the NHL with 36 points and had lost six straight prior to consecutive wins.

"I thought we played a heck of a first period, probably one of our best," Blue Jackets interim head coach Todd Richards said. "They came out and were better in the second, but we were really happy with the way we finished the game."

Forward Vinny Prospal added an assist, his team-leading 24th of the season, and has points in three straight after going nine in a row without one. The 36-year-old is second on the team with 33 points and signed a one-year extension with the Jackets on Wednesday.

The Blue Jackets had lost four of five, including the first two of four encounters this year, versus the Stars before picking up a 4-1 road win on Dec. 29. Rick Nash scored a pair of goals for Columbus.

Dallas has won two straight and six of its past nine at Columbus.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

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