Ducks slide into St. Louis

Hockey Betting Lines

12/28/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will try to avoid a fourth consecutive loss when they visit the St. Louis Blues for tonight's encounter at Scottrade Center.

The Ducks are 1-2-1 on a five-game road trip that ends tonight and they've lost the last three outings on that swing after picking up a win in Edmonton on December 19.

Anaheim is just 8-7-2 as the visiting team this season and will return to Orange County for a three-game homestand, which begins against Columbus on New Year's Eve.

The Ducks earned a point in Saturday's loss as it was handed an overtime loss in Dallas. Mike Modano ripped a one-timer past Jean-Sebastien Giguere with 1:26 remaining in OT to give the Stars the 4-3 victory over Anaheim.

Brendan Morrison lit the lamp twice and Chris Kunitz netted Anaheim's other goal as the club dropped its third straight game by a 4-3 margin. Giguere was tested throughout the night, logging 34 saves.

Meanwhile, the Blues earned an impressive win Saturday even if it was just the club's second victory in its last nine games. St. Louis hosted the San Jose Sharks and beat the NHL's best club this season in a shootout.

Brad Winchester scored the equalizer in the third period and tallied the game- winner in the shootout, as the Blues edged San Jose, 3-2, notching their first win over the Sharks since the 2006-07 season.

St. Louis' David Perron and San Jose's Ryane Clowe were the only players to score through the first four shooters, with each tallying on a backhander. Winchester, going first in the third round, fired a shot under Evgeni Nabokov's glove to give St. Louis the edge. Manny Legace then stopped Joe Pavelski's attempt to seal the win for the Blues.

Perron scored in regulation, while Legace stopped 24 shots for the Blues, who hadn't beaten the Sharks since January 20, 2007. Since then San Jose had defeated St. Louis seven consecutive times -- including a 5-4 shootout victory on November 6.

The Blues are currently last in the Western Conference with 31 points and are 27 points behind the Sharks in the standings.

Saturday's test kicked off a three-game homestand for the Blues that will end Tuesday against New Jersey. St. Louis is 9-7-2 on its home ice this season.

Tonight marks the fourth and final regular-season meeting of the season between the Ducks and Blues. Anaheim has a 2-0-1 record against the Blues with St. Louis picking up an overtime victory on November 21 at Scottrade Center.

The Ducks have won four of the last five meetings, but has lost three straight in St. Louis.

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.