Senators resume western swing with stop in Calgary

Hockey Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having just picked up their first win since the Winter Olympics break, the Ottawa Senators will now try to pick up their first victory in Calgary since 2003 when they visit the Flames tonight at Pengrowth Saddledome.

The Senators dropped their first three games when the NHL returned from its two-week hiatus during the Olympics, scoring just three goals over that slide. However, they broke out on Tuesday in a 4-1 triumph over the Oilers.

Chris Kelly had a goal and an assist while Mike Fisher, Matt Cullen and Milan Michalek also scored for the Senators, who pulled into a temporary first-place tie with Buffalo in the Northeast Division. However, the Sabres moved two points up on Ottawa with a victory over Dallas on Wednesday night.

"As soon as they got up 1-0, I thought we really buckled down and started pressuring even more," Senators coach Cory Clouston said. "Our patience paid off."

Daniel Alfredsson posted three assists and Brian Elliott made 18 saves in the victory, as the Senators kicked off a three-game tour through Western Canada by winning for the eighth time in their last 11 road games.

Ottawa defenseman Filip Kuba missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury and did not travel with the team out West.

Elliott made 27 saves in a 3-2 home victory over the Flames on February 9, with Jason Spezza's second-period goal proving to be the difference. The win snapped Ottawa's five-game losing streak to Calgary, and the Sens picked up their first win in the series since February 21, 2004.

The Senators have still lost three straight at Calgary, where they haven't won since January 9, 2003. They dropped a 6-3 test in their most recent visit to Pengrowth Saddledome last season, as the Flames' Rene Bourque notched his first career hat trick.

Bourque was also front and center of the Flames' most recent victory, a 4-2 triumph over Detroit that pushed Calgary a point ahead of the Red Wings for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Bourque assisted on Jarome Iginla's game-tying goal 5:45 into the third period and then netted the game-winner 91 seconds later. Chris Higgins later sealed things with an empty-net goal, while Daymond Langkow also scored in Calgary's third straight win.

"He's been playing great," Matt Stajan told Calgary's Web site of Bourque. "He's a fast guy and we've been able to do some give-and-go plays, work the corners a bit, and it's opened up some space in the offensive zone to find Jarome or find our point man."

Miikka Kiprusoff made 28 saves to help the Flames post their longest winning streak since a five-game run from December 28-January 5.

Iginla has four goals and three assists over his last three games and leads the club with 31 goals and 33 helpers. He had a pair of assists in February's loss to the Senators, giving him six goals and five helpers in 18 career games against them.

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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.

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