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12/27/2008 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shane Doan's power-play marker in the late stages of the second period proved to be the game-winner and lifted the Phoenix Coyotes to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings in the opener of a home-and-home set at the Staples Center.
Doan also set up Peter Mueller in the first period, while Ilya Bryzgalov was sensational between the pipes for Phoenix, stopping 24 shots as the Coyotes halted a brief two-game slide.
"Shane (Doan) has played very well - one of the best years I've seen him have," said Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky. "He's a tremendous captain and has been a good leader for our group. It's probably been the best hockey I've seen him play. It's great to see him score some big goals. It's definitely what a great leader does and he's done a great job of it."
Peter Harrold found the back of the net for Los Angeles, which has dropped five of its last six games. Jonathan Quick was solid for the Kings, making 24 saves.
Mueller hammered a feed from Doan behind Quick with 9:16 remaining in the opening frame, then the Coyotes stretched the margin to two on the man advantage.
A wrister from the right point by Olli Jokinen was redirected in the slot by the Phoenix captain between the legs of Quick with 2:17 to go in the middle stanza.
Los Angeles answered on the power play in the third period. With Dustin Brown perched in front of Bryzgalov, Harrold let fly a drive from the blue-line that beat the screened netminder on the blocker side at 8:49.
The Kings pulled Quick in the waning moments, but couldn't produce the tying goal.
"Well you can't play a game in the NHL and play only 20 minutes and expect to win, those days are done," said Kings head coach Terry Murray. "You have to come and play right from the beginning, you have to play 60 minutes hard, intense, and very heavy hockey, and in the first two periods we were not going, we didn't have it. The third period was what we needed for the 60 minutes."
Game Notes
The Coyotes are 5-1-3 over their last nine games...Phoenix will host Los Angeles on Saturday...The Coyotes hold a 2-0-0 edge in the season series and have won 10 of the last 13 meetings with the Kings.
<< Souray, Canucks hold off late rally by Oilers
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sheldon Souray's power-play goal late in the
second period proved to be the game-winner, as the Edmonton Oilers fended off
the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2, at GM Place.
Marc-Antoine Pouliot and Shawn Horcoff a
<< Nuggets notch comeback win over Sixers behind Smith, Billups
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.R. Smith dropped a game-high 27 points,
hitting 7-of-11 from beyond the arc to lead the Denver Nuggets past the
Philadelphia 76ers, 105-101, at the Pepsi Center.
Chauncey Billups scored 26 poin
<< Brewer, Koufos lead Jazz over Mavs; Nowitzki ejected
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ronnie Brewer scored 21 points and Kosta
Koufos added 18 points and eight rebounds as the Utah Jazz upended the Dallas
Mavericks, 97-88.
Deron Williams logged 43 solid minutes and finished with 17 point
<< Streaking Blackhawks crush Flyers
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Campbell and Dave Bolland both registered
a goal and an assist, as the scorching Chicago Blackhawks bested the
Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1, at the United Center.
Andrew Ladd, Patrick Sharp and Kr
Souray, Oilers hold off late rally by Canucks >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sheldon Souray's power-play goal late in the
second period proved to be the game-winner, as the Edmonton Oilers fended off
the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2, at GM Place.
Marc-Antoine Pouliot and Shawn Horcoff a
Tar Heels tangle with Mountaineers in Meineke Car Car Bowl >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The West Virginia Mountaineers and the North
Carolina Tar Heels are set to square off in the Meineke Car Care Bowl at Bank
of America Stadium this weekend.
The Mountaineers put together another solid regular-
Champs Sports Bowl features Seminoles and Badgers >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Wisconsin Badgers and Florida State
Seminoles will meet for the first-ever time on the gridiron this weekend, as
they square off in the 2008 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando.
The Badgers have been up and this
Golden Bears and 'Canes clash in Emerald Bowl >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The California Golden Bears make the
short trip to San Francisco this weekend, where they will take on the Miami-
Florida Hurricanes in the 2008 Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park.
The Bears showed their resil
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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