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"I just tried to put my body in front of it because it was a rolling puck and the ice was obviously bad, so I didn't want to risk swinging at it with my stick," said Bieksa.
Roberto Luongo made 44 saves for the Canucks, who own an 11-point lead in their division and trail the Red Wings by three in the overall NHL standings. Vancouver also moved to 4-11-5 when trailing after two periods this season.
The Canucks and Predators have split a pair of meetings so far this year, with both taking place in Vancouver. The two teams have combined for 17 goals in those encounters, though the Canucks' Daniel Sedin and Fisher are the only two skaters with multiple goals.
The Canucks have won six of their past eight during the regular season in Nashville, where the clubs are meeting for the first time since last season's Western Conference semifinals that Vancouver won in six games.
Los Angeles looks to get something going this evening in Tampa and avoid its first three-game slide in two months.
"We've played six periods on the road and gave up three goals and didn't get nothing out of it. That's a tough one to swallow," said Kings head coach Darryl Sutter, whose club sits last in the NHL with 2.09 goals per game.
Los Angeles will try to avoid losing three straight for the first time since a five-game slide from Dec. 3-13 and faces a Tampa Bay team that had no problem scoring goals on Saturday versus Florida.
"Obviously with the win, three goals, my kids being there, I think I have a lot of reasons why I'll remember this game."
Tampa Bay has earned seven of a possible eight points so far on its five-game homestand and is 6-0-1 in its past seven games. That has the club eight points back of Florida for first place in the Southeast Division and it will look to move above .500 for the first time since it was 11-10-2 on Nov. 28.
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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