Blue Jackets aim to set single-season win record versus Blackhawks

Hockey Betting Lines

03/13/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to set a franchise record for the most wins in a single season tonight, as they visit the Chicago Blackhawks in a battle of playoff contenders at the United Center.

The Blue Jackets halted Pittsburgh's seven-game winning streak with a 4-3 shootout win on Thursday night. Kristian Huselius, who scored in regulation, beat Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrister, while Evgeni Malkin fired wide left on his subsequent chance to give Columbus the win.

The triumph matched the franchise-record 35 victories Columbus posted in 2005-06 and the club is now just four points shy of the single-season record 80 it notched last season. The Blue Jackets, sixth in the Western Conference and one point back of fifth-seeded Vancouver, have never made the playoffs since entering the league prior to 2000-01.

Jason Williams and Antoine Vermette tallied a goal and an assist apiece for the Blue Jackets, who have won three consecutive contests. Steve Mason made 38 saves to pick up his 28th win on the year, breaking the franchise's single- season record set by Marc Denis in 2002-03.

Columbus, 13-17-4 on the road this year, returns home to host Detroit on Sunday before getting a visit from Chicago on Wednesday.

The Blackhawks, who sit fourth overall in the West with 83 points, won for just the third time in eight games on Wednesday with a 3-2 shootout win over Carolina. Kris Versteeg had the deciding shootout tally, converting a wrister just below the crossbar in the fourth round.

Sergei Samsonov represented the last hope for Carolina, but Cristobal Huet made the save to secure the win for Chicago, its first over the Hurricanes since 1999.

Troy Brouwer and Versteeg scored in regulation for Chicago, while Huet made 29 saves for his 19th win of the season.

Chicago activated goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin off injured reserve on Wednesday. He has been out since February 11 due to a groin injury and could return to the ice tonight.

However, Martin Havlat is questionable with a lower-body injury that forced him to miss Wednesday's game. Havlat is tied with Jonathan Toews for second on the club with 57 points off 21 goals and 36 assists.

Chicago has split the first two games of a four-game homestand and is 18-6-6 at the United Center this year. The Blackhawks end the residency on Sunday versus the New York Islanders.

The 'Hawks have won both of their meetings with the Blue Jackets this year, claiming one victory by way of the shootout. Chicago has won three straight and five of the last six meetings in the series, as well as three of the last four as the host.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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