Gratton, Panthers pound Bruins

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02/25/2007 - Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Gratton scored twice and added an assist, to lead the Florida Panthers to a 7-2 pounding of the Boston Bruins at BankAtlantic Center.

Stephen Weiss had a goal and two assists for the Panthers, who ended a two- game slide. Ed Belfour turned aside 25 shots in the victory while Juraj Kolnik finished with three helpers.

Marc Savard and Brad Boyes each tallied a goal and an assist for the Bruins, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Tim Thomas started between the pipes for Boston and was pulled after the first period, allowing three goals on 19 shots. His replacement, Hannu Toivonen did no better and allowed four goals on 33 shots.

Florida took control early, scoring three goals in the opening 20 minutes.

The Panthers drew first blood and grabbed a 1-0 lead after Ville Peltonen tallied his 11th goal of the season 4:33 into the contest. From the top of the left circle, Peltonen unleashed a quick wrister that slipped past Thomas on his glove side.

Florida capitalized off a two-man advantage to up its lead to 2-0 at 7:19 of the first after Weiss slammed home a rebound in front off a Martin Gelinas shot.

With just 49 ticks left in the opening period, Nathan Horton extended the Panthers' lead to 3-0 after scoring his 22nd goal of the season. On the penalty kill, Weiss broke up a pass in the neutral zone and dashed into the Boston zone up the right wing. From down low, Weiss then slid a pass across to Horton, who one-timed the feed past a diving Thomas.

With 8:32 left in the middle session, Gratton made it a four-goal game with his 10th goal of the campaign.

Less than 1 1/2 minutes later, Olli Jokinen cranked a slap shot from the left circle that beat a screened Toivonen to make it 5-0.

Two goals by Savard and Boyes separated by 48 seconds in the second pulled the Bruins to within three goals at 5-2. Both goals came on the power play with Savard's coming off a two-man advantage.

Gelinas scored a power-play goal 5:35 into the final frame to make it 6-2 and Gratton gave Florida a five-goal cushion, netting his second goal of the contest at the 7:12 mark of the period.

Game Notes

Florida is 4-0 against the Bruins this year and has taken six straight in the series...The Panthers outshot the Bruins, 52-27...Savard extended his point streak to eight games while Boyes has recorded at least a point in four straight...The Bruins announced earlier on Saturday that they have agreed on a contract extension with left wing Marco Sturm. Boston also placed Glen Murray on injured reserve with a lower body injury and claimed goaltender Joey MacDonald off waivers from Detroit.

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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