Capitals shut out Canadiens on road
Hockey Betting Lines
02/04/2012 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves to record his third shutout of the season, as the Washington Capitals snapped a four-game road skid with a 3-0 victory over Montreal.
Dennis Wideman, Matt Hendricks and Alexander Semin supplied the goals in Washington's first road triumph since its last visit to the Bell Centre on January 18. That contest also ended 3-0. In fact, Saturday marked the third consecutive time Montreal had been shut out by the Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin was back in the lineup for Washington after serving a three-game suspension for an illegal hit on Pittsburgh's Zbynek Michalek prior to the All-Star break.
Peter Budaj stopped 20 shots for the Canadiens, who have dropped three in a row.
After a clean faceoff win by Brooks Laich, Wideman let go a shot from the right point that floated past Budaj at the 8:10 mark of the first period.
Laich played a key role in the second Washington goal. He came out from behind the net with possession of the puck and tried to stuff it in at the right post. A scramble ensued and Hendricks wound up firing the puck over a prone netminder at 6:11 of the third.
The Capitals then were awarded their second penalty shot of the game when Semin was tripped on a breakaway. Budaj denied Troy Brouwer midway through the second period, but he had no chance at gloving Semin's slap shot from the high slot at 11:57.
Game Notes
Washington has won four straight as the guest against the Canadiens and improved to 5-0-1 in its last six trips to Montreal...Vokoun posted his 47th career shutout...The Capitals avoided tying their season-worst five-game road skid from November 15-December 5.
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PSG maintained its three-point lead atop Ligue 1 on Saturday with a vital 3-1 win over Evian at the Parc des Princes. It was a resilient performance from the home side, as Evian took the lead just before
<< Ohio State tops Wisconsin to remain atop Big Ten
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jared Sullinger had 24 points and 10 rebounds,
as No. 3 Ohio State edged No. 19 Wisconsin, 58-52, in a matchup of Big Ten
elites.
The Buckeyes (20-3, 8-2 Big Ten) entered Saturday just a half game ahead
<< U.S. takes a 2-0 lead over Belarus at Fed Cup
Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Americans Christina McHale and Serena
Williams were both winners on Saturday to give the U.S. a 2-0 advantage over
Belarus in a Fed Cup World Group II matchup.
This is the first-ever Fed Cup meetin
<< Capitals shutout Canadiens on road
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves to record his third
shutout of the season, as the Washington Capitals snapped a four-game road
skid with a 3-0 victory over Montreal.
Dennis Wideman, Matt Hendricks and Alexan
<< Youzhny to face Lacko for Zagreb crown
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikhail Youzhny and Lukas Lacko were
semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at the Zagreb Indoors
tennis tournament.
The third-seeded Youzhny eased into the title match with a 6-3
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mason Raymond scored the lone goal in the shootout, as the Vancouver Canucks rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, at Pepsi Center. The Avalanche were staring at an empty net with a lead in ha
Parcells, 3 WRs not among HOF inductees >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Parcells, who won two Super Bowls as
a head coach, and all three wide receivers up for consideration failed to make
the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Curtis Martin, Dermontti Dawson, Chris Do
No.4 Stanford cruises against Arizona >>
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joslyn Tinkle led the way for No. 4 Stanford
with 22 points and 11 rebounds, as it demolished Arizona 91-51 at McKale
Center on Saturday.
All five starters scored in double figures including Chiney Og
Tello, Messi lead Barcelona past Real Sociedad >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cristian Tello and Lionel Messi scored a
goal apiece as Barcelona edged Real Sociedad, 2-1, at Camp Nou on Saturday to
keep pace with Real Madrid in the chase for the La Liga title.
Tello put Barcelona
Wyoming upsets No. 11 UNLV >>
Laramie, WY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Leonard Washington and Francisco Cruz netted 16
points apiece as Wyoming upset No. 11 UNLV, 68-66, on Saturday.
Luke Martinez added 15 points and Adam Waddell contributed 14 for Wyoming
(18-5, 4-3 Mountain
Horse Betting
(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.