Higgins, Ryder lead Habs over Caps

Hockey Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder netted two goals each to guide the Montreal Canadiens past the Washington Capitals, 5-3, at the Bell Centre.

Garth Murray added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds and Jaroslav Halak picked up his second win in as many career starts in net by turning away 15 shots for the Canadiens, who have now won two in a row since losing six straight. This is the first time in a month that the Canadiens have posted back-to-back wins.

Jamie Heward finished with a goal and two assists while Brent Johnson came up with 27 saves for Washington, which has dropped four straight.

Montreal stormed out of the gates to assume a 3-0 advantage after 20 minutes of play.

All three were power-play markers, including Higgins' goal from the right side of the net 7:33 into the contest to open the scoring. Ryder made it a two- goal game with 5:12 left in the first, as his one-timer navigated through traffic in front before beating Johnson.

Less than a minute later, Higgins redirected a Saku Koivu feed in front to finish the surge.

Washington, though, opened the second frame with a pair of goals to cut the deficit to one. The first came at the 2:06 mark on a hard slap shot from Heward that deflected off Brian Sutherby and in. Heward then made it 3-2 with another slapper 30 ticks later, this one caroming off a Montreal player before slipping into the back of the net.

The Capitals were in good position to tie the game after Montreal was whistled for a double-minor with 4:27 left in the second period. Ryder, though, broke out on a short-handed charge, split a pair of defenders and then fired a snap shot past Johnson to build a 4-2 edge.

Alexander Semin again made it a one-goal game with only 34 seconds left in the second with a pretty flip shot over the shoulder of Halak.

Halak and company, however, pitched a shutout from there and Murray punched in an empty-net tally in the final minute to seal the win.

Game Notes

Murray hadn't scored in his last 43 games...Halak made 31 saves in his NHL debut Sunday to guide Montreal to a 3-2 win in Columbus. He was called into action after Cristobal Huet suffered a hamstring tear in Montreal's 5-2 loss at New Jersey on Wednesday. Huet had surgery to repair the tear on Sunday and will be out indefinitely...This marked the end of a three-game road trip for Washington, which is just 9-16-5 away from D.C. this year and has lost seven straight and 13 of its last 14 as the visitor.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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