Hartnell, Niittymaki help Flyers smother Capitals

Hockey Betting Lines

12/20/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Hartnell had a hat trick and Antero Niittymaki finished the game with 47 saves as the Philadelphia Flyers crushed the Washington Capitals, 7-1, at the Wachovia Center.

Jeff Carter had two goals and two assists while Joffrey Lupul added a goal and three assists for the Flyers, who have won six of their last seven games.

Brooks Laich scored the lone goal for the Capitals, who had a five-game winning streak stopped. Brent Johnson started the game in net, but was pulled after two periods as he gave up three goals on 13 shots. Jose Theodore, though, fared little better between the pipes as he gave up four goals on 15 shots.

Philadelphia grabbed the lead early in the first period as Hartnell moved up the ice and from the middle of the blueline fed the puck over to Lupul, who beat a defender and from the right circle fired a shot past Johnson at the 4:29 mark.

It was Niittymaki, though, who was the star of the first period as Washington threw shots on net from everywhere and the goaltender stopped all 25 shots he saw.

His best save came near the midway mark of the frame while Washington was on the power play as he flashed the glove on an Alexander Ovechkin one-timer from the left circle.

The 25 shots on net set team records for Philadelphia and Washington. It was the most shots allowed on net in one period at home for Philadelphia while it was the most shots in a road game for Washington.

The Capitals continued to pepper Niittymaki with shots in the second period as the team got 14 on net, but it was the Flyers who were able to find the back of the net.

With the puck in his own end, Lupul sprung Carter with a pass through the neutral zone. Carter skated into the Washington end and from the left circle used the defender as a screen on a wrister past Johnson with 4:49 left in the frame.

Just 54 seconds later, Carter scored again on a shorthanded goal. The team pressured the puck-holder at the left point and Braydon Coburn wound up with the disc. He sprung Carter on the breakaway and Carter calmly lifted a backhander past Johnson.

Just 4:45 into the third, Philadelphia took a 4-0 lead as Hartnell caused a turnover with a hit behind the net and centered the puck for Lupul, whose one- timer was stopped, but Hartnell slammed the rebound home from the right side.

Washington, though, got on the board just 24 seconds later as Laich went from the forehand to the backhand and got the puck past Niittymaki.

On the power play, Philadelphia got the goal back as Matt Carle's one-timer from the right circle was stopped by Theodore, but the puck popped into the air and Hartnell whacked it home at the 7:29 mark.

The Flyers then made it a 6-1 game with a 5-on-3 power-play goal as Carter fired a pass from the left side to the right where Simon Gagne had the easy dunk into the net with 10:41 to play.

Hartnell gained the hat trick with 3:35 left in the game as he finished a tic- tac-toe play.

Game Notes

The 25 shots on net in the first period tied a franchise record for the Capitals which it set on February 3, 1998 against Tampa Bay in Washington... The most ever shots allowed in one period by Philadelphia was 32, which occurred in the first period of a game in Minnesota on December 13, 1972... Philadelphia plays in New Jersey on Sunday...Washington plays against the Rangers in New York on Tuesday...Philadelphia went 2-for-5 on the power play and scored its league-leading 13th shorthanded goal of the season...Philadelphia has not lost a game at home in regulation since November 8 against Tampa Bay and is 9-0-2 since at Wachovia.

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Betting Football

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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.

Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.