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03/22/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers will try for their first four-game winning streak since the early stages of the season when they visit the struggling Minnesota Wild for today's Northwest Division battle at Xcel Energy Center.
The Oilers have won three in a row on six separate occasions this year, but the club's longest winning streak came over five months ago with victories in the first four games of the season.
Edmonton is currently in possession of the seventh playoff seed in the Western Conference with 79 points on the year. The Wild have 74 points and are tied with Anaheim and Dallas for the 10th seed,. Minnesota is still just three points behind Nashville for the West's eighth and final postseason berth.
The Oilers, who had lost three in a row and five of six prior to their current streak, are coming off Friday's close victory in Chicago. Patrick O'Sullivan scored the game-winner in the shootout as Edmonton downed the Blackhawks, 5-4, at the United Center.
After Jonathan Toews was stopped by Dwayne Roloson, O'Sullivan lifted the puck over Nikolai Khabibulin. Patrick Kane was then denied his stuff attempt from the left side and Ales Kotalik sealed the win with a wrister into the right corner.
Dustin Penner had a goal and an assist while Roloson made 39 saves in the win for the Oilers.
Today's tilt marks the close of a three-game road trip for the Oilers, who are 19-15-3 as the guest this year.
The Wild have lost five of six and 10 of their last 13 games and were handed a decisive loss Friday evening in New Jersey. Martin Brodeur turned aside all 35 shots he faced to notch the 101st shutout of his legendary career, as the blanked Minnesota, 4-0, at Prudential Center.
Niklas Backstrom got the start between the pipes for Minnesota and was yanked in the second period after yielding three goals on 11 shots. Josh Harding finished with 17 saves for the Wild.
Minnesota is back in St. Paul for just one game as the club will kick off a four-game road trip Tuesday against the New York Rangers. The Wild are 19-11-6 as the host team this season.
The Wild and Oilers have split four meetings so far this season, but Minnesota has won six out of 10 against Edmonton. The home team has won eight straight and 13 of the last 14 matchups in this series.
<< Flyers visit sizzling Pens for key battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A key Eastern Conference playoff battle is on tap today in
the Steel City, as the scorching Pittsburgh Penguins welcome the rival
Philadelphia Flyers for an Atlantic Division battle at Mellon Arena.
The Penguins and Flyers
<< Heat pay a visit to Pistons at The Palace
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The recently-struggling Miami Heat will try to salvage the
finale of a four-game road trip Sunday against the Detroit Pistons at The
Palace of Auburn Hills.
Miami has dropped the first three tests of the road swing a
<< Southwest Showdown: Rockets try to pass Spurs in division
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top spot in the Southwest Division is up for grabs this
afternoon, as the Houston Rockets try to inch closer to the San Antonio Spurs
in a showdown at the AT&T Center.
Houston has won three straight games and
<< Raptors, Clippers square off up north
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the NBA's worst teams get together Sunday in
Toronto, as the struggling Raptors welcome the lowly Los Angeles Clippers to
the Air Canada Centre.
Toronto has lost two straight, nine of 10 and opened a f
Sharks eye West's top seed in home test against Avalanche >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having already clinched the Pacific Division title, the San
Jose Sharks can regain the top seed in the Western Conference when they host
the lowly Colorado Avalanche tonight at HP Pavilion.
The Sharks have 104 points on th
Surging clubs meet as Rangers host Sens at MSG >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of hot teams will meet tonight in the Big Apple, as
the New York Rangers welcome the Ottawa Senators for an Eastern Conference
battle at Madison Square Garden.
The Senators have won four straight and eight of their
No. 1 Louisville to try and avoid upset at hands of Siena >>
Dayton, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Midwest Regional was full of upsets on the
first day and the top-seeded Louisville Cardinals will try to avoid one
themselves against the ninth-seeded Siena Saints in second-round play at UD
Arena this evening.
Bruins host Devils in clash between East's top teams >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two teams in the Eastern Conference will clash
today in Beantown, as the Boston Bruins welcome the New Jersey Devils for a
showdown at TD Banknorth Garden.
The Bruins leads the Northeast Division as well as the con
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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