Red Wings host Flames in matchup of playoff hopefuls

Hockey Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames and Detroit Red Wings will both be aiming for a third straight victory when they meet in the Motor City tonight for a battle between playoff hopefuls at Joe Louis Arena.

In addition to winning two straight, the Red Wings have taken three of four since the Olympic break and have won four of five overall. Calgary lost its first game after the break, but has since strung together consecutive wins.

Detroit, which hasn't missed the playoffs since 1989-90, is currently eighth in the Western Conference and just one point ahead of the ninth-seeded Flames.

The Flames and Red Wings have split a pair of meetings this year with each team winning on the road. Detroit has won six of the last 10 matchups overall, while Calgary has dropped six of nine in Motown. The teams will complete the season series in Calgary on March 15.

The Red Wings are coming off Sunday's road win over the rival Chicago Blackhawks. Pavel Datsyuk's breakaway tally capped a five-goal eruption in the second period and proved to be the game-winner, as Detroit overcame an Andrew Ladd hat trick and held on to beat the Central Division-leading Blackhawks, 5-4, at United Center.

Brian Rafalski, Nicklas Lidstrom, Jason Williams and Valtteri Filppula each lit the lamp in the middle stanza for the Red Wings, who are still 17 points behind Chicago for the division lead. Detroit -- the defending Western Conference champions -- has claimed the last eight Central Division titles

"(The Red Wings) are still the team to beat in the West," Ladd said. "They have the lineup to (contend). They dealt with a lot of injuries and managed to stay in the playoff hunt."

Jimmy Howard stopped 28-of-32 shots in the win for Detroit.

Datsyuk is probable for tonight's game with flu-like symptoms, while fellow forward Todd Bertuzzi, who left Sunday with a charley horse in his left leg, is also expected to play this evening. Datsyuk has recorded three goals and five assists over a five-game point streak.

The Red Wings are 17-9-5 as the host this year and are kicking off a three- game homestand tonight.

The Flames rolled past the Wild in Minnesota on Sunday night, riding Jarome Iginla's hat trick to a 5-2 victory at Xcel Energy Center.

Iginla recorded his second hat trick of the season and also dished out an assist in the win. Rene Bourque had a goal and three assists, while Mark Giordano had a goal and an assist for the victors.

"I was just shooting as hard as I could," Iginla said.

Vesa Toskala made his Calgary debut, stopping 27 shots in the start. In a deal before this past Wednesday's trade deadline, the Flames acquired Toskala from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for goaltender Curtis McElhinney.

Calgary's workhorse goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff is expected to resume his starting role tonight.

The Flames are 16-9-6 as the guest this year, but have lost six of their last eight road games.

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Best Horse Betting Online

(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."

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