Ducks hope for record home victory in meeting with Oilers

Hockey Betting Lines

02/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks can establish a new franchise best for consecutive home wins tonight. All that stands in their way is the NHL-worst Edmonton Oilers, who'll be skating into the Honda Center in search of a rare victory on the road.

Anaheim ran its home winning streak to 10 games with Monday's 4-2 triumph over a red-hot Los Angeles squad that entered The Pond having come out on top in its last nine outings. Corey Perry helped cool down the Kings by registering a goal and two assists, while goaltender Jonas Hiller stopped 35-of-37 shots in a sharp performance.

"Home ice advantage is huge," said Perry afterward. "When you're at home, you need those two points. When you're at home, you need to go out and make the place a war zone out there. It should be hard place for the other team to come in and play."

Anaheim has done just that during its 10-game surge, which improved the club to 18-8-2 at home for the season. The Ducks haven't lost at the Honda Center since a 4-3 shootout setback to Ottawa on December 6.

The Ducks, who have won four of their last five contests overall, still have some work to do in regards to obtaining a playoff spot. Anaheim is currently in 11th place in the tightly-bunched Western Conference with 63 points, four behind both Calgary and Nashville for the last two playoff seeds.

Anaheim did sustain a significant injury during Monday's win, however, as leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf left the game in the second period with a sprained left ankle and is unlikely to play tonight. The Canadian Olympic Team member has notched 57 points (15 goals, 42 assists) in 55 games this season and has compiled two goals and six assists during a five-game scoring streak.

While the Ducks have been unbeatable on home ice as of late, Edmonton hasn't had any success when competing on the road over the past two months. The Oilers have lost 10 in a row as the visitor -- all in regulation -- and set a team record for most consecutive away defeats with Monday's 6-1 thumping at the hands of the Phoenix Coyotes.

"This is as bad as it gets," Oilers center Shawn Horcoff said afterward. "It's tough to stay positive."

Edmonton has now lost the first three tests of its present five-game trek and has been outscored by a 13-3 margin over that span. The Oilers are now 3-21-2 since December 15 and reside at the bottom of the NHL standings with a mere 42 points.

The Oilers' last victory in an enemy venue was a 5-3 verdict over St. Louis on December 11.

Edmonton played Monday's matchup without forward Sam Gagner, who ranks second on the team in both goals (14) and points (35), due to a sore left knee that will likely keep him out of tonight's game as well. Dustin Penner, the Oilers' leader in both of those categories, spoiled the Coyotes' shutout bid on Monday when he scored with 4:28 left to play.

Tonight's game marks the first encounter between these teams this season. The squads split four meetings in 2009-10, with the Oilers taking both battles that took place in Anaheim. Edmonton has left the Honda Center with a victory in each of its last four visits.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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