Habs hope to get on the board in Game 3 vs. Flyers
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05/20/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting shut out in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals, the Montreal Canadiens hope to rediscover their scoring touch on home ice tonight when they welcome the Philadelphia Flyers for Game 3 at Bell Centre.
The seventh-seeded Flyers have taken a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven series and have done so in impressive fashion, outscoring Montreal, 9-0, in Games 1 and 2. After notching a 6-0 victory in Sunday's opener at the Wachovia Center the Flyers took care of home-ice advantage once again on Tuesday, posting a 3-0 decision.
Philadelphia goaltender Michael Leighton has been the thorn in the side for the eighth-seeded Canadiens so far. Leighton stopped all 30 shots he faced on Tuesday and hasn't allowed a goal since the first period of the Flyers Game 7 victory over Boston in Round 2,
"We had one good player out there and, obviously, it was (Leighton). The rest of us were average," said Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen.
Leighton is now 4-0 in his playoff career, which began when he replaced an injured Brian Boucher during Game 5 against Boston. The 28-year-old journeyman has stopped 128-of-132 shots for an amazing .969 save percentage in the playoffs.
Leighton will take a shutout streak of 165 minutes, 50 seconds into tonight. Boucher has the longest scoreless streak in Philadelphia playoff history, playing 184:45 of shutout hockey in the 2000 postseason.
Danny Briere and Simon Gagne scored power-play goals on Tuesday for the Flyers. Ville Leino registered an even-strength goal and one assist for his third consecutive multi-point game.
"We didn't play our best game, we know it," Briere said. "Sometimes you need your goalie to steal one for you and I feel like that was the case, especially in the first 40 minutes tonight."
Briere is leading the Flyers with nine goals and is tied with captain Mike Richards for the team lead in points with 18.
Philadelphia has ripped off six straight wins since falling behind three games to none against the Bruins, and is now two wins away from its first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals in 13 years. The Flyers have also scored 13 straight unanswered goals since falling behind 3-0 to Boston in the first period of Game 7.
History says a 2-0 start is a huge asset for Philadelphia. The Flyers are 16-0 all-time when winning the first two games of a postseason series.
Jaroslav Halak, yanked midway through the second period after allowing four goals on 14 shots in Game 1, made 20 saves for the Canadiens in Game 2
"I thought that we made some progress in areas," said Montreal head coach Jacques Martin. "We played much better in certain parts of the game. We spent more time in their zone tonight than the first game. We'll dissect the game and bring the necessary changes for Game 3."
The Canadiens have now lost six straight playoff games to Philadelphia. Also, Montreal has been blanked in successive playoff games for the first time since Bob Sauve of Buffalo pulled off the feat in Games 1 and 2 of the 1983 Adams Division semifinals.
Philadelphia and the Habs are battling for the East title despite being the bottom two seeds in the conference, marking the first time since the NHL adopted its current playoff format in 1994 that the seventh and eighth seeds in either conference are playing a series with a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals on the line.
The Canadiens, who will also host Game 4 on Saturday, are 3-3 on home ice during the postseason after going 20-16-5 at Bell Centre in the regular season.
Philadelphia had a poor 17-21-3 record as the guest this season, but is 4-3 on the road in the playoffs.
On the injury front, despite media reports out of Philly that Flyer forwards Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere are nearing a return from injuries, neither player is expected to play tonight.
Carter, the club's leading goal-scorer during the regular season, has been sidelined since April 20, when he broke his foot in Game 4 of the conference quarterfinals against New Jersey. Laperriere sustained a brain contusion in Game 5 against New Jersey.
For the Canadiens, defenseman Andrei Markov underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee and is expected to need six months of recovery time.
The Flyers and Canadiens are meeting in the playoffs for the sixth time. Montreal won three of the previous five encounters, but Philly beat the Habs in five games the last time the franchises met in the 2008 conference semifinals. Prior to that, the previous two encounters were for conference titles, with Montreal earning a trip to the Cup Finals in 1989 -- two years after Philly beat them for the Prince of Wales Trophy in 1987.
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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year
Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.
Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.
With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.
Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.
Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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