Devils cap homestand against red-hot Penguins

Hockey Betting Lines

02/16/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two teams in the Atlantic Division do battle tonight as the New Jersey Devils welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to Continental Airlines Arena.

The Devils are in first place in the Atlantic with 76 points, but Pittsburgh has pulled within seven points of that lead. Jersey is second in the Eastern Conference, while Pittsburgh is tied with Ottawa for the fourth spot.

New Jersey has held the upper hand in the series with the Pens this year, winning three of the four meetings between the clubs. The Devils have also taken four straight on home ice from the Penguins and six of the last seven encounters overall.

The Devils won for the fifth time in six games Wednesday, as they pasted the visiting Montreal Canadiens, 5-2. Patrik Elias had a goal and two assists to help New Jersey ease past the Habs at the Meadowlands.

Brian Rafalski had two goals while Zach Parise also scored for the Devils, who rebounded from Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay. Martin Brodeur made 19 saves to improve to 35-15-5 on the year.

Jamie Langenbrunner notched a pair of assists to push his point-scoring streak to seven games. His tear is tied for the longest current streak in the NHL.

The Devils played Wednesday's game without the services of center John Madden (facial laceration) and defenseman Colin White (upper body), but both players could be back this evening.

However, the Devils leading goal scorer, Brian Gionta, may not be able to skate in this evening's contest. Gionta, who has 24 goals on the year, suffered a groin pull in Wednesday's game and is questionable for tonight.

Tonight marks the final test of a six-game homestand for New Jersey, which is an impressive 21-5-4 as the host this year.

The Penguins have been extremely hot lately, winning four straight and 10 of their last 11 games. They have also registered a point in 14 consecutive contests (12-0-2), and a win or a loss after regulation tonight would give Pittsburgh its first streak of 15 straight games with a point since the 1992-93 campaign. That year the Pens ended the regular season with 17 wins and a tie,

Pittsburgh is coming off Wednesday's home win over Chicago. Rookie Evgeni Malkin tied the game late in the third period and also netted the deciding shootout marker as the Penguins edged the Blackhawks, 5-4, at Mellon Arena.

Marc-Andre Fleury came up with two pivotal stops on Martin Havlat late and finished with 24 saves for the Penguins. Ronald Petrovicky, Maxime Talbot and Michel Ouellet each scored in regulation during the win.

Wwwrio Hockey Betting News

<< Keith Foulke retires
Winter Haven, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keith Foulke unexpectedly announced his retirement on Friday. Signed by Cleveland in the offseason, Foulke was expected to be a key contributor in the Indians' revamped bullpen. However, Fou

<< Tampion moves in front at Indonesian Open
Jakarta, Indonesia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - European Tour rookie Andrew Tampion posted a five-under 66 on Friday to move to the top of the leaderboard during the suspended second round of the Indonesian Open. He finished 36 holes at eight-un

<< Parry and Rumford lead Down Under
Lockleys, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Craig Parry, a former two-time winner on the PGA Tour, fired an eight-under 64 on Friday to join Brett Rumford, who posted a 69, in the lead after two rounds of the Jacob's Creek Open Champio

<< Cavaliers top Lakers for first Staples Center win
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James poured in 38 points and hit the go-ahead jumper with just over three minutes left, as the Cavaliers secured their first win at the Staples Center with a 114-108 triumph over the struggl

<< Ducks upend No. 22 Cal
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eleanor Haring scored 17 points to lead Oregon to a 62-42 upset win over No. 22 California on Thursday. Taylor Lilley scored 10 points for the Ducks (15-10, 7-8 Pac-10), who won their second straight game

Newly-armed Predators aim for another win over Blues >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators will likely have to wait until Saturday for the debut of Peter Forsberg, but they still hope to continue their dominance of the St. Louis Blues tonight at Scottrade Center. The Predators

Little Nate highlights NBA All-Star festivities >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson will have another chance to defy gravity when he opens defense of his Slam Dunk title Saturday night during the NBA All-Star Game festivities. Robinson will join Bost

Canucks aim for big win in Chicago >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to grab the top spot in the Northwest Division tonight, as they travel to Chicago and the United Center to battle the Blackhawks. Vancouver and its 68 points are currently tied with Calgary f

Sharks continue epic swing in Columbus >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks continue their season-long eight-game road trip tonight, when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. San Jose won the first two games of its swing -- including a big victory in Anahe

Inter go for record 16th-straight win against Cagliari >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan have a chance to make history on Saturday at the San Siro as they host 13th-placed Cagliari. A win for Inter would give them 16 straight victories in league play, breaking the European record

Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

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.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

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.

RSS Sports Betting Odds Feeds

Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.