Madison Square Garden Sparks Season Of Meetings

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"I think we had a good start to the game," Wilson said. "When you get a three- goal lead, you try to make the next goal prettier, and we allowed them to get back into the game. It's nice to get a little bit of a cushion and let our team relax and get over some of the bumps and bruises."

 

Toronto has been paced all year by Phil Kessel, who is tied for second in the NHL with 20 goals and 41 points. However, one player Wilson and Burke may be missing is current Panther Kris Versteeg, who leads Florida with 16 goals and 37 points.

 

Versteeg was dealt to the Maple Leafs on June 30, 2010 after winning a Stanley Cup with Chicago, but the Leafs dealt him to the Flyers in February of that season after falling out of contention. He landed in Florida in an offseason trade this past summer and has been a key reason that the Panthers lead the division by six points over the Jets.

 

"We were very porous," Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said after is club's sixth loss in eight games. "We didn't generate any offense."

 

Three of Florida's injured players -- Jack Skille, Marco Sturm and Sean Bergenheim -- scored when the Panthers dealt a hosting Toronto club a 5-1 defeat back on Nov. 8 in the first of four meetings between the teams this season.

 

Kessel had the lone goal for the Maple Leafs in the most recent loss.

 

Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was sharp in the Winter Classic preview, turning aside 28 shots in the win for New York. Andrej Meszaros and James van Riemsdyk each had a goal for the Flyers, who have dropped their past three games in Madison Square Garden. Ilya Bryzgalov was tagged for all four goals on 24 shots.

 

"We played a pretty good first period, but they jumped on us in the second and they made it tough to mount a comeback," said Meszaros.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.