Suddenly-slumping Senators to host rival Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators will try to get back in the win column tonight, when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs in a battle between Northeast Division foes at Scotiabank Place.

The Senators have 76 points and are one back of Buffalo for the Northeast Division lead. However, Ottawa has been dealt two straight 4-1 losses since the NHL has emerged from its Olympic break. The club had won 14 out of 16 heading into the hiatus.

Ottawa was dealt a loss by the visiting New York Rangers on Tuesday and then dropped Thursday's decision at Carolina. Manny Legace made 25 saves, helping the red-hot Hurricanes stretch their season-high win streak to seven games in the 4-1 victory.

Senators goaltender Pascal Leclaire gave up two goals on five shots in the first 6:23 of the game before being pulled. Brian Elliott made 14 saves the rest of the way for Ottawa.

"We needed a shake up, but we needed him to be better as well," said Ottawa head coach Cory Clouston of Leclaire.

The Senators have a superb 23-9-3 record as the host this year and had won seven straight on home ice prior to Tuesday's loss against the Rangers. Ottawa will begin a three-game road trip Tuesday in Edmonton.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs, who are last in the Eastern Conference, have lost four straight, including two in a row since returning from the Olympic break.

Toronto was able to record a point its last time out, dropping a 3-2 shootout decision Thursday night in Boston. Miroslav Satan opened the scoring in the first period and recorded the lone goal in the shootout for the Bruins.

Satan beat Maple Leafs goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere on a nifty deke to the backhand in the third round of the extra segment. Boston netminder Tim Thomas, meanwhile, turned away the trio of Phil Kessel, Jamie Lundmark and Tyler Bozak, who tied the game six minutes into the third period, during the shootout.

Viktor Stalberg had the other goal for Toronto, while Giguere stopped 29 shots.

"I couldn't ask for more from the guys. We had some great chances," said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. " I tip my hat to Tim Thomas, he made some huge saves for them,"

Toronto is just 2-8-3 in its last 13 games overall and has lost seven straight on the road. The Leafs have a dismal 8-18-7 record as the guest this season.

These teams have split four previous matchups this season, with the Senators posting a 3-2 win on November 17 in the lone meeting held in Ottawa. Toronto has lost two straight, three of four and six of its last nine in Canada's capital city.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.

Horse Betting

(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."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.