Biron sharp again, Asham nets a pair as Flyers beat Rangers

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Biron stopped 39-of-41 shots to help the Philadelphia Flyers take a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers in the opener of a home-and-home set at the Wachovia Center.

Aaron Asham had two goals while Scott Hartnell and Mike Richards each lit the lamp for the Flyers, who have won three of their last four games and wrapped up a five-game homestand with a mark of 3-2-0.

Sean Avery and Nik Antropov each had a goal for the Rangers, who had won four of five coming into the game. Henrik Lundqvist was charged with four goals on 25 shots in the loss.

These Atlantic Division rivals will face-off at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

The Rangers drew first blood off of a Flyers turnover. Holding the puck at the left point, Matt Carle attempted to dump back down low, but Antropov blocked the attempt. Antropov then raced down the other end on a breakaway and wristed the puck into the left corner at the 3:28 mark.

Philadelphia tied the game with 3:26 left in the first on a 2-on-1 break. Jeff Carter skated down the right wing with Hartnell on his left and let fly with a shot that Lundqvist stopped with the right pad. The rebound, though, kicked out to the left side and Hartnell buried it.

At the 6:07 mark of the second period, the Flyers took the lead. With another 2-on-1 rush, Richards sent a pass from the left to the right for Simon Gagne, but Gagne flubbed the shot. However, he did recover the puck in time to center it for Kimmo Timonen, who one-touched the puck over to the left side for Richards who pumped his own rebound into the net.

After a questionable elbowing call on Richards at the 13:14 mark of the second, the Rangers appeared to tie the game. A left circle faceoff win was drawn back to Derek Morris, who let fly with a slap shot that Biron stopped. The puck went into the air and Scott Gomez, who was behind Biron, knocked it home. However, Gomez appeared to knock it in with his glove and the goal was waived off by the on-ice official and a replay upheld the call.

Richards was again the victim of a questionable penalty a little over two minutes after his first when he was called for boarding Avery and the Rangers had another power play chance. This time, Biron came up with a big save as he stopped Nikolai Zherdev down low at the left side to help the Flyers carry the one-goal lead into the third period.

Philadelphia gave itself some breathing space at the 5:47 mark of the third. Claude Giroux had the puck behind the net and centered it to a streaking Asham, who tapped it in from down low for a 3-1 advantage.

Asham netted his second goal of the game with 5:27 left in the game when he picked up a dump along the left boards in the Rangers zone all alone and lasered a shot over the glove of Lundqvist.

Avery got the Rangers back to within two goals as his wrister from the left circle got past a sliding Biron with 3:41 to play.

New York pulled Lundqvist from the net late in the game for the extra attacker, but were unable to put any more pucks into the net.

Game Notes

Hartnell's goal was his 25th of the season, which ties a career-high he set in 2005-06 with Nashville...Giroux and Dan Carcillo each added two assists for the Flyers...Philly has won four of the last five against New York...Neither team scored on the power play with New York having four chances and Philly three.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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