Posts Tagged ‘NHL hockey’

Ducks Rip Canucks, Backup Goalie Raycroft

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

After losing the services of starting goalie Roberto Luongo for the indefinite future with a broken rib, the Canucks may have breathed a sigh of relief too soon after backup goalie Andrew Raycroft’s performance in his first game in relief. After an excellent effort in an overtime victory over Los Angeles, Raycroft was torched for four goals in two periods before being pulled from the game. Corey Schneider, recently recalled from Manitoba of the AHL, played the third period in net giving up three more goals as Anaheim cruised to a 7-2 victory.

Anaheim has struggled to a 4-6-1 record this season, but rewarded their backers who chose to lay the -164 price as home favorites with the Ducks. The Canucks evened their record on the season at 7-7 with the loss. The 9 combined goals put on the board sailed OVER the posted total of 6.

The Ducks snapped a four game losing streak with the offensive outburst. Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan each tallied two goals and an assist in the lopsided victory. Mike Brown had the eventual game winning goal in the second period with his first career shorthanded marker, and even enforcer George Parros got in on the act with his first goal of the year. Jonas Hiller was sharp in goal for Anaheim, stopping 36 of 38 shots in the victory.

Vancouver’s problem this season has been not getting enough shots on goal and giving up too many. In the shootout victory over Los Angeles on Thursday, they were outshot 29-12 in regulation. They’d been kept in a number of games they should have lost due to the goaltending virtuosity of Luongo, and this game didn’t bode well for his absence. This was only the second time in eight games Vancouver has allowed more than two goals, a testimony to the ungodly skill of Luongo more than their defensive tenacity. They actually held a 38-34 shots on goal advantage despite the one sided tally on the big scoreboard.

Raycroft is expected to be back between the pipes for Vancouver’s next game, a Sunday home date against the Colorado Avalanche. The Canucks will host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night before a road game against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. Anaheim will play at Phoenix on Saturday night before returning to the Honda Center for the next two games. They’ll host the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and World Cup betting sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

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Penguins Late Game Heroics Lead To Win Over Blue Jackets

Monday, March 8th, 2010

The Columbus Blue Jackets learned a valuable lesson about NHL hockey on Friday night-it’s dangerous to ’sit on a lead’ and particularly against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Down 3-1, Pittsburgh tied the game late in the third period as Ruslan Fedotenko and Alex Goligoski each lit the lamp with less than three minutes remaining. After a scoreless overtime period, Sidney Crosby scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Penguins an improbable 4-3 victory. It was the 9th win in ten games for Pittsburgh, who are a perfect 6-0-0 on the road.

NHL hockey betting enthusiasts cashed wagers on the road underdog Penguins, but on the moneyline at +117 and the puckline. Pittsburgh has gotten off to a great start this year, going 11-2-0 in the first month of the season. Columbus is struggling to stay above .500 at 6-5-1. The 7 combined goals scored went OVER the posted total of 5′. The Blue Jackets have gone OVER in 7 of 12 games this season, while the Penguins have a NHL totals mark of 5-7-1.

Crosby’s game winning score in overtime wasn’t exactly the stuff of highlight reels, with the puck barely trickling over the line:

“It was kind of a fluky. The puck kept going. I don’t know if he lost it or he didn’t know where it was or whatever. I just tried a quick shot. I thought he had the save there. It just trickled in.”

Jackets’ goalie Steve Mason gave this version of Crosby’s shot:

“It hit my stick and I didn’t get it settled until it was over the line. It just trickled over and I was too late on it.”

Penguins’ left winger Chris Kunitz scored a shorthanded goal and praised the leadership abilities of team captain Crosby:

“It shows a lot of character from our captain. He goes out and he’s never quitting on anything. Sometimes a team goes packing, down by two with 3 minutes left. But he goes out, he’s on the bench, he’s saying, ‘Let’s get the next one.’ So we go out there and he finds himself the puck and he gets it to Goligoski, he gets a great shot and puts it in the net to get us to overtime.”

Columbus’ Rick Nash suggested that his team is having trouble ‘closing out’ games:

“We’re not closing games. We got the lead in a lot of the games already and just can’t seem to close it out. They are the defending Stanley Cup champions. You can tell why they’re such a good team. We are a team that needs to learn how to play with the lead.”

Pittsburgh will host Minnesota on Saturday night before heading to southern California next week for games against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks. Columbus will play at Washington on Sunday before hosting the San Jose Sharks next Wednesday. That’ll be followed by a game in Atlanta against the Thrashers the next night.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and World Cup betting sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

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Phil Esposito’s Rampage On The NHL Record Book

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

Although many of his offensive records have now been left in the dust by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, former Boston Bruins/New York Rangers center Phil Esposito is still regarded by hockey experts as one of the greatest players in NHL history. He’s forever enshrined in hockey’s hall of fame along with brother, goaltender Tony Esposito.

A native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Esposito was signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as a teenager. After some time in junior hockey, he was called up to the NHL in’64 quickly earning a spot on the teams top line between Bobby Hull and Marcel Dionne. In’67, Esposito was traded to the Boston Bruins along with Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield.

It was as a Bruin that ‘Espo’ began his onslaught against the NHL record book.. In’69, he became the first NHL player to top the 100 point mark (combined goals and assists) for the season”he obliterated the record with 126 points, which would be the first of six times that hed top the century mark. He topped 100 points in five straight seasons between’71 and’75, missing a sixth straight season by a single point with 99 in’70.

In the’70-71 season, Esposito smashed the NHL record for most goals in a season with 76. That record stood for over a decade until Wayne Gretzky scored 79 for the Edmonton Oilers in’81-82. Gretzky also broke Espositos single season points record of 154. Even now, only four other players including Gretzky have scored more than 150 points in a season and only five others have scored more than 76 goals in a season. Perhaps the most amazing element of Espositos game was the frequency with which he put the puck on net”Espo had 550 shots on goal in’70-71. No one has since come close”in fact, just last Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals became the first player to come within 100 shots of Espositos mark.

In’75, Esposito was traded to the New York Rangers where his experience, intelligence for the game and nose for the puck made him a valuable component of the Broadway Blueshirts offense and he was named team captain. Until the very end of his career, he remained a dangerous scoring threat that all opposing teams were forced to reckon with.

After his retirement in’75, he remained active in hockey. He served as the GM of the Rangers before helping secure an expansion team for Tampa, Florida in’92. Esposito served as the President and GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning until’98. After stepping away from formal duties, he’s remained a very visible member of the hockey media. He hosts a daily hockey radio show on XM Radio, and has even done some acting appearing in a recurring role as a fire chief on the TV series Rescue Me.

Ross Everett is a consulting handicapper for Sports-1 and an authority on professional hockey history and NHL hockey betting . He’s a published expert on sports handicapping theory, as well as financial investment strategy. He contributes to a number of websites providing insight on how to bet on NFL football, MMA and boxing.

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