Young stars face off as red-hot Penguins entertain Caps

Hockey Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NHL's two brightest young stars will go head-to-head as Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals attempt to cool down Sidney Crosby's scorching Pittsburgh Penguins in an intriguing matinee from Mellon Arena.

Pittsburgh comes in as the league's hottest team, having won five straight and 11 of its last 12 games. The surge has propelled the up-and-coming club into a fourth-place tie with Ottawa in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Penguins have also notched a point in 15 consecutive contests, recording a 13-0-2 mark over that span.

Pittsburgh's latest victory came Friday at the expense of the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils. Jarkko Ruutu netted a pair of goals and the Penguins scored three times during the first period en route to a 5-4 triumph at Continental Airlines Arena.

Crosby notched a goal and an assist to increase his league-leading point total, while Marc-Andre Fleury came up with 27 saves for the surging Pens.

Pittsburgh has racked up 23 goals during its current win streak and ranks third in the NHL with 200 total markers this season.

The Penguins have also been dominant at home as of late. The team has won seven in a row at the Igloo and own a 17-8-4 record as the host this season.

Washington has been headed in the opposite direction, as the club has gone just 4-9-2 since January 11 and is near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

The Capitals are currently on a two-game slide after losing at Tampa Bay in a shootout on Thursday. Martin St. Louis scored the deciding goal in the third round to give the Lightning a 3-2 victory.

Dainius Zubrus had a goal and an assist and Alexander Semin recorded his 30th goal of the season for Washington, which received 27 saves from Brent Johnson in the losing effort.

Ovechkin, who edged out Crosby for last year's Calder Trophy honoring the NHL's top rookie, was kept off the scoreboard. The Russian sensation still has compiled 34 goals on the season, the fourth-highest total in the league at the moment.

Thursday's setback began a three-game road trip for the Caps, who are just 9-14-5 away from home thus far.

Pittsburgh has taken both meetings with Washington this season and has won six of the last seven games in this series. The Capitals will be trying to stop a five-game losing streak at Mellon Arena, where they haven't won since December 3, 2002.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

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