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03/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Penguins and Bruins met, Boston wound up losing its best offensive player to a concussion after a questionable hit by Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke.
Cooke is expected to be in the lineup tonight when Pittsburgh visits the Bruins and what should be a hostile crowd at TD Garden.
During Pittsburgh's 2-1 home victory over Boston on March 7, Savard suffered a Grade Two concussion on a blind-side hit to the head by Cooke.
Cooke caught an unsuspecting Savard with a shoulder moments after he released a shot from the high slot. Savard lay motionless for several minutes while being attended to by the medical staff.
There is still no timetable for Savard's return to the ice and the two-time All-Star could miss the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Cooke was not penalized for the play and did not receive a suspension or fine of any kind from the league.
However, Cooke's hit was the main impetus for a proposed rule change that would ban blind-side hits in the NHL. The rule came out of the GM meetings just days after Savard's injury, but is not yet in effect.
The Bruins come into tonight with a serious battle for the playoffs on their hands and they cannot simply be concerned with getting revenge on Cooke. Boston is currently holding on to the eighth and final postseason berth in the East and is just three points ahead of the ninth-seeded New York Rangers.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has dropped into a tie with New Jersey for first place in the Atlantic Division. The Penguins have lost three out of four and are coming off Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the Devils.
Zach Parise and Patrik Elias each posted a goal and one assist as New Jersey completed a six-game regular-season sweep of Pittsburgh with a win at the Prudential Center.
Both the Pens and Devils have 87 points, but by virtue of having one more win than Pittsburgh (42-41), the Devils assumed the second spot in the Eastern Conference. New Jersey is playing in Toronto tonight.
Chris Kunitz and Ruslan Fedotenko scored for the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 13 shots over 30-plus minutes in the loss. Brent Johnson finished the game by stopping all five shots he faced.
"We had a good idea of what we wanted to do and how to play this game," said Pens head coach Dan Bylsma. "But then halfway through the game they have 12 shots and five of them are breakaways...we made some poor decisions with the puck. I don't think the errors were forced."
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin missed Wednesday's game after suffering a foot injury while blocking a shot on Sunday. Malkin, who has 69 points this season, is questionable for tonight's game.
Tonight marks the finale of a five-game road trip for the Pens, who have a solid 20-14-2 record as the host this year.
Unlike Pittsburgh, Boston is coming off a victory, pounding the host Carolina Hurricanes, 5-2, on Tuesday. Mark Recchi was one of three Bruins to record a goal and an assist in the big victory for Boston at RBC Center.
Recchi recorded the 560th goal of his career, tying Guy Lafleur for 22nd place on the NHL's all-time list. Joe Nieuwendyk and Mats Sundin are 21st with 564 tallies.
David Krejci and Michael Ryder also added a goal and a helper, while Patrice Bergeron and Johnny Boychuk both scored for the Bruins, who moved three points ahead of the Rangers for the final playoff spot in the East. New York was defeated by Montreal, 3-1, at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
"We competed hard. It was a much-needed win," Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. "We needed our best effort tonight."
Tuukka Rask made 30 saves in the victory for Boston, which finished a seven-game road trip with a 3-3-1 mark.
The Bruins are now home for two straight and are 14-13-6 as the host this season. Boston will host the Rangers Sunday in a key battle for playoff positioning.
Patrice Bergeron suffered a bruised right knee in Tuesday's game, taking a shot off his right leg late in the third period. X-rays taken were negative and the Bruins leading scorer is expected to play tonight.
The Penguins have won two of three meetings with Boston this year and tonight's matchup concludes the season series. Pittsburgh has taken three of four overall from the Bruins, but has lost two straight and three of four in Boston.
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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.
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