Ducks beat Sharks; Selanne inches closer to milestone

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teemu Selanne posted a goal and one assist and crept closer to becoming the NHL's all-time leading Finnish goal scorer, as Anaheim topped San Jose, 4-2, at Honda Center.

Selanne posted his 599th career goal, two away from tying him with Hall-of- Famer Jari Kurri for most-ever by a native Finn. Kurri netted 601 scores in 17 seasons with Edmonton, Los Angeles, the New York Rangers, Anaheim and Colorado. In addition, the 39-year-old's next score will make him the 18th player in league history to reach 600.

Corey Perry, Lubomir Visnovsky and Bobby Ryan also lit the lamp for the Ducks, who halted a five-game losing skid. Jonas Hiller stopped 31 shots for the win.

Joe Thornton and Jamie McGinn provided the offense for the Sharks, who have lost two straight since winning three in a row.

Evgeni Nabokov yielded three goals on 32 shots in the setback.

Selanne put the Ducks ahead by a 2-0 count at 7:40 of the first period, when his quick short-side wrister off a dish from Saku Koivu resulted in his 20th goal of the season and got him one closer to Kurri's record.

Visnovsky made it 3-0 with 55 seconds to play in the first, when his knuckler from the point got through an unscreened Nabokov.

In the second period, the Ducks provided Selanne with multiple chances for his milestone marker, but Nabokov shut the door on all three registered shots.

Thornton's power-play deflection got the Sharks on the board at 9:06 of the third, but Hiller managed to turn aside the San Jose attack.

Nabokov went to the bench for an extra skater with 1:24 to play and Ryan hit the empty net seconds later. The San Jose net was empty once more when Kent Huskins provided a shot which McGinn tipped with his leg past Hiller to make it 4-2 with 56 seconds on the clock.

San Jose failed to make a further dent in its deficit, however.

Perry followed up an unsuccessful Ryan rush by chipping the loose puck over a prone Nabokov 3:27 after the opening faceoff.

Game Notes

Selanne has recorded 15 seasons of 20-or-more goals, with nine of them coming with the Anaheim franchise...San Jose did take five of six games in the season series...Prior to the game, the Sharks assigned defenseman Jason Demers to Worcester of the American Hockey League.

Vagess Hockey Betting News

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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