Sharks host Blackhawks in Game 1 of West finals

Hockey Betting Lines

05/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two seeds in the West will begin their battle for the conference title today, when the San Jose Sharks host the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at HP Pavilion.

The top-seeded Sharks enter this best-of-seven series after an impressive performance in Round 2. San Jose ousted two-time defending conference champion Detroit in five games to deny the Red Wings a fourth straight trip to the West finals.

San Jose, which also beat Colorado in the opening round of this year's playoffs, is in the conference finals for just the second time in club history. The Sharks lost at this stage to Calgary in the 2004 Western Conference finals.

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, are participating in their second straight conference finals and are hoping to make their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1992. Chicago lost in five games to Detroit in last year's West finals.

Chicago needed six games to defeat each of its opponents in this year's postseason. The Blackhawks sent Nashville packing in Round 1 before ousting Vancouver in the conference semifinals for the second straight year.

After allowing the likes of Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi to carry the offensive load in Round 1, the Sharks formidable top line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley dominated the Red Wings in the conference semifinals. This was especially true of the centerman Thornton, who had just three assists against the Avalanche, but rebounded with three goals and five assists in the Detroit series.

Marleau had two goals and two assists in Round 2 to give him seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) in these playoffs. Heatley has 11 points (2g, 9a) in the 2010 postseason after notching two goals and five helpers in the West semis.

Still, Pavelski is leading all Sharks this postseason in goals (9), points (15) and plus-minus (7).

Although players like Thornton, Heatley, Marleau and Pavelski have grabbed the headlines for San Jose this spring, the club has really shined defensively and in goal during these playoffs. In fact, with an average of 2.54 goals surrendered per game (28 goals in 11 games), the Sharks have been the hardest team to score against in this postseason.

Credit for San Jose's stingy play is shared between goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and a solid defensive corps that includes steady veterans like Dan Boyle and Rob Blake.

After going 2-4 with a 2.82 goals-against average and a dreadful .890 save percentage in last year's embarrassing first-round exit against Anaheim, Nabokov has rebounded nicely in the spring of 2010. The Russian backstop is 8-3 with a 2.43 GAA and .907 save percentage and was excellent in the Detroit series, playing a key role in all four of his team's wins -- each of which came by just one goal.

One of the primary strengths of Chicago is the club's ability to get scoring from all over its roster. The Blackhawks have four players with double-digit point totals during the 12 games in this postseason and 14 different skaters have scored at least one goal for Joel Quenneville's club.

Chicago's top line may not be as heralded as San Jose's trio of Thornton, Heatley and Marleau, but Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien still make up one of the league's most-feared units.

Toews, Chicago's 22-year-old captain, is having a fantastic postseason with an NHL-leading 20 points (6g, 14a). Although primarily known as a playmaking centerman, Toews showed his goal-scoring skills with a hat trick in Game 4 against the Canucks. He enters the conference finals with points in his last nine games.

Kane is leading the Blackhawks with seven goals in the playoffs and is second to Toews with 15 points.

Chicago's second line features a pair of double-digit playoff scorers in Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa, who have notched 14 and 10 points, respectively. Of course, Hossa has been on the losing team in each of the last two Stanley Cup Finals, skating with Pittsburgh in 2008 and Detroit in '09.

The Blackhawks also boast tremendous defensive depth with Team Canada members Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook leading the way at the back end.

Seabrook is leading all Chicago blueliners with eight points (2g, 6a) in the postseason, while Keith, who has a goal and five assists, is averaging a team- high 27 minutes, 2 seconds of ice time per game. Keith is also one of three finalists for this year's Norris Trophy.

Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brian Campbell and Brent Sopel also see considerable ice time on the Chicago blue line.

The Blackhawks' main concern still seems to be in net, but Antti Niemi has gone a long way towards correcting that perception during this postseason.

Niemi entered the 2009-10 season with just three games at the NHL level, but still outplayed Cristobal Huet for the No. 1 job. The Finnish netminder has been able to carry that success into the playoffs so far, going 8-4 with a 2.57 GAA and .909 save percentage in 12 games.

This series will mark the first-ever playoff meeting between the Sharks and Blackhawks, but Chicago had the upper hand in the 2009-10 season series, taking three out of four from San Jose.

Keith had the most points out of any player on either team during the season series between Chicago and the Sharks, posting seven assists. Hossa, Brouwer and Kane each had five points over the four games. Pavelski and Heatley led the Sharks with five points apiece, while Thornton added four.

Huet started all four games against San Jose this year, while Niemi has never seen action against the Sharks. Nabokov was 1-1 with a lofty 3.78 GAA against Chicago this year, but is 14-6-3 with two ties in 26 career appearances against the Blackhawks.

The Sharks have been excellent on home ice all year long, going 5-1 as the host in the playoffs and 27-6-8 at the Shark Tank during the regular season.

Chicago has been better on the road than at home in the postseason, going 5-1 as the guest compared to a 3-3 mark at United Center. The Blackhawks were 23-14-4 away from the Windy City in the regular season.

Game 2 of this series is scheduled for Tuesday in San Jose.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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Eastern Conference Playoff Betting Trends

We all know by now that the “public” loves to put their money on the FAVORITES and the OVERS.  Just by taking a quick glance at Sportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends” it appears as is this tendency will continue as far as the Eastern Conference games are concerned.  For the inaugural games of the first round, 69% of the early money is on Toronto -4.5; 59% of bettors prefer Chicago -4.5; 84% are backing Detroit -9; and 56% think Cleveland -11.5 is the way to go.  As far as TOTALS are concerned, the only UNDER the “public” is backing is the Cleveland/ Washington game in which 83% are pounding the UNDER (190).  Remember, there is no better way to predict a possible line change than by monitoring MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.   By determining who the “public” is backing, you can get the most ideal line for your bet.  For example, if you are siding with the public you better place your bet before the line moves in the wrong direction.  On the other side of the coin, if you prefer the team that the “public” is betting against; you might be able to get and extra ½ or even more by placing your bet a bit later.  Under the “Betting Trends” section, Sportsbook.com also provides plenty of statistical data and trends in order for the bettor to make the most informed pick.  Below are some extremely important trends for the first round opponents of the Eastern Conference match-ups, more can be found at MySportsbook.com

New Jersey Nets vs. Toronto Raptors

Toronto was the most reliable covering team this season with a 48-33-1 ATS record but covered the OVER only 41.5% of the time.
The last 20 times these teams have played, the TOTAL has gone UNDER 16 times.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Toronto is 33-19 ATS including 17-9 at home.
 New Jersey has covered four games in a row while Toronto has failed to cover their last four games.
When playing a team with a winning record during the second half of the season, New Jersey was just 5-13 ATS this season.
After scoring 105 points or more, Toronto has covered the OVER only 28% of the time this season. 
 
Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls

Miami has failed to cover their last 7 games whereas Chicago has covered 6 out of their last 8 games.
Miami has covered the UNDER in four of their last five games whereas Chicago has covered the UNDER in five out of their last six.
When playing on Saturdays, Miami covered 80% of their games this season.
Away from home, Chicago is just 16-25 ATS this season.
At home, Miami covered the UNDER about 66% of the time whereas Chicago covered the UNDER about 61% of the time.
The last 13 times these teams have played each other, Chicago has covered 9 times.
In Miami’s last 11 road games, the UNDER covered 9 times. 
 
Orlando Magic @ Detroit Pistons

Detroit has covered 5 out of their last 6 games.
Away from home, Detroit is 28-13 ATS but just 14-26-1 ATS at home.
At home, Orlando covered the UNDER 64% of the time while Detroit covered the UNDER in 63% of their away games.
The last five times these teams have played in Detroit, the OVER covered each time.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Detroit is 8-17-1 ATS at home but 17-9 ATS away.
Detroit covered the spread 5 out of the last 6 times they played Orlando.
After a Division game, Orlando covered the UNDER 87% of the time this season. 
 
Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers

In a home game where the TOTAL is between 190 and 194.5 points, Cleveland is 9-1 ATS this season.
Washington has covered the UNDER in their last 6 games and in 8 of their last 9 games.
The last 6 times these teams have played each other, the UNDER covered each time.
When playing on 3 or more days of rest, Washington is just 18-37 ATS since 1996.
Since 1996, Washington is 28-16 ATS versus Cleveland including 11-5 over the last 3 seasons.
In their last 7 road games, Washington is 6-1 ATS.
Versus Eastern Conference teams at home, Washington is just 6-18-2 ATS. 
 
For even more betting trends for not just the NBA but for all of the major sports, log on to Sportsbook.com and click on “Trends”.  With only two months left in the NBA betting season it is important to be as well informed as possible in order to maximize your profit.  Also for all of you poker players, check out MySportsbook.com’s “WSOP Low Bid Auction”. You could be on your way to Vegas to play against the world’s best poker players for under a buck.

About MySportsbook.com MySportsbook.com  is the largest sportsbook and casino on the planet, where millions of adult Americans bet on sports, play poker and enjoy blackjack and other casino games online in a regulated and licensed jurisdiction. Named the "Best US Sports Book" by the industry's top magazine, eGaming Review, MySportsbook.com has been leading the online gaming industry since 1996. Dwarfing its nearest competitors in the US, MySportsbook.com has been the first to achieve every significant industry milestone, from record turnover to active users to number of bets--achieving a peak of fifteen bets per second. As the US online gaming leader, the firm and it's products have been featured on CBS 60 Minutes, CNN, ESPN, Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Financial Times, USA Today and in every major newspaper in the US.

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