Flyers seek rebound effort against Islanders

Hockey Betting Lines

02/07/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to rebound after a dismal weekend when they host the New York Islanders for tonight's Atlantic Division battle at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers played divisional opponents on back-to-back days on Saturday and Sunday and lost both tests in regulation while giving up a total of 11 goals. New Jersey notched a 6-4 win Saturday in Philadelphia and the Flyers were then dealt a 5-2 loss by the first-place Rangers in New York City.

Philadelphia, which trails the Rangers by five points for first in the Atlantic, has lost three of four and five of its last eight contests. Although the Flyers are currently seeded fourth in the East, Pittsburgh and the Devils are just two and three points back, respectively.

Normally, the Flyers would feel pretty good about the Islanders making a trip to Philadelphia, but New York halted a 13-game losing streak in the City of Brotherly Love by recording a 4-1 win at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 19. Evgeni Nabokov frustrated the Flyers with 40 saves in the Isles' first win in Philly since April 7, 2007.

The Flyers have still taken 26 of 29 overall from the Isles.

Philadelphia expects to get Danny Briere back tonight after the forward sat out the last six games with a concussion. Briere, who has 13 goals and 30 points in 43 games this season, has been taking part in contract drills in practice and the Flyers confirmed that he will be in the lineup tonight on their official Twitter feed.

Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk is still sidelined indefinitely with a concussion.

Philadelphia lost for the fourth time in four meetings against the Rangers this season on Sunday, as Artem Anisimov had a goal and two assists to lead the Blueshirts.

Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds both scored for the Flyers, while Ilya Bryzgalov allowed four goals on 37 shots in the loss. Bryzgalov started Sunday after coming into the previous day's game in relief when Sergei Bobrovsky allowed all six goals against the Devils.

"We had too many turnovers today and they all wound up in the back of the net," said Simmonds.

It's unclear if Bryzgalov or Bobrovsky will get the start tonight. Bobrovsky is 7-1 with a 2.01 goals-against average in nine career games against the Isles, while Bryzgalov is 0-1 with a 5.52 GAA in three tests versus New York.

The Flyers enter tonight having lost four of their last five as the host. Philly is 12-8-4 at home this year compared to an 18-8-2 mark on the road.

The Isles, who are 11 points out of a playoff spot in the East, had won two straight before getting dealt a 4-3 shootout loss by visiting Buffalo on Saturday. Brad Boyes netted the game-winning goal in the first round of the shootout for the Sabres, who trailed 3-1 after the first period at Nassau Coliseum.

Frans Nielsen finished with two goals and an assist and Josh Bailey also scored for the Islanders. Al Montoya stopped 34-of-37 shots.

Isles forward John Tavares has gone without a point in two February games after being named the NHL's First Star of the Month in January. The 21-year- old has 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in 15 career tests against the Flyers.

New York has won its last two road games, but is still just 10-11-3 as the visiting team this season.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.