05/08/2008 - Detroit, MI (Hockey Betting) - Tomas Holmstrom posted a goal and an assist, as the Detroit Red Wings downed the Dallas Stars, 4-1, in Game 1 of their Western Conference finals series from Joe Louis Arena.
Brian Rafalski, Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula also scored for the top- seeded Red Wings, who will host Game 2 on Saturday night. Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall both had two assists, while Chris Osgood ran his playoff record to 7-0 by stopping 20-of-21 shots.
Detroit eliminated Nashville in six games during the opening round and then swept an injury-riddled Colorado squad in the conference semifinals to reach the conference finals for a second straight year. The Red Wings lost to eventual Stanley Cup champion Anaheim in six, hard-fought games last season.
Brenden Morrow lit the lamp for the fifth-seeded Stars, while Marty Turco was victimized for four goals on 31 shots.
The Stars are in the conference finals for the first time since 2000. Dallas ousted Anaheim in six games in the first round and raced out to a 3-0 series lead against San Jose in the conference semifinals before moving on with a 2-1 victory in the fourth overtime of Game 6.
Detroit opened the scoring in the series with a power-play goal at the 4:28 mark of the first period. A scuffle in front of Turco resulted in rookie defenseman Mark Fistric being sent off for roughing, giving the Red Wings a two-man advantage. Detroit needed only nine seconds to connect, as Lidstrom's slap shot from the top of the left circle rang off the far post and came out to the high slot, where Rafalski gathered the puck and snapped it past a screened Turco.
The red-hot Franzen continued where he left off in the second round, notching his league-leading 12th goal of the playoffs with 4:26 to play before the first intermission. The 28-year-old Swedish centerman scored nine goals against the Avalanche, including a pair of hat tricks.
With the Red Wings skating a man up, Franzen parked himself in front of Turco and redirected Kronwall's blast between the pads of the Dallas netminder to give Detroit a 2-0 lead.
Detroit cashed in on the power play again at the 6:40 mark of the middle stanza. Henrik Zetterberg held the puck in at the blue line and dished to Lidstrom, whose shot from the left circle deflected off Holmstrom and in behind Turco.
Filppula netted the first even-strength goal of the series with 4:23 remaining in the second, beating Turco on the stick side.
A turnover in the defensive zone by Detroit led to Morrow putting the Stars on the board. Filppula couldn't handle Kronwall's pass and the puck went right to the stick of Steve Ott, who quickly fired the puck on net. Osgood made the initial save, but Morrow managed to bang home the rebound with 1:07 to go in the frame.
Game Notes
Detroit won three of the four regular-season meetings, outscoring the Stars 12-5...Detroit has won all three of its postseason meetings with the Stars franchise. The teams last met in the 1998 conference finals when the Red Wings beat Dallas in six games en route to their second straight Stanley Cup crown...Franzen extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, tying a Red Wings playoff record (Gordie Howe in 1949 and 1964; Ted Lindsay in 1952)...Detroit finished 3-for-7 on the power play, while the Stars went 0- for-4.
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Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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