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Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Hanzal scored twice to lead Phoenix over Detroit, 3-1, on Monday. Boyd Gordon also tallied and Mike Smith turned in a 30-save performance for the Coyotes, winners in three of their last four.
Joey MacDonald made his first start since March 30 and absorbed the loss despite giving up just two goals on 22 shots.
Gordon put the hosts on the board at 7:22 of the opening period in a short- handed situation. He managed to elude a pair of Detroit players to snag an errant pass off the left boards, skate in and deke MacDonald before sliding a shot home at the right post.
Game Notes
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Niklas Hagman scored the game-winner in the eighth round of the shootout as the Anaheim Ducks continued their dominance of the Calgary Flames at home with a 3-2 decision. Bobby Ryan and Matt Belesky scored in regulation while Jonas Hiller stopped 24-of-26 shots for the Ducks, who snapped a two-game slide with their 14th consecutive victory over the Flames in Anaheim.
Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla lit the lamp for the Flames, whose last victory over the Ducks in Anaheim came on January 19, 2004.
Iginla split Anaheim's defenseman while receiving a pass at the Ducks' blue line and raced in on a short breakaway, skating into the slot and sending a wrister past the stick side to knot the game at two at the 6:15 mark.
Early in the extra period, Anaheim's Teemu Selanne just missed the game-winner as he hit a post from the right circle after Kiprusoff lost track of the puck.
Iginla and Tanguay also failed to end the game when they came down the ice on a 2-on-1 rush, but Iginla missed the net as he lifted the puck too high over the crossbar.
Then nearly two minutes later, Sheldon Brookbank ripped a one-timer from the right point that was redirected into the top-left corner by Belesky to put the Ducks ahead 2-0 after one.
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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