Biron sharp again, Asham nets a pair as Flyers beat Rangers

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Biron stopped 39-of-41 shots to help the Philadelphia Flyers take a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers in the opener of a home-and-home set at the Wachovia Center.

Aaron Asham had two goals while Scott Hartnell and Mike Richards each lit the lamp for the Flyers, who have won three of their last four games and wrapped up a five-game homestand with a mark of 3-2-0.

Sean Avery and Nik Antropov each had a goal for the Rangers, who had won four of five coming into the game. Henrik Lundqvist was charged with four goals on 25 shots in the loss.

These Atlantic Division rivals will face-off at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

The Rangers drew first blood off of a Flyers turnover. Holding the puck at the left point, Matt Carle attempted to dump back down low, but Antropov blocked the attempt. Antropov then raced down the other end on a breakaway and wristed the puck into the left corner at the 3:28 mark.

Philadelphia tied the game with 3:26 left in the first on a 2-on-1 break. Jeff Carter skated down the right wing with Hartnell on his left and let fly with a shot that Lundqvist stopped with the right pad. The rebound, though, kicked out to the left side and Hartnell buried it.

At the 6:07 mark of the second period, the Flyers took the lead. With another 2-on-1 rush, Richards sent a pass from the left to the right for Simon Gagne, but Gagne flubbed the shot. However, he did recover the puck in time to center it for Kimmo Timonen, who one-touched the puck over to the left side for Richards who pumped his own rebound into the net.

After a questionable elbowing call on Richards at the 13:14 mark of the second, the Rangers appeared to tie the game. A left circle faceoff win was drawn back to Derek Morris, who let fly with a slap shot that Biron stopped. The puck went into the air and Scott Gomez, who was behind Biron, knocked it home. However, Gomez appeared to knock it in with his glove and the goal was waived off by the on-ice official and a replay upheld the call.

Richards was again the victim of a questionable penalty a little over two minutes after his first when he was called for boarding Avery and the Rangers had another power play chance. This time, Biron came up with a big save as he stopped Nikolai Zherdev down low at the left side to help the Flyers carry the one-goal lead into the third period.

Philadelphia gave itself some breathing space at the 5:47 mark of the third. Claude Giroux had the puck behind the net and centered it to a streaking Asham, who tapped it in from down low for a 3-1 advantage.

Asham netted his second goal of the game with 5:27 left in the game when he picked up a dump along the left boards in the Rangers zone all alone and lasered a shot over the glove of Lundqvist.

Avery got the Rangers back to within two goals as his wrister from the left circle got past a sliding Biron with 3:41 to play.

New York pulled Lundqvist from the net late in the game for the extra attacker, but were unable to put any more pucks into the net.

Game Notes

Hartnell's goal was his 25th of the season, which ties a career-high he set in 2005-06 with Nashville...Giroux and Dan Carcillo each added two assists for the Flyers...Philly has won four of the last five against New York...Neither team scored on the power play with New York having four chances and Philly three.

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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.

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