Sharks score six times in third to beat Nashville

Hockey Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Pavelski registered two goals and two assists in the third period, as the San Jose Sharks scored six times over the final 20 minutes to rally past the Nashville Predators, 8-5, at HP Pavilion.

Dany Heatley added two goals and a helper, while Manny Malhotra finished with a goal and two assists for the Sharks, who have won three straight on their five-game homestand that ends Saturday against Florida.

San Jose's Patrick Marleau reached the 40-goal plateau for the first time in his career, and Joe Thornton also tallied as the Sharks moved two points ahead of Chicago in the race for the Western Conference's top seed.

Evgeni Nabokov made 40 saves to pick up the win, his 37th of the season, which matches Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick for the league lead.

Patric Hornqvist and J.P. Dumont each had two goals for Nashville, which has lost three of four but is still clinging to seventh place in the West standings.

Starting goaltender Dan Ellis was victimized for six goals on 23 shots before he was relieved by Pekka Rinne late in the third. Rinne faced only two shots and yielded the goal to Marleau.

Down 4-2 after two periods, San Jose pumped in three unanswered goals.

Heatley and Malhotra scored 1:36 apart to tie the game at 5:16, then Pavelski capitalized on a turnover deep in the Nashville zone six minutes later to put the Sharks on top. The U.S. Olympian walked out of the far corner and fired a shot past the glove of Ellis.

Dumont redirected Kevin Klein's one-timer from the point for a 5-5 stalemate at 13:26. However, Pavelski spun around and slid a backhander along the ice and through the pads of Ellis 1:14 later to restore the lead.

Marleau provided some breathing room with 2:26 remaining. Jay Leach's first NHL goal -- an empty-netter -- sealed the come-from-behind win for San Jose.

Hornqvist and Heatley traded goals in the first period before the former lit the lamp again at the 4:29 mark of the middle frame for a 2-1 Nashville lead.

Thornton swooped in and stashed a rebound on the power play less than two minutes later, but Dumont produced another goal on a deflection with the man advantage, altering the path of a Cody Franson offering through heavy traffic, to put the visitors back on top at 11:31.

A distinct kicking motion negated a tally for Nashville's Dustin Boyd with 5:56 to play, but rookie Colin Wilson made it 4-2 on a redirection moments after the officials' ruling.

Game Notes

San Jose won three of the four games in the season series...The Sharks improved to 22-6-7 at home...Dumont's second goal was the 500th point of his career...Nashville defenseman Shea Weber returned to the lineup after missing two games with an upper-body injury.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.