Smith, Coyotes blank reeling Blackhawks

Hockey Betting Lines

02/12/2012 - Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Smith stood tall between the pipes, making 38 saves to backstop the surging Phoenix Coyotes to a 3-0 victory over the struggling Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night.

Smith recorded his third shutout of the season for the Coyotes, who pushed their winning streak to a season-high five games.

"My teammates did a great job in front of me tonight," Smith said.

Chicago is trending in the opposite direction. The Blackhawks suffered their eighth consecutive loss and 10th straight on the road. They fell to 0-5-1 on a season-long nine-game road swing.

"We need something to give in and make us feel good about ourselves," said Chicago captain Jonathan Toews.

Ray Emery stopped 24 shots in defeat.

Radim Vrbata opened the scoring 3:14 into the contest with his team-leading 26th goal of the season.

Vrbata gathered a loose puck in the Chicago zone after a failed clearing attempt and accepted Ray Whitney's return feed. The crafty winger skated behind the enemy cage and sent a wraparound that Blackhawks defenseman Sami Lepisto directed into his own net.

Boyd Gordon doubled the Coyotes' advantage 2:44 later. Gilbert Brule missed the net on a one-timer, but the puck slid right to Gordon and he scored from the right side of the net.

Brule also picked up the primary assist on Kyle Chipchura's tally at the 12:59 mark of the middle stanza.

Smith posted 16 saves in the third period to preserve his 14th career shutout.

Game Notes

The Coyotes inducted former alternate captain Jeremy Roenick into the team's Ring of Honor in a pre-game ceremony on Saturday night...Whitney has two goals and 10 assists during an eight-game point streak...Phoenix earned its fourth consecutive win at home...The Coyotes won the season series, 3-1.

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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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