Rangers and Thrashers both try to end slides in Atlanta

Hockey Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of four-game losing streaks have made a possible road to the postseason a bit harder for the Rangers and Thrashers. Only one team will be able to reverse its misfortunes tonight.

Atlanta will try to sweep the season series and record a sixth straight victory over New York this evening at Philips Arena, where the Rangers try to avoid matching their longest losing streak of the season.

The Thrashers come into this meeting with 66 points, one back of the ninth- place Rangers in the Eastern standings and six back of the Bruins for the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference.

Atlanta, though, has dropped four straight in regulation while New York is 0-2-2 over its last four games. The Thrashers do come in with a bit of a mental edge, as they have won five straight over the Rangers, four of those in a shootout, and all three meetings this season. Atlanta has also defeated New York in two straight and five of the last six played at Philips Arena.

Tonight is the final meeting of the regular season this year between the clubs and also marks the first time the Thrashers take on the Rangers without Ilya Kovalchuk, who had a goal, three assists and a shootout winner for Atlanta in the series before getting traded to New Jersey back on February 4.

The Thrashers, who last swept a season series with the Rangers in 2002-03, kick off a five-game homestand tonight after dropping a 2-1 decision in Columbus on Thursday. The setback by Atlanta allowed idle Washington to clinch the Southeast Division for a third straight season.

Johnny Oduya got Atlanta on the board with 2:21 left in the game, while Johan Hedberg made 19 saves.

"When it's not going for you, it's not going for you," Atlanta coach John Anderson said. "We got a little bit of a bounce with one of the goals for us but we are not getting any breaks right now. We only allowed 21 shots on goal. It is a difficult loss."

The game saw the season debut of Atlanta defenseman Chris Chelios, who was called up from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. The 48-year-old has now played in the NHL for 26 consecutive seasons since his debut with Montreal in the 1983-84 season.

The Rangers are coming off a regulation loss to the Devils on Wednesday, losing a 6-3 test in Newark. Vinny Prospal, Erik Christensen and Brandon Prust all scored for the Rangers, but Henrik Lundqvist allowed five goals on 17 shots before being relieved by Alex Auld late in the second period. Auld made nine saves the rest of the way.

"It was a tough [game]. I felt we played pretty good, just a couple sequences where the puck didn't bounce our way," Lundqvist said.

The Rangers, who have lost a season-high five in a row twice this year, also lost for the seventh time in their last 10 road games.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.