Red Wings put home streak on the line against Blackhawks

Hockey Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings shoot for their 13th consecutive victory on home ice when the rival Chicago Blackhawks enter Joe Louis Arena tonight for a matchup between Central Division foes.

Detroit has been tremendous in the Motor City all season long, having amassed a gaudy 21-3-3 home mark for the campaign, and hasn't lost as the host since a 3-2 setback to Ottawa on December 12.

The franchise record for consecutive home victories is 14, set from January 21-March 25, 1965.

The Red Wings can also climb back into first place in the Central, where they currently trail Nashville by just one point, with a win tonight. The Predators also hold a slim edge on Detroit for the all-important top spot in the Western Conference.

Detroit completed a three-game road trip with a 4-1 triumph over lowly Phoenix on Saturday. Henrik Zetterberg was the offensive star for the Red Wings, as the All-Star forward recorded his first career hat trick and added an assist on Justin Williams' empty-net tally in the closing seconds.

Pavel Datsyuk assisted on all four Detroit goals and Dominik Hasek made 20 saves in the win, the Red Wings' eighth in their last 10 games.

Zetterberg continued his torrid scoring pace during February. In eight games this month, the Swedish star has racked up 10 goals and 11 assists.

Chicago will be attempting to halt a three-game overall losing streak as well as ending its recent lack of success in this series. The Blackhawks have lost 11 of their last 12 meetings with Detroit, including all three tests this season.

In its most recent contest, Chicago came up on the short end of a 2-1 decision to the New York Rangers Sunday in Madison Square Garden. Martin Havlat scored the only goal for the Blackhawks, who couldn't get out of an early 2-0 hole.

Patrick Lalime stopped 27-of-29 shots for Chicago in a losing cause.

The Blackhawks, who are 11-15-5 on the road for the season, will open a four- game homestand Thursday against San Jose.

Chicago has lost in eight of its last nine visits to Joe Louis Arena, including a 6-3 setback on January 13.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

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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