NHL Tuesday Night 3 Game Pack – Young Guns in Action

NHL Tuesday Preview

Three of hockey’s youngest and most exciting teams take the ice Tuesday. NHL betting features the Penguins, Canucks, and Blackhawks, with each team presenting wagering value to hockey fans.

Pittsburgh Penguins at Buffalo Sabres

The Penguins were upset by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, losing 4-3 on a heart-breaking goal in the final minute and a half of the third period. That loss was Pittsburgh’s second in the last three games, dropping the team behind the New Jersey Devils in the Atlantic Division standings.

The Penguins gave up four goals in each of those defeats and were outshot by a total of 104 to 95 in the past three games. Pittsburgh will get some help on the blueline Tuesday when defenseman Mark Eaton is expected to return. Eaton sat out those three games with an injured left knee.

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Chicago Blackhawks at Dallas Stars

Chicago tightened its grasp on the Central Division by winning its third straight game Sunday. The Blackhawks downed the Nashville Predators 5-4, giving the team its 10th win of December. Goaltender Cristobal Huet has been between the posts for the majority of those games, improving his numbers with a 2.01 GAA and a save percentage of .915. Huet has helped under bettors cash in this year, posting a 9-18-1 over/under mark.

Chicago came up big in the crunch Sunday. After trailing Nashville 2-1 heading into the third period, the Blackhawks erupted for four goals including two from forward John Madden and a game-winning goal from Patrick Kane with under a minute remaining.

Vancouver Canucks at Phoenix Coyotes

The Canucks made up some ground in the Northwest Division by taking a 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Sunday. That was Vancouver’s third straight victory and seventh in the past 10 games. Goaltender Roberto Luongo has been at the top of his game during this stretch. He has given up just one goal in each of the last three games.

The Canucks’ offense has provided solid goal support during this span. Vancouver has scored a total of 13 goals in the past three victories, getting two from Daniel Sedin, three from Henrik Sedin, and three from Mason Raymond – all of his coming in the win over the Flames.

Champs Sports Bowl – #24 Badgers and #14 Hurricanes Brawl for it All

Champs Sports Bowl – Badgers (+3½) vs. Hurricanes

(O/U) 57
Tuesday, December 29 – 8:00 PM ET

Key Trends

• Badgers are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games as an underdog.
• Badgers are 1-6 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
• Hurricanes are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 non-conference games.
• Hurricanes are 5-2 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
• Hurricanes are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 bowl games.
• Over is 4- 0 in Badgers last 4 games overall.
• Under is 6- 1 in Hurricanes last 7 vs. a team with a winning record.

The Wisconsin Badgers (9-3 SU, 6-6 ATS, 8-4 O/U) and Miami Hurricanes (9-3 SU, 7-5 ATS, 6-6 O/U) will both be looking to finish off their respective 2009 seasons with a victory when they take to the gridiron at the Florida Citrus Bowl in the Champs Sports Bowl tonight at 8 PM ET.

Let’s take a look at both teams, before I provide my expert college football analysis on the outcome of this contest.

Wisconsin 411

The Badgers come into tonight’s contest having won four of its last five games including a convincing 51-10 smackdown of Hawaii in their regular season finale on Dec. 5.

John Clay ran for 172 yards and three touchdowns in the Week 14 win to help Wisconsin cover the college football point spread as 12.5-point road favorites.

Led by its bruising rushing attack, Wisconsin averaged a robust 39.0 points per game over its last five games. Clay, the Big Ten offensive player of the year, rushed for nine touchdowns over the last five contests and ran for 1,369 yards and 16 TD’s on the season.

Wisconsin ranked 14th in the nation in rushing at 206.7 yards per game and enters this Champs Sports Bowl matchup looking to win 10 games for the first time since going 12- 1 in 2006.

The Badgers also want to get back in the bowl game win column after getting spanked in the 2008 Champs Sports Bowl, 42-13 to Florida State.

“(That loss) really left a bad taste in our mouth," defensive back Chris Maragos said. “The whole offseason we wanted to prepare and make sure that didn’t happen again. … We put ourselves in the position to redeem ourselves.”

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Miami 411

Miami also finished the regular season strong, going 4-1 SU in their last five games, beating South Florida 31-10 win in Week 13 while covering the college football point spread as a 3.5-point road favorite.

Miami began the season unranked, but quickly jumped to ninth in the nation after a pair of opening wins over ranked opponents – the first time the Hurricanes were ranked in the top 10 since the final regular-season poll of 2005.

Miami has improved its record in three straight seasons under head coach Randy Shannon and will be looking to record its first 10-win season since 2003.

"It shows that coach (Randy) Shannon is really taking the time to put a lot into the team, and it has progressed since he has been here the last three years," sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris said.

After a one-year absence from bowl play, the Hurricanes lost to California 24- 17 in last year’s Emerald Bowl.

Miami averaged a whopping 31.7 points this season and allowed just 22.3 points per contest and held three of its final four opponents to fewer than 20 points while giving up an average of just 264.0 total yards over those four games.

Harris ranked 15th in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 3,164 passing yards and tossed had 23 touchdowns this season but also tied for the most interceptions in the nation with 17.

The Hurricanes won’t have star left tackle Jason Fox due to a knee injury that required surgery.

Analysis: Miami and Wisconsin both averaged more than 30.0 points per game this season and allowed just over 22 points per game defensively. The Badgers were better at forcing turnovers with a plus-6 margin, while the Hurricanes are at minus-2.

These two teams are so evenly matched, this selection ultimately boils down to which team bettors prefer.

Personally, I don’t think the Badgers have the athleticism to keep up with Miami’s collections of speedy wideouts and running backs.

College football betting enthusiasts should know that the Badgers have gone just 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games as an underdog ad 1-6 ATS against a team with a winning record. I also don’t like the fact that Wisconsin averaged just 18 points per game in its three losses.

The Hurricanes have gone a perfect 4-0 ATS in their last four non-conference games and have fared very well against good teams, going a solid 5-2 ATS against a team with a winning record.

Miami has also gone an impressive 7-3 ATS in their last 10 bowl games and scored over 24 points in two of its three losses this season while averaging 22.6 points per game in those losses.

With a ground-based offensive attack, I think the Badgers may find it hard to catch up to the pass-first Hurricanes if they fall into an early hole. With the Over going 4- 0 in Wisconsin’s last four games, I also like the Over to play out again tonight.

NCAAF Expert Picks: Miami -3½ Points/Over 57 Total Points

Tuesday EPL Betting: Bolton vs. Hull City

Bolton Wanderers settled on a 1:1 draw on Saturday at Turf Moor. They could have taken all three points had they built on the lead from Taylor, scoring in the 29 th minute off a rather magnificent free kick from 20 yards that beat the goalie near his post. Bolton however failed to fend off Burnley, the promoted side that has lost only one home match since winning promotion and in the 56 th minute, they had their equalizer. Although both sides threatened throughout the match to take the lead, nothing came of it and they succumbed to the stalemate.

Hull City meanwhile are after a disheartening 3:1 loss to Manchester United on Sunday. That they managed to find the net was because of a penalty awarded in the second half, just after Man U first got onto the scoreboard, and so they equalized. For a time, it seemed Hull City would hang in there against the Red Devils and possibly share in the spoils. However, two goals in succession from Dawson and Berbatov (73 rd minute and 81 st minute) put paid on that notion.

Bolton took a point at least while Hull City walked off empty handed. After the weekend, the two relegation rivals were level on points in the table and languishing in the danger zone. Bolton are 18 th in the table on 17 points after 17 games. Hull City on the other hand are 19 th in the table on 17 points after 19 cycles.

Soccer Betting Lines:

Bolton -½ -120 -125 2½ O +115 U -135 Draw +230
Hull +½ Ev +350 2½ O +115 U -135 Draw +230

Additional Soccer Betting Lines:

First Half: Bolton +155 Draw +105 Hull +325

Alternate Line:
Bolton-½, -1 +115 2½ O -125 U +105
Hull +½, +1 -135 2½ O -125 U +105

Score First: Bolton-175 Hull +135

Match Time: 3:00 PM EAST Tuesday December 29, 2009

Venue: Reebok Stadium

Recommended soccer picks:

Bolton enter this match as the clear favourites to win in the market, listed at -125 at BetOnline Sportsbook. Bolton’s short-price is hardly the norm in their case so it could be interpreted as proof positive of their value in this match to win outright.

Soccer bettors looking to back Bolton should also look at the odds on Bolton to Score first . In their last six home matches, Bolton contributed 11 goals. The only two times they came up blank was in the 4:0 loss to Chelsea and 2:0 loss to Blackburn Rovers. So Bolton at -175 to score first is a good bet.

If you are going to go with these recommendations then the half/time market is also appealing with Bolton at +155 to take the lead. And the combined totals of Over 2 ½ +115.

Soccer bettors looking to back Hull City can find them listed at +350 to win outright. Negating this play however is a poor road record, most recently, made up of five losses and one draw. Hull City are also disadvantaged in the half-time market with odds of +325 to take the lead in the first half and +135 to score first. The long odds are not inspiring a whole lot of confidence in Hull that they might not be worth the risk.

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Monday English Premier League Action Recap

Monday English Premier League (EPL) action featured Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Birmingham City in action to name a few. It was a busy day in England’s top-flight league as proceedings were wrapped up for the 2009 season and almost all fixtures went according to expectations.

Here is a quick recap of Monday’s EPL action

Tottenham Hotspur 2:0 West Ham United

Tottenham Hotspur heaped more misery on West Ham United when they beat the Hammers 2:0. The victory marked Tottenham’s fourth clean sheet in a row, a mark Harry Redknapp could not be happier about as he looks ahead to the second half of the season and the clubs objective to challenge for the title this season. The Spurs took three points to climb into fourth place in the table with 37 points, two points ahead of Aston Villa.

Blackburn Rovers 2:2 Sunderland

Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland drew 2:2 on Monday at Ewood Park. Both sides started slow and finished the first half in a scoreless draw. Sam Allardyce and Steve Bruce were pleased with their respective sides’ efforts in the dramatic, exciting back-and-forth second half as each side took turns in taking the initiative.
The Rovers scored first in the 52nd minute but Sunderland were quick to answer, equalizing in the 53rd minute. Then Sunderland took the lead in the 65th minute with Bents’ second goal of the night. Former Sunderland striker Diouf answered back for the Rovers when he equalized in the 77th minute, salvaging a point for Blackburn. Blackburn finish the first half of the season with 21 points after 20 cycles in 13th place. Sunderland ended the first half with 23 points after 20 cycles in tenth spot.

Chelsea 2:1 Fulham

Chelsea returned to winning form against Fulham on Monday at Stamford Bridge. The Blues had been patchy on form lately and leaking points on draws against clubs they should have beaten. Their recent slip in form saw Man U, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur close the gap, applying more pressure in the title race. After the much-needed win over hot Fulham Chelsea is sure to hold on to top spot going into the New Year but it remains to be seen whether they will go into the second half with a two-point or five-point lead as Manchester United(on 40 points) is yet to play their last match of the year on Wednesday.

Other results in the league:

Everton 2:0 Burnley

Stoke City 0:1 Birmingham City

Wolverhampton Wolves 0:3 Manchester City

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