Anderson, Senators beat Panthers 6-2

Hockey Betting Lines

02/15/2012 - Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Craig Anderson came back to haunt his old team on Wednesday.

The 30-year old goaltender, who used to wear a Panthers sweater, made 42 saves Wednesday to backstop the Ottawa Senators to a 6-2 win over Florida at BankAtlantic Center.

Milan Michalek finished with a goal and two assists, Daniel Alfredsson and Kaspars Daugavins had a goal and an assist, while Jim O'Brien, Filip Kuba, and Bobby Butler also scored for the Senators, who have won three of their last four games. Jason Spezza contributed three assists in the victory.

Shawn Matthias and Sean Bergenheim scored for the Panthers, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Scott Clemmensen gave up four goals on 16 shots before he was pulled in favor of Jose Theodore, who stopped 13-of-15 shots in relief.

Ottawa opened the scoring at 5:35 of the opening period after Nick Foligno ripped a shot from the right circle that missed the net and caromed off the back boards. O'Brien chased down the loose puck and stuffed home the wrap- around attempt to give the Sens a 1-0 advantage.

Florida responded to tie the game at 11:47 of the first frame after Matthias raced through the neutral zone to the left circle and fired a wrist shot high over the left shoulder of Anderson.

Ottawa came out on fire in the second stanza and scored three consecutive goals to grab a comfortable 4-1 lead after two periods.

The first goal of the period came 5:18 into the second period after Brian Lee let a slap shot go from the right point that was tipped past a screened Clemmensen by Daugavins.

The Sens used some more nifty passing in the offensive zone to make it 3-1 at the 7:24 mark after Spezza came flying through the neutral zone and slammed on the brakes just inside the blue line on the left wing. He then found a cutting Michalek, who spun it to Butler in front for the tip-in.

Ottawa ballooned the lead to 4-1 while shorthanded at 14:06 to cap the second period when Alfredsson accepted a pass from Daugavins right up the gut, went in alone on Clemmensen and lifted a backhander into the net to send Clemmensen to an early shower.

Michalek found the back of the net with a tip-in off a perfect pass from Erik Karlsson just 1:24 into the third period to make it 5-1 Senators.

Florida got one back on the power play 4:25 into the final period when Bergenheim tipped one home from in front off a shot from Campbell to make it 5-2, but the Sens answered with a power-play tally of their own with 5:06 to play in regulation when Kuba beat Theodore with a wrister from the right circle.

Game Notes

Florida fell to 6-16-7 when notching two goals or less this season...Anderson spent parts of three seasons (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09) with the Panthers before signing with the Colorado Avalanche for the 2009-10 season...Ottawa finished 1-for-4 with the man advantage, while the Panthers converted 1-of-5 power play chances.

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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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