Howard-less Red Wings aim for win in Phoenix

Hockey Betting Lines

02/06/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Not having their starting goaltender over the weekend did little to help Detroit shake off its road issues. However, a trip to Phoenix just might do the trick.

The Red Wings look to record a sweep of their season series with the Coyotes, but must do so once again tonight without All-Star Jimmy Howard in net.

The NHL leader with 32 wins, Howard suffered a broken finger versus the Canucks on Thursday that was expected to sideline the netminder for at least the rest of Detroit's five-game road trip. The Red Wings conclude the swing tonight before a meeting with the Oilers on Wednesday at home, where Detroit has won a club-record 17 straight.

Detroit, though, dipped to 2-1-1 on its swing and 15-14-1 as the guest this year with Saturday's 5-4 shootout loss to Edmonton. Ty Conklin got the start in Howard's absence, but was replaced by the recently-recalled Joey MacDonald at the start of the second after allowing three goals on nine shots.

MacDonald stopped 22-of-23 shots faced the rest of the way, but yielded two goals in the shootout.

The Red Wings trailed 3-1 at the end of the first, getting a short-handed goal from Valtteri Filppula, but netted three straight goals in the third. Todd Bertuzzi had two of them to give him 301 goals in his career, but Edmonton tied the game with 39 ticks left in regulation.

"If anything, we should feel good we got the one point," Bertuzzi said. "We didn't play very well in the first period. In the second we got a little better and obviously turned it on in the third period, but we still wanted the two points. We gave ourselves a good chance to do it, just came up a little short."

Detroit's two-game win streak came to an end with only its second loss in 11 games. It still sits on top of the NHL standings with 72 points, one more than the East-leading New York Rangers.

The Red Wings have taken their first three meetings with the Coyotes this season by a 11-6 margin, winning the past two encounters in a shootout. Five of the past seven meetings between these clubs have gone past regulation, with Detroit winning four of those.

Phoenix will try to keep the game just 60 minutes long this evening as it tries to avoid its first series sweep versus Detroit since 2007-08. Howard had been in net for the three previous encounters for the Red Wings, who are 10-1-2 in their last 13 trips to the desert.

The Coyotes conclude a season-long six-game homestand with this meeting and improved to 2-2-1 on the stand with Saturday's 5-3 win over the Sharks. That victory has Phoenix tied for 11th in the Western Conference, four points back of a playoff spot.

Mike Smith made 32 saves, but did yield a score with 32 seconds left in the game to make it a one-goal contest. However, Radim Vrbata accounted for the final margin with an empty-net tally as the Coyotes bounced back from last Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Ducks with their third victory in 10 games (3-4-3).

"I thought we competed hard and did some things better than the other night," Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett said. "We got a couple of good bounces that went our way and we were able to use that as a confidence builder and find a way to get a win."

Vrbata and Martin Hanzal finished with a goal and an assist each, while Lauri Korpikoski netted a pair of goals. Ray Whitney was one of three Phoenix skaters to notch two assists and has six points over his past four games.

Whitney is slated to skate in the 1,200th game of his career this evening.

Smith, meanwhile, set a new career high with his 19th win of the season on Saturday. In his first campaign with the Coyotes, the 29-year-old is just two appearances shy of the personal-best 42 games he played in with the Lightning in 2009-10.

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Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS

NFL Sports Betting

NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.

Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.

There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.

Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.

The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

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