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02/12/2012 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Malkin lit the lamp twice and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored four unanswered goals Sunday night to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2.
The Penguins bounced back from the two quickest goals by one player in Tampa Bay history to improve to 2-0 on a three-game homestand.
Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang had one goal and two assists apiece in the win and Brent Johnson made 21 saves. James Neal had three assists.
Malkin shot on an empty net as time expired and missed a hat trick by inches as the puck hit off the post.
Steve Downie scored two goals 11 seconds apart in the first period to set a franchise record and give the Lightning a 2-0 lead, but they never found the back of the net again in their fourth loss in six games.
Mathieu Garon gave up four goals on 41 shots and Teddy Purcell had two assists for Tampa Bay.
Johnson got a piece of Downie's first goal, on a slap shot from above the left circle, but it knuckled through him for a 1-0 Lightning lead 9:58 into the game.
Seconds later, Purcell slid the puck through the crease at the end of a 3-on-2 rush and Downie was there to hammer it in.
Malkin scored his first goal on a power play 6:06 later on a one-timer to get the Penguins on the board. They tied it just 56 seconds into the middle period when Kunitz split four defenders and beat Garon five-hole after carrying the puck into the zone himself.
Letang had the eventual game-winner at 4:28 of the second, beating Garon from the slot, and Malkin made it 4-2 midway through the period when he hustled to the left side of the net for a seeing-eye pass from Kunitz that set him up perfectly.
Game Notes
Jason Wiemer held the previous Tampa Bay record for fastest two goals at 16 seconds in a game against New Jersey on October 3, 1997. The team record for time between goals is nine seconds, also against New Jersey on January 9, 2004...The teams split two prior meetings this season in Tampa Bay. They will meet again on February 25 in Pittsburgh...The Lightning have lost three in a row at Pittsburgh.
<< Heat breeze past Hawks
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwyane Wade scored all 21 of his points in a
lopsided first half, and the Miami Heat cruised past the Atlanta Hawks,
107-87, in a Southeast Division showdown at Philips Arena.
LeBron James chipped i
<< Malkin scored twice as Pens double up Lightning
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Malkin lit the lamp twice and the
Pittsburgh Penguins scored four unanswered goals Sunday night to beat the
Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2.
The Penguins bounced back from the two quickest goals b
<< Blues shut out Sharks, extend home points streak
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jaroslav Halak made 25 saves to record his
sixth shutout of the season and 22nd of his career as the St. Louis Blues kept
rolling at home with a 3-0 win over the San Jose Sharks at Scottrade Center.
Alex
<< Prahalis helps Ohio State outlast Purdue
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samantha Prahalis scored 26 points, including
a clutch three-pointer in the final minute to help No. 10 Ohio State fend off
No. 16 Purdue, 80-71, in a Big 10 clash.
Amber Stokes and Ashley Adams chipped in
Jazz top Grizzlies to snap 3-game slide >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gordon Hayward scored 23 points and handed out
five assists, and the Utah Jazz snapped a three-game slide with a 98-88
victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
Al Jefferson chipped in 21 points a
Warriors edge Rockets behind Ellis' 33 >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Monta Ellis poured in 33 points and the Golden
State Warriors snapped a three-game losing streak to the Houston Rockets with
a 106-97 win on Sunday.
The Warriors got 15 points and 13 rebounds from David Lee a
The Kentucky Derby winner will not come from the Mutuel Field >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Since the Kentucky Derby Future Wager began in 1999, the
mutuel field has been the correct bet in six of the 13 Pool 1 wagers,
including three of the last four years. However, half of those winners paid
$6.00
Klieman takes over North Dakota State's defense >>
Fargo, ND (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FCS national champion North Dakota State has
promoted defensive backs coach Chris Klieman to defensive coordinator.
He replaces Scottie Hazelton, who has been hired as linebackers coach at
Southern California.
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
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