Leighton strong in Flyers' win over Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Leighton made 27 saves to help the Philadelphia Flyers take a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Wachovia Center.

Danny Briere, Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter each had a goal for the Flyers, who snapped a two-game slide. Chris Pronger added two assists in the win.

Nikolai Kulemin scored the lone goal for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped five of their last six. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 22 stops in the loss.

Toronto took four penalties over a 4:34 span in the first period, with Colton Orr taking three of the minors.

Philly had extended power-play time thanks to the infractions and were able to put the puck into the net. On a 5-on-3, Pronger used the slap-pass from the high slot to send it to the low left circle where Carter slammed it into the wide open net for his 30th goal of the season at the 13:22 mark.

The Maple Leafs tied the game 3:55 into the second, as Carl Gunnarsson threw a shot on net from the left point that was knocked down in front, and Kulemin backhanded the puck in from the right side.

The Flyers, though, scored twice in a 1:16 span late in the second to take the lead back for good.

The first goal came after a right circle faceoff win as the puck came around to the left side. Daniel Carcillo slid the puck over to the left circle where Gagne kicked it from his skate to his stick and snapped the puck into the net at the 17:09 mark.

A bit later, Briere made it a 3-1 game as he wristed home the puck in the slot off a pass from Braydon Coburn.

Leighton made 10 stops and helped Philadelphia kill a couple of power plays in the third period to hang on for the win.

Game Notes

Philly returns home to face the Islanders on Tuesday...Toronto hosts Boston on Tuesday...The Flyers have taken two of three against the Leafs this season...Philly went 1-for-6 on the power play, while Toronto was 0-for-4.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.