Bruins, Kessel continue impressive streaks in win over Maple Leafs

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12/18/2008 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Krejci netted his first career hat trick and Phil Kessel continued his amazing points streak with two goals and an assist, as Boston beat Toronto, 8-5, securing its 12th straight home win.

Marc Savard added a goal and three assists for the Bruins, who won for the eighth time in nine games to move their record to 22-5-4, tops in the Eastern Conference. Their current home win streak is the longest since a 16-game run during the 1975-76 season.

The Bruins last lost on home ice with a 4-2 setback to Toronto on October 23.

Kessel has a 16-game points streak, the longest by a Bruin since Adam Oates recorded points in 20 straight games from January 7 - February 20, 1997.

Marco Sturm and Michael Ryder also scored for the Bruins. Tim Thomas was pulled after allowing five goals on 23 shots through two periods, but Manny Fernandez held down the fort by stopping all 13 shots he faced in the third.

Vesa Toskala and Curtis Joseph each gave up four goals for the Maple Leafs, who had a three-game win streak broken. Toskala faced 11 shots and Joseph 16 attempts. Alexei Ponikarovsky, Nik Antropov, Mikhail Grabovski, Jason Blake and Pavel Kubina had the goals for Toronto.

The Bruins nursed a 6-5 lead entering the third period, when both teams decided to use different netminders. Toskala, who was pulled in the first for Joseph, was on the ice again for the third, while Fernandez was at the other end for Boston.

Boston expanded its advantage at the 10:42 mark of the third during a power play as Ryder skated to the left circle before unleashing a shot that found the net.

Krejci then capped off his huge night with his 11th goal of the season -- a power-play tally -- with 4:16 remaining. Savard passed the puck from the right side to the left of the net where Krejci was there for the easy tap in.

Sturm, who had missed the previous 12 games with concussion-like symptoms, scored only 36 seconds into the contest. Chuck Kobasew took the original long shot that was stopped by Toskala, but Sturm was in front for the rebound.

Krejci scored nearly four minutes later on the power play from in front. Kessel assisted on the score to extend his points streak and it marked a quick goaltender change for the Maple Leafs.

Kubina's left circle shot found the back of the net on the power play at the 7:23 mark of the first.

Sturm departed the game with a left knee injury late in the opening period, but the Bruins scored three times in a span of 2:53 early in the second to expand their lead to 5-1.

Savard netted his ninth of the season, this one coming on the power play on a redirection of a shot from Zdeno Chara. Krejci scored at the 2:03 mark on a great individual effort as he skated through the left circle, got behind Joseph and scored from the left side of the net.

Kessel provided the four-goal margin with his 20th of the season at the 4:21 mark as his shot from the right circle eluded Joseph high into the net.

Ponikarovsky scored just over four minutes later, and Antropov made it 5-3 midway through the stanza on a tip-in of a John Mitchell shot.

Grabovski got a fortunate bounce and put in the disc from in close with 3:24 remaining in the second, but Kessel came right back by scoring on a shot from the right circle with two minutes left in the period.

Thomas was penalized for holding and the Maple Leafs took advantage on the power play with Blake scoring on a wrister from the right circle with 43.4 seconds left in the middle stanza.

Game Notes

Kessel also has the team's longest current ironman streak at 156 regular season games, dating back to January 9, 2007 at Ottawa. His last game missed was January 6, 2007, the final game of 11 he missed following a testicular cancer diagnosis and surgery...The Bruins are 17-2-1 in their last 20 games, outscoring their opponents by a 85-42 margin in those contests...Toronto was 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Bruins were 4-for-6...Boston's franchise mark for longest home win streak is 20, an NHL record, set during the 1929-30 season.

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Betting Football

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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.

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