Canadiens snap Flyers' five-game win streak

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12/18/2008 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergei Kostitsyn, Steve Begin and Guillaume Latendresse each posted a goal and an assist, as the Montreal Canadiens knocked off the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2, at the Bell Centre.

Alex Kovalev and Matt D'Agostini also lit the lamp for the Canadiens, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Robert Lang recorded two assists, while Jaroslav Halak made 29 saves.

Arron Asham registered a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who had won five games in a row, one shy of their season-high (November 15-26). Antero Niittymaki allowed five goals on 31 shots in defeat.

Montreal went in front on a 4-on-4 situation. Maxim Lapierre dished a perfect cross-ice pass to D'Agostini, who was streaking a step behind the Flyers defense down the left side of the rink. On the breakaway, D'Agostini was able to beat Niittymaki between the legs for the goal six minutes into the game.

The Canadiens, who came into the game with one power play goal in their last six games, made it 2-0 on Kostitsyn's slap shot from the slot on the man advantage at the 10:33 mark of the first.

Begin made it 3-0 in favor of the hosts on a tip-in with 4:34 to go in the opening frame.

Asham brought the Flyers within two, though, taking a Scottie Upshall pass in the slot and blasting it past Halak just 32 seconds later. Philadelphia had a chance in the waning seconds of the period to make it a one-goal game, but Upshall hit the post on a shot that clearly beat Halak on the glove side.

Kovalev restored a three-goal edge for the Canadiens at the 6:20 mark of the middle stanza. The Russian veteran waited at the opposing blue line, gathered an outlet pass from Begin, skated in alone and ripped a shot past Niittymaki on the stick side for his seventh goal of the season and 900th career point.

Braydon Coburn lit the lamp for Philadelphia with 6:32 left in the third period, but Latendresse's power-play marker in the waning moments sealed the victory for the Canadiens.

Game Notes

Kovalev has 27 career goals against Philadelphia, the most of any active player...Montreal defenseman Mike Komisarek returned from a 16-game absence with a shoulder injury and notched an assist...Martin Biron sat out his second straight game with the flu and Scott Munroe served as the backup to Niittymaki, who had won his previous five starts...Glen Metropolit had two helpers for Philadelphia...Montreal went 2-for-6 on the power play, while the Flyers finished 0-for-2...Flyers captain Mike Richards' eight-game point streak was snapped.

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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

RSS Sports Betting Odds Feeds

Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.

Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds

Will he or won't he?  Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.

Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.

"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."

Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.

Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.

But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.

Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback.  It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.

Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1


Atlanta Falcons 50-1


Baltimore Ravens 15-1


Buffalo Bills 50-1


Carolina Panthers 18-1


Chicago Bears 10-1


Cincinnati Bengals 15-1


Cleveland Browns 100-1


Dallas Cowboys 15-1


Denver Broncos 15-1


Detroit Lions 100-1


Green Bay Packers 50-1


Houston Texans 100-1


Indianapolis Colts 6-1


Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1


Kansas City Chiefs 30-1


Miami Dolphins 40-1


Minnesota Vikings 75-1


New England Patriots 10-1


New Orleans Saints 18-1


New York Giants 20-1


New York Jets 30-1


Oakland Raiders 100-1


Philadelphia Eagles 18-1


Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1


Saint Louis Rams 60-1


San Diego Chargers 6-1


San Francisco 49ers 75-1


Seattle Seahawks 20-1


Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1


Tennessee Titans 40-1


Washington Redskins 50-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook credit cards needs.