Sharks to pay a visit to slumping Stars

Hockey Betting Lines

03/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars will meet three times before the end of March. That isn't likely to help Dallas' playoff chances.

The first of those three scheduled meetings takes place tonight, as Western Conference-leading San Jose tries to snap a two-game skid this evening at American Airlines Center versus a Dallas team that has lost six of seven since the Olympic break and will be without Mike Modano.

These two Pacific Division rivals have met three times so far this year, with the Stars winning the first two in shootouts at San Jose before the Sharks earned a 4-2 victory at Dallas on Dec. 21. San Jose is 6-1-2 in its last nine versus the Stars and has also won in four straight and eight of its last nine trips to Dallas.

The Sharks will host the Stars on March 25 before visiting Dallas in the final meeting of the regular season between the clubs six days later.

The Stars will need to figure out a way to beat the Sharks at American Airlines Center if they hope to reach the playoffs. Dallas is 1-5-1 over its last seven since the break and nine points back of a postseason spot in the Western Conference.

Dallas fell to 0-1-1 on a six-game homestand with Sunday's 5-3 setback to the Colorado Avalanche, also the club's fourth loss in a row as host.

Brandon Segal registered two goals and Jamie Benn also lit the lamp for the Stars, who outshot the Avs 51-22. However, Marty Turco allowed four goals on 18 shots before being replaced by Kari Lehtonen in the second period. Lehtonen stopped three of the four shots he encountered.

"Our guys battled hard today. There's nothing wrong with our effort," said Stars head coach Marc Crawford. "We've played extremely well. We haven't given up a lot. We just came up against a hot goaltender tonight, and he was the difference maker."

With Dallas losing its third straight overall, Crawford remained stuck on 499 victories in his coaching career. He won't have Modano on the ice tonight when he tries again for win No. 500, as the American-born skater underwent an appendectomy on Monday and is out indefinitely. The 39-year-old has 13 goals and 26 points in 54 games this year, upping his career totals to 556 goals and 1,355 points.

The Sharks come to town after losing a 4-2 test in Anaheim on Sunday, as San Jose failed to secure a season series sweep of the Ducks. San Jose also lost the opener of a six-game road trip after posting a 3-1-1 homestand.

Joe Thornton and Jamie McGinn provided the offense with third-period goals for the Sharks, who fell behind by three goals after the opening 20 minutes. Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves in the setback.

"Overall we have to play 60 minutes, and that's the bottom line," Nabokov said. "I think what killed us is the odd-man rushes against us. If you are over-thinking the games when you're losing, I think that is worse. We just have to be more cautious about that, especially in the beginning of the game. We have to play smarter."

San Jose, which has lost three of its last four on the road, still has a two- point edge over Chicago for the top seed in the West and trails Washington by five points in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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