Flyers seek to halt skid vs. Maple Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs in tonight's Eastern Conference clash at Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers are in the midst of an 0-2-1 stretch, marking the club's lengthiest skid since it went 0-3-2 from March 31-April 8 of last season. Philadelphia has just four wins over its last 11 contests (4-4-3) and is now just two points ahead of New Jersey and Pittsburgh for second in the Atlantic Division and the fourth seed in the East.

Philadelphia's offense was frustrated time and time again in Tuesday's 1-0 home loss to the New York Islanders. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 45-of-45 shots through overtime for the Isles and then stopped both Flyers participants in the shootout. Frans Nielsen and John Tavares both tallied in the shootout to make Nabokov's amazing performance stand up for the win.

After stopping all 18 shots in regulation and overtime, Flyers netminder Ilya Bryzgalov was beat by Nielsen on a fake to the backhand that was lifted high. After Danny Briere missed for Philadelphia, Tavares blew a wrister by Bryzgalov and Nabokov sealed the win when he made a right pad save on Wayne Simmonds' backhand offering.

Bryzgalov posted his second shutout of the season and 25th of his career in the losing effort.

"We didn't score tonight," said Philadelphia head coach Peter Laviolette. "There was traffic there at times, but not always. You are cycling the puck and you need bodies to cycle the puck. You can't do it with one man. There were opportunities where we did have guys, it just didn't go."

The Flyers, who trail the New York Rangers by four points for first in the Atlantic, are playing the middle test of a three-game homestand tonight and are 12-8-5 as the host this year. Philly will complete the residency when they welcome the Rangers on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Toronto enters tonight as the seventh seed in the East and is trailing Philadelphia by just five points in the East standings. The Maple Leafs had won three straight and posted a six-game point streak (5-0-1) before dropping a regulation decision Tuesday in Winnipeg.

Bryan Little scored the eventual game-winning goal midway through the second period to lift the Jets to a 2-1 win over the Leafs.

Phil Kessel tallied in his third consecutive game for Toronto, giving him 30 goals on the season -- six shy of his career-best total with Boston in 2008-09. Jonas Gustavsson stopped 27-of-29 shots in the loss.

"They did a good job in their zone, but we didn't direct enough pucks towards the net. We were trying to make an extra play, extra pass, things like that," Toronto head coach Ron Wilson said.

Toronto killed off two penalties on Tuesday and has now gone 16 straight games without allowing a power-play goal, the longest such streak in the league since the Chicago Blackhawks went 19 consecutive games without surrendering a power-play tally in 1969-70.

The Leafs are 12-12-2 on the road this year compared to a 16-8-4 record at home. After tonight's test, Toronto will return home to host the rival Canadiens on Saturday before heading back out on a three-game trip.

The Flyers have taken two straight and six of seven overall in the series against Toronto and the Leafs have lost six of seven in Philadelphia.

Tonight's test marks the second time brothers Luke and Brayden Schenn will play against each other. Luke is a defenseman for the Leafs and Brayden is a forward for the Flyers.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.