Jets wrap road trip against Canadiens

Hockey Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luckily for the Winnipeg Jets, they got a day of rest before wrapping their six-game road trip.

The Jets hope to break even on the swing this afternoon in a meeting with the Montreal Canadiens, who are still searching for their first victory since the All-Star break.

Winnipeg is 2-3 on its second-longest road trip of the season -- it had a seven-game swing from Oct. 27-Nov. 8 -- and picked up a big win over Tampa Bay on Thursday. However, the Jets were in action again the following night and dropped a 2-1 test to the Panthers, falling to 0-9-0 in the second half of games on consecutive nights.

Chris Mason made 28 saves and Bryan Little had the goal for the Jets, who were looking to win three straight on the road for the first time since Dec. 4-13, 2010. Instead, the 10th-place club in the East fell five points behind Florida for first place in the Southeast Division.'

"Our team can't give up 20 minutes of free play and expect to win the game," Jets head coach Claude Noel said. "If we would have played the first 20 minutes, there's the one goal they got, you still have a chance to win the game."

The Canadiens have yet to do any winning since the All-Star break. They looked to have picked up some much-needed momentum with a big 7-2 win over the Red Wings before the hiatus, but have been outscored 11-4 in three games since. That includes yesterday's 3-0 loss to the visiting Capitals.

Former Montreal goaltender Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves for Washington, while Habs backup Peter Budaj made 20 saves. He also faced a pair of penalty shots in the game, stopping one of them.

"The intensity was in the right place," said Montreal coach Randy Cunneyworth. "We were doing the right things, but unfortunately it resulted in our third loss this week."

Montreal's Scott Gomez remains without a goal through his first 22 games of this season and he hasn't scored in a year, since Feb. 5 of last season.

The Canadiens lost the opener of a three-game homestand and have dropped five of their last seven as the host.

The Habs have won four of their last five versus the Jets franchise and responded from a 4-0 shutout loss in Winnipeg in late December with a 7-3 home win on Jan. 4. Lars Eller posted his first career four-goal game in the Montreal win.

The Jets have lost two straight and six of their last eight in Montreal.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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