Blues hope to continue mastery of Blue Jackets

Hockey Betting Lines

01/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been two weeks since the St. Louis Blues strung together back-to-back wins. If recent history is any indication, the team stands a good chance of accomplishing that feat when the Columbus Blue Jackets enter the Scottrade Center this evening for a clash between Central Division foes.

The Blues have won 11 of the last 14 meetings in this series, including the last eight matchups held in St. Louis. Columbus hasn't left the Gateway City with a victory since a 4-1 decision on March 27, 2007.

In their most recent trip to the Scottrade Center, the Blue Jackets were handed a 4-1 loss on January 12 behind a two-goal performance from St. Louis' Alexander Steen.

Steen also had an impact in the Blues' latest win, netting the go-ahead goal early in the third period of Thursday's 2-1 besting of the downtrodden Edmonton Oilers. Eric Brewer provided the other goal for St. Louis, while Chris Mason stopped 24-of-25 chances between the pipes.

"It was a tough game for us," said Mason afterward. "We didn't play as well as we would have liked, but we stuck with it and were lucky enough to keep them off us in the third period."

Mason and the St. Louis defense made Steen's goal stand up by allowing few quality chances in the final period, despite the Oilers mounting 10 shots on net.

The Blues may have some reinforcements along the blueline available for tonight's contest. Carlo Colaiacovo is expected to return from a lower-body ailment that's kept him out of the last four games, while former No. 1 overall pick Erik Johnson is questionable after missing Thursday's outing with an upper-body issue.

St. Louis' Andy McDonald will be carrying a six-game scoring streak into tonight's bout after assisting on Brewer's tally. The veteran forward has notched two goals and four assists over that span.

Columbus will be seeking to turn around a rough stretch of six losses in a nine-game span that has dropped the team into 14th place in the Western Conference standings. The most recent defeat occurred on Thursday, when Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar scored a pair of goals to lead the Kings to a 4-1 triumph at Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets received a shaky showing out of goaltender Steve Mason, with the 2008-09 Calder Trophy recipient stopping only 14-of-18 chances, while Antoine Vermette managed the lone goal among Columbus' 30 shots.

"The first 12 minutes was the best we've played in a long time," Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Everybody was going and we were doing the things we needed to do. We didn't stay with it."

Steve Mason could be getting some needed support tonight, as Columbus is hopeful that defensemen Anton Stralman and Milan Jurcina will be available after both missed Thursday's loss with the flu.

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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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