Hossa leads Thrashers over Bruins

Hockey Betting Lines

02/27/2007 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marian Hossa scored the game-winning goal to help the new-look Atlanta Thrashers to a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Banknorth Garden.

Atlanta made a couple of big moves over the weekend that the team hopes will improve its chances in the playoffs.

First, Atlanta sent defense prospect Braydon Coburn to Philadelphia in exchange for Alexei Zhitnik on Saturday. Then on Sunday, the Thrashers picked up Keith Tkachuk from St. Louis in exchange for forward Glen Metropolit, first and third round draft choices in 2007 and a second-round draft pick in 2008. Tkachuk has 20 goals and 23 assists on the season and 911 career points (466 goals, 445 assists).

Zhitnik tallied an assist while Tkachuk was held off the scoreboard in their first game with Atlanta.

Scott Mellanby and Eric Belanger each scored a goal for the Thrashers, who had lost six of seven coming into the game.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 22 shots for Atlanta, which has 74 points, good for sixth place in the Eastern Conference and one point behind Tampa Bay for first place in the Southeast Division.

Shane Donovan and Brad Boyes each scored a goal while Tim Thomas made 17 saves for the Bruins, who have dropped their past two games after a four-game winning streak.

Boston has 64 points and currently resides in 11th place in the Eastern Conference.

The game was tied, 2-2, to start the third period, but Atlanta grabbed the lead when a wrist shot by Hossa at the top of the left circle went through a screen and over the glove of Thomas 7:28 in.

The Thrashers held Boston off the scoreboard, also killing two Boston power plays, the remainder of the game for the win.

The Bruins drew first blood in the game when a shot by Jason York at the right point was stopped by Lehtonen, but the rebound bounced out to the slot and Donovan's turnaround shot went into the net just 1:29 in.

Atlanta, though, answered on the power play when a shot by Andy Sutton at the top of the left circle hit off of Mellanby and went by Thomas with 5:25 left in the first.

However, the Bruins took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission when a wrist shot by Boyes at the left circle went through a screen and into the net with 1:38 left in the frame.

The Thrashers tied the game just 2:09 into the second period when Greg De Vries sent a pass from the right side across the goalmouth to Belanger, who tapped the puck into the open net for his 11th goal of the season.

Game Notes

Atlanta hosts Ottawa on Friday...The Bruins continue their three-game homestand on Thursday when they face Philadelphia...Atlanta has won all three games against Boston this season and five straight overall...Atlanta went 2- for-5 on the power play while Boston was held off the scoreboard in all four of its chances...Hossa has 36 goals on the season...Atlanta's Slava Kozlov had two assists in the game.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.

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