Rangers and Thrashers both try to end slides in Atlanta

Hockey Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of four-game losing streaks have made a possible road to the postseason a bit harder for the Rangers and Thrashers. Only one team will be able to reverse its misfortunes tonight.

Atlanta will try to sweep the season series and record a sixth straight victory over New York this evening at Philips Arena, where the Rangers try to avoid matching their longest losing streak of the season.

The Thrashers come into this meeting with 66 points, one back of the ninth- place Rangers in the Eastern standings and six back of the Bruins for the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference.

Atlanta, though, has dropped four straight in regulation while New York is 0-2-2 over its last four games. The Thrashers do come in with a bit of a mental edge, as they have won five straight over the Rangers, four of those in a shootout, and all three meetings this season. Atlanta has also defeated New York in two straight and five of the last six played at Philips Arena.

Tonight is the final meeting of the regular season this year between the clubs and also marks the first time the Thrashers take on the Rangers without Ilya Kovalchuk, who had a goal, three assists and a shootout winner for Atlanta in the series before getting traded to New Jersey back on February 4.

The Thrashers, who last swept a season series with the Rangers in 2002-03, kick off a five-game homestand tonight after dropping a 2-1 decision in Columbus on Thursday. The setback by Atlanta allowed idle Washington to clinch the Southeast Division for a third straight season.

Johnny Oduya got Atlanta on the board with 2:21 left in the game, while Johan Hedberg made 19 saves.

"When it's not going for you, it's not going for you," Atlanta coach John Anderson said. "We got a little bit of a bounce with one of the goals for us but we are not getting any breaks right now. We only allowed 21 shots on goal. It is a difficult loss."

The game saw the season debut of Atlanta defenseman Chris Chelios, who was called up from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. The 48-year-old has now played in the NHL for 26 consecutive seasons since his debut with Montreal in the 1983-84 season.

The Rangers are coming off a regulation loss to the Devils on Wednesday, losing a 6-3 test in Newark. Vinny Prospal, Erik Christensen and Brandon Prust all scored for the Rangers, but Henrik Lundqvist allowed five goals on 17 shots before being relieved by Alex Auld late in the second period. Auld made nine saves the rest of the way.

"It was a tough [game]. I felt we played pretty good, just a couple sequences where the puck didn't bounce our way," Lundqvist said.

The Rangers, who have lost a season-high five in a row twice this year, also lost for the seventh time in their last 10 road games.

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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

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