Flyers head back home to take on Maple Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers return to the Wachovia Center for an important four-game homestand that begins with tonight's encounter with the road-challenged Toronto Maple Leafs.

Philadelphia just completed a stretch of four consecutive road games with a 2-1-1 record, although the playoff contenders did end the trek with a pair of losses. After being routed by Florida in a 7-4 defeat on Wednesday, the Flyers couldn't hold onto a third-period lead in Friday's 3-2 overtime setback at Buffalo.

The Flyers had grabbed a 2-1 advantage on the Sabres when Mike Richards scored unassisted off a Buffalo turnover with 8:58 left in regulation, but the hosts tied the score on an Adam Mair goal nearly three minutes later. The Sabres emerged victorious when Tim Connolly knocked home a rebound of Toni Lydman's shot from the point midway through the extra session.

We definitely could have won this game. We played well," said Philadelphia goaltender Michael Leighton. "Things just didn't bounce our way."

Leighton finished with 32 saves for Philadelphia, which also received a goal from Simon Gagne in the loss.

Coming back to the Wachovia Center, where the Flyers have won three in a row and nine of their last 11 outings, may help Philadelphia get back on track. So could a matchup with the lowly Maple Leafs, who sit in the Eastern Conference basement with 52 points and are a woeful 9-18-7 away from home this season.

Toronto did come through with a road victory on Saturday, however, after besting rival Ottawa in a shootout by a 2-1 count. That ended a string of four straight losses for the Maple Leafs, including a 3-2 shootout setback Thursday in Boston in the opener of this current three-game trip.

Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin each scored for Toronto in the deciding phase of Saturday's triumph, with goaltender Jonas Gustavsson stoning both Ottawa skaters he faced to help his team stop a seven-game road losing streak.

Gustavsson was also sharp in regulation and overtime, turning aside 22 of 23 shots prior to the shootout. Kessel, Toronto's leader with 22 goals this season, accounted for the Leafs' only tally in regulation.

"It was a hard fought game out there," said Kessel afterward. "A lot of hits, a lot of fights out there. We played well and got the two points and that's the most important thing."

Toronto did not come away unscathed, however, as forwards John Mitchell and Fredrik Sjostrom were both forced to exit Saturday's contest with upper-body injuries and may not be available tonight.

Jean-Sebastian Giguere, who has posted a solid 2.31 goals against average and two shutouts in six games since coming to the Leafs in a trade with Anaheim last month, will likely be between the pipes for Toronto this evening. He'll be facing a Philadelphia squad that's racked up a whopping 14 goals in its last two matchups with Toronto held at the Wachovia Center, including a 6-2 win on January 6.

The Maple Leafs have lost in each of their past three trips to Philadelphia, but did deal the Flyers a 4-0 loss in Ontario on January 14. Vesa Toskala, now a member of the Calgary Flames, had 38 saves for Toronto in that one.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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