Red Wings welcome Blue Jackets to Motown

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will take aim at a third consecutive victory when they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets for tonight's Central Division battle at Joe Louis Arena.

The Red Wings, who won their fourth Stanley Cup title in 11 seasons last spring, are leading the division with 94 points and are also tied with San Jose for first place in the Western Conference and the NHL.

Columbus, meanwhile, is trying to get into the postseason for the first time in franchise history. The Blue Jackets haven't helped that cause recently, dropping two of three and four of their last six games, but are still tied with Nashville and Dallas for the conference's final three playoff berths.

Detroit began its March schedule with Tuesday's 5-0 thrashing of the Blues in St. Louis and picked up another road win the following night at Colorado.

Kris Draper scored the eventual game-winner late in the second and Ty Conklin made 25 saves as the Red Wings beat the Avalanche, 3-2, at the Pepsi Center. Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula notched the other goals for Detroit.

Detroit won without star forward Marian Hossa, who leads the club with 34 goals this year. Hossa returned from a two-game absence due to a neck injury in Tuesday's game against the Blues, but suffered a head/neck injury in a violent collision with the end boards after being checked by St. Louis' Roman Polak.

Hossa remained down for several minutes before being taken off the ice on a stretcher. A CT scan was negative and Hossa is considered to be day-to-day, but he will miss tonight's game.

Tonight marks the start of a three-game homestand for the Red Wings, who are an impressive 24-4-3 as the host this year. Detroit has won four straight and eight of their last nine home tilts.

The Blue Jackets are coming off Thursday's road loss at Nashville. Steve Sullivan notched the game-winning goal late in the second period, as the Predators doubled up Columbus, 4-2, at Sommet Center.

Rick Nash and Jason Williams scored for the Blue Jackets. Steve Mason allowed all four goals on just 23 shots in the loss, dropping him to 25-16-3 on the year.

Columbus is just 12-17-4 as the visiting team this year and is playing the second of back-to-back road games tonight. The Blue Jackets have lost two straight and three of their last four games as the guest.

Detroit won the first two meetings with the Blue Jackets this season, but Columbus has charged back with victories in each of the last two encounters. The clubs have split the last 10 matchups overall, but the Jackets have dropped four straight, six of seven and nine of their last 11 tests in the Motor City.

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Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS

NFL Sports Betting

NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.

Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.

There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.

Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.

The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Betting

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