Gagne nets OT winner in return, keeps Flyers alive

Hockey Betting Lines

05/07/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Simon Gagne's tally at the 14:40 mark of overtime helped the Philadelphia Flyers stave off elimination and take a 5-4 victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at Wachovia Center.

Gagne, who returned after missing four games over more than two weeks after a suffering fractured foot while blocking a shot, was alone at the right post to deflect a Matt Carle dish into the net for the game-winner.

Chris Pronger, Claude Giroux and Danny Briere each registered a goal and one assist for the Flyers, who had to battle through Mark Recchi's tying goal in the final minute of regulation along with a short-handed situation earlier in the extra session to avoid being swept.

Carle notched a career playoff-best four assists and Brian Boucher stopped 33 shots, including nine in the OT period, for the win.

Recchi notched a pair of goals, while Milan Lucic and Michael Ryder also tallied for the Bruins, who could have reached the conference finals for the first time since 1992 with a win.

Patrice Bergeron and Dennis Wideman contributed two assists apiece and Tuukka Rask made 29 saves in defeat.

Game 5 returns to Boston on Monday.

Gagne's heroics almost never came to be, if not for a pair of careless plays from one of his teammates.

Inside of a minute left in regulation, a backhanded clear by Philly forward Darroll Powe rolled well wide of the empty net resulting in an icing call. The Bruins won the resulting faceoff and kept the puck in the zone long enough for Bergeron to zip a pass across to Recchi, for a blistering shot high to the short side to tie the game 4-4 with 31.5 ticks left.

Powe also took a boarding penalty at the 10:36 mark of overtime, for his illegal run on Boston center Marc Savard, but the Bruins couldn't push one past Boucher.

Giroux failed to hit the net on a breakaway chance a little more than two minutes into the contest, and the Flyers also failed to click on a power-play chance with more than eight minutes played.

Boston took the lead with 4:23 left in the first as Recchi followed behind an unsuccessful chance by Bergeron and lifted the rebound over Boucher.

The home team kept plugging away until Briere beat Rask low to the far side from the right circle with 53.3 seconds to play in the period.

Pronger's blast from the point off a dish from Carle sizzled through traffic and gave the Flyers a 2-1 edge at 4:28 of the second period, then Scott Hartnell kicked at a loose puck under Rask for a Giroux tip-in at 8:35.

Boucher's mishandling of a dump-in resulted in Ryder being credited with Boston's second goal at 10:56 and the visitors got within one.

The Bruins evened the game with a power-play score at 3:49 of the third period, as Lucic cruised into the slot and tipped home a Wideman shot.

Desperately trying to gain separation, the Flyers took a one-goal lead with 5:40 left in regulation, as Pronger's floater from the point changed direction off Ville Leino's stick and sailed by Rask.

Game Notes

The score was Gagne's first of the 2010 playoffs, and proved to be his first postseason game-winner since Game 3 of last year's first-round series with Pittsburgh...It also was Gagne's first OT playoff tally since Game 6 of the 2004 Eastern finals against Tampa Bay...This was Recchi's first multi-goal game in the current postseason and first since scoring twice in Game 7 of an Eastern semifinal game against Toronto in 2003 when he played for Philadelphia...For Leino, it was his third goal since coming to the Flyers in early March and his first-career playoff tally.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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