Hartnell helps Predators top Coyotes

Hockey Betting Lines

02/20/2007 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Hartnell scored a pair of early second- period goals in a 23-second span for the fastest two goals ever scored by any Predator, as Nashville regained possession of first place in the Central Division with a 4-1 win over the slumping Phoenix Coyotes.

Jean-Pierre Dumont had a goal and an assist for Nashville, which briefly lost its grasp on the top spot in both the Central and the Western Conference following Saturday's loss to Minnesota at the Gaylord Entertainment Center, as the Wild spoiled Peter Forsberg's debut as a Predator by scoring three times in the third period en route to a 4-1 victory.

Forsberg, acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday in the year's biggest in-season deal thus far, was not a factor in his second game with his new club. While still held without a point in Nashville, the five-time All- Star and 2003 Hart Trophy winner was productive with five shots on goal.

Jason Arnott also scored for Nashville, which has split its last four games. Tomas Vokoun stopped 22 shots in goal. Standout defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who was scratched from the lineup against Minnesota with an upper-body injury, returned for this tilt.

The Predators are an outstanding 22-5-3 on home ice this season.

Oleg Saprykin scored for Phoenix, which is currently mired in a season-worst six-game losing streak, the club's longest since a six-game slide from March 22-31, 2003. Curtis Joseph stopped 31-of-35 shots.

With a penalty shot after getting taken down by Ed Jovanovski, Dumont got Nashville on the board with 1:11 remaining in the first period on a snap shot to the stick side, as the Predators held a 1-0 first-intermission lead.

In the second, they blew the game open. Arnott scored by backhanding in a loose puck after Steve Sullivan's centering pass just 39 seconds into the period.

Then, Hartnell got going. With 5:34 gone in the second, he led a 2-on-1 break and cut across the crease to beat a sprawling Joseph glove-side. Capping another fast-break, 23 seconds later, Hartnell took advantage of a pair of defenders colliding in the slot, and got off a wrister stick side for a 4-0 Nashville lead.

Phoenix finally got on the board when Saprykin deflected in Keith Ballard's missed shot from the point 17:14 into the final period.

Game Notes

Jovanovski got hit in the collarbone with a puck late in the third. He left under his own power, but did not return...This game marked the final meeting between these teams this season. The Coyotes won two of the three previous encounters, but dropped a 4-1 decision to the Preds in the Music City back in October...Phoenix has lost in each of its last five visits to Nashville and continued a seven-game winless streak (6 losses, 1 tie) at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The Coyotes' last road win in this series came on October 22, 2002.

Wwwvegasinsider Hockey Betting News

<< Teuflesberg posts upset victory in Southwest Stakes
Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five weeks after finishing a distant third to Hard Spun at the Fair Grounds, 23-1 longshot Teuflesberg registered a major upset on Presidents' Day over the Kentucky Derby hopeful. Teuflesberg went wire to

<< Kotalik out 4-to-6 weeks
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Sabres forward Ales Kotalik is expected to be sidelined the next 4-to-6 weeks due to a right knee injury. Kotalik suffered the injury in Saturday night's shootout loss to Boston. He has 14 goals an

<< Loit wins first-rounder in Bogota
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Frenchwoman Emilie Loit was among Monday's first-round winners at the $175,000 Copa Colsanitas Santander tennis tournament. Loit leveled Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-1 on the re

<< Golf Course Review - Ocean Hammock Golf Club
Palm Coast, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FACTS & STATS: Course Architect: Jack Nicklaus. Year Opened: 2000. Location: Palm Coast, Florida. Slope: 147. Rating: 77.0. Par: 72. Yardage: 7,201. Hole-by-Hole: 1 - Par 4 380 Yds 10 - Par 5 522 Yds

<< Rivera out in Chicago; eyeing Chargers
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears announced Monday that defensive coordinator Ron Rivera will not return for a fourth season. The club has given the former standout linebacker permission to speak with the San Diego C

Hayward, No. 16 Golden Eagles down Wildcats >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lazar Hayward scored a career-high 18 points, and the 16th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles topped the Villanova Wildcats, 80-67. Dominic James also scored 18 points for Marquette (22-7, 9-5 Big East

Lady Vols nip LSU to secure SEC crown >>
Baton Rouge, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Candace Parker scored 27 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, as second-ranked Tennessee won its 12th consecutive Southeastern Conference regular season title with a 56-51 triumph over No. 7 LSU.

Tenkrat, Bruins top Flyers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Petr Tenkrat scored a pair of goals to guide the Boston Bruins past the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-3, at the Wachovia Center. Marc Savard finished with a goal and two assists and P.J. Axelsson tallie

No. 15 Bulldogs top Phoenix >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Graves scored 20 points and Brandon Crone added 17 to lead 15th-ranked Butler to a 68-58 victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay. Mike Green tallied 13 points and Pete Campbell finished w

Roitman tops fellow countryman Acasuso >>
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Roitman defeated eighth seed and fellow Argentine Jose Acasuso, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 at the round-robin $445,000 Copa Telmex tennis event on Monday. Acasuso was the runner-up at this event in 2001

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com