Flyers counting on another comeback

Hockey Betting Lines

06/07/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While walking around Philadelphia's Wachovia Center in the hours leading up to Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, it became clear to me that the Flyers organization and their fans are not big on subtlety.

In fact, the Flyers' default position skews to the dramatic side of things. Fans come to the arena clad in orange T-shirts that bear slogans like "Defy All Odds", "Together We Fight" and "We Bleed Orange".

Prior to Game 3, when the Flyers trailed the series 2-0, the club posted a picture of captain Mike Richards on the big screen accompanied with the famous Winston Churchill quote, "We are still masters of our fate. We are still captain of our souls."

In a sense, the Flyers market themselves as a kind of NHL version of the Oakland Raiders and, perhaps, the warrior imagery and flair for the dramatic is what makes the Wachovia Center such a tough place to play.

This was, after all, the home of the Broad Street Bullies, one of the most notorious championship teams in pro sports history. The group of players who made up the 1974 and '75 Cup title clubs -- the only two championships in franchise history -- are still worshipped as conquering heroes in the City of Brotherly Love.

Now, the Flyers will have to use the art of psychodrama to keep their Cinderella season alive for one more game. Philadelphia and Chicago will meet Wednesday night for another showdown at the Wachovia Center.

After posting a dominating 7-4 win in Sunday's Game 5, the Blackhawks will take a 3-2 series lead into that next battle, and can claim their first Stanley Cup title since 1961 with the win.

But that figures to be easier said than done for the Blackhawks, after all, this series has been owned by the home teams. Chicago proved that once again on Sunday as it improved to 3-0 on home ice in this set. The Flyers, of course, are 2-0 on Broad Street.

Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette is confident that his club can continue the trend of home dominance on Wednesday night.

"We've got to get back as a team and make sure we're ready to play our brand of hockey, our style of hockey in our building with our fans," said Laviolette. "We have to make sure we're ready to win one hockey game."

Of course, there isn't much sense in looking ahead to Game 7 yet, but if the Flyers are able to take the sixth meeting, it certainly would be tough for Philly to pull off a road win should there be a decisive contest in Chicago.

Then again, the Flyers have been counted out so many times this season it would be unwise to sound the death knell at this stage. A team that has already come back from down 3-0 in a series to win in this postseason is not going to be scared off by a mere 3-2 deficit.

"I think that when you get to this point there's a tremendous amount of confidence in your team to win hockey games," added Laviolette. "They get it and they understand it. If any team gets it, this team gets it, because we've been here so many times."

BUFF TURNS THE TABLES ON PRONGER

The most intriguing matchup of this series has been a battle between heavyweights -- Chris Pronger of the Flyers and Dustin Byfuglien of the Blackhawks.

Pronger, a towering defenseman, and Byfuglien, the game's bulkiest player, have been hammering away at each other since the Cup Finals began over a week ago. The Flyers blueliner dominated the first four games, limiting Byfuglien to just one assist in Games 1-4.

However, Chicago's mammoth winger exploded for four points in Game 5 on Sunday night, posting two goals and two assists to push his club within one game of a Stanley Cup title.

"I think last night was the biggest influence in the game he's had throughout the playoffs," Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said of Byfuglien's Game 5 effort. "He was a big factor."

Pronger, on the other hand, had his worst game of the playoffs Sunday, as he was on the ice for six of Chicago's seven goals and finished a minus-five for the night. He was a plus-seven through the first four games of the series.

Laviolette defended his No. 1 blueliner after Game 5 and was obviously not keen to make a scapegoat of Pronger.

"Our team needs to be better, the whole group, I believe, needs to be better," said Laviolette. "When we're successful, we do it as team. When we lose and we have a night that's tougher, we do it as a team. The minus 5's, are they all his fault? No."

WILL IT BE THE LEIGHT SHOW IN GAME 6?

There is some speculation as to who will be between the pipes for the Flyers in Game 6. Michael Leighton was torched for three goals in the first period and was replaced by Brian Boucher before the start of the second.

It should come as no surprise that Laviolette has been mum on who will be his starter in Wednesday's game.

"I don't comment on lineups," was all Laviolette had to say on Monday when asked if he was sticking with Leighton.

It's hard to believe he will make the switch to Boucher. Leighton was also pulled after giving up five goals in Game 1 of this series and rebounded nicely in the next game, stopping 24-of-26 shots in what turned out to be a 2-1 loss for the Flyers.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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