Sedin leads Canucks past Ducks in OT

Hockey Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Sedin scored 2:19 into overtime, as the Vancouver Canucks won their fifth straight game with a 3-2 decision over the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center.

Kevin Bieksa and Markus Naslund also scored for Vancouver, which now holds a three-point lead atop the Northwest Division over Minnesota. Dany Sabourin was very strong and allowed just two goals on 40 shots for the Canucks, who will stay in town and continue their four-game road trip against the Kings on Thursday.

"It was a good character win for us," said Naslund. "We struggled against them in the first two games this season, and we wanted to play a strong game. It was a good win."

Tim Brent and Chris Kunitz scored for the Pacific Division-leading Ducks, who have earned a point in each of their last four games (2-0-2). Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 28 saves in the losing effort.

With the score tied 2-2 in overtime, a questionable hooking penalty was called on Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer and the Canucks used the extra skater to win it. The visitors gained the blue line and set up in the offensive zone before a blazing slap shot from the point by Sami Salo sailed five feet over the net. However, the puck deflected sharply off the rear glass and caromed directly onto the stick of Sedin, who batted the bouncing puck into the cage from the right post.

"Sometimes the bounces don't go your way, but I think we battled pretty hard tonight," said Giguere. "You have to look at the positive side - we got one point."

With the win, Vancouver halted a five-game skid against the Ducks.

Brent's first career goal gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at the 6:51 mark of the opening period. Anaheim cycled the puck to maintain control in its offensive zone before a stuffer attempt at the left post by Dustin Penner. Sabourin made the save, but the puck sat along the goal line and Brent punched it home.

Although he gave the Ducks the lead, Brent's holding penalty in the second period led to a 1-1 tie. Vancouver skated 5-on-4 and Sedin carried the puck over the blue line along the right side. Sedin stopped high along the half- wall, spun around and passed into the high slot for Bieska, whose wrist shot bounced off Giguere and trickled over the goal line at 7:05.

Late in the second period, a cross-checking penalty called on Brendan Morrison allowed the Ducks to skate with the man advantage and they cashed in with 6.2 seconds to play. A centering pass by Kunitz from the left side deflected off the stick of Vancouver blueliner Willie Mitchell and caromed into the net. Kunitz was given credit for the goal, his 21st of the season.

Naslund's 20th goal 4:06 into the third knotted the contest.

Game Notes

The Canucks are now 16-12-2 on the road this season...The Ducks dominated in the faceoff circle, 33-22 (60 percent)...Sabourin made 16 saves in the second period...The visitors ended 2-for-4 on the power play, while Anaheim was 1- for-4 with the extra skater...Attendance was 17,467.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.