Devils pick up win over Rangers in New York

Hockey Betting Lines

12/27/2008 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Zajac had a goal and two assists, as the New Jersey Devils topped the New York Rangers, 4-2, at Madison Square Garden.

Zach Parise and Patrik Elias each finished with a goal and an assist, while Brian Rolston also scored for New Jersey, which had been shut out in each of its last two games.

Scott Clemmensen made 31 saves for the Devils, who beat the Rangers at MSG for the first time since a shootout win on February 22, 2007 -- and for the first time in regulation since December 17, 2006.

Nigel Dawes and Dmitri Kalinin each scored for New York, which has lost three in a row after winning three consecutive contests. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 31-of-35 shots in the loss.

The Devils entered Saturday's contest having not posted a goal since a December 21 shootout win over Philadelphia, but quickly snapped their scoring drought. Rolston's blast from the blueline on the power play, coming 2:54 into the game, gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead and ended its scoreless streak at 159:18.

Then, just over a minute later while the Rangers had a man advantage, Zajac harassed a pair of New York players by the blue line, intercepting a short pass. He fired the puck to Elias, who skated in on Lundqvist alone and buried the disc in the net for a 2-0 Devils lead, at 4:14.

But the Rangers managed to score on the same power play, exactly one minute after Elias' goal. Dawes grabbed the puck in the slot off a deflected shot, and sent a backhander between Clemmensen's pads to make it a 2-1 contest.

The score stayed that way headed into the second period, though Zajac tipped in Elias' shot with 8:48 left in the middle frame to give New Jersey a two- goal lead again.

Clemmensen was stellar in the second period, stopping all 17 shots he saw.

The Rangers got back within a goal at the 8:59 mark of the third period on Kalinin's first goal of the season, but Parise helped seal the game for the Devils.

Jamie Langenbrunner had the puck behind the net and peeked around the left side, shooting a short pass out front. Parise was there to put a shot by Lundqvist with 7:02 remaining for a 4-2 lead, and New Jersey held on from there.

Game Notes

Each team was 1-for-4 on the power play...New Jersey had lost five in a row at MSG against the Rangers...The Devils play at St. Louis on Tuesday...The Rangers host the Islanders on Monday.

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.

MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.