Rangers corral win at Carolina

Hockey Betting Lines

02/16/2007 - Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Nylander and Karel Rachunek each had a goal and an assist, and the New York Rangers snapped a five-game losing streak in Carolina, posting a 4-1 victory over the Hurricanes.

The Rangers had not won on the Hurricanes' home ice since Dec. 31, 2002, with an 0-5-0 mark during the stretch.

Pascal Dupuis and Brendan Shanahan also scored for the Rangers, who were coming off four days' rest and have now won three straight to move within three points of Toronto, Montreal and the New York Islanders, who are tied the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves for New York, which scored on all three of its power play opportunities. . Andrew Ladd had the lone tally for Carolina, which had won three of its last four coming in. The Hurricanes also lost more than the contest, as right winger Justin Williams and defenseman Bret Hedican both left with injuries and did not return. Hedican suffered a concussion, while Williams has an upper body ailment, putting in jeopardy his streak of 147 consecutive games played.

Cam Ward surrendered all four goals on 27 shots faced for Carolina.

A power-play tally sparked the Rangers to a 1-0 lead in the first period. In 3-on-1 coverage, Jaromir Jagr came streaking through the left circle and managed to slide a cross-ice feed to Nylander, who was just off the netminder's left side and wristed the puck past Ward with 1:14 remaining in the period.

Carolina was quick to net the equalizer, as Scott Walker tore through the neutral zone and dished to Eric Staal. The crafty center then pushed through a couple of defensemen, sliding the disc to Ladd, who was ahead of the play and beat a sliding Lundqvist on the stick-side with 30 seconds left in the stanza.

Another man-advantage resulted in another tally, putting the Blueshirts back on top, 2-1, in the second. Rachunek picked up his fourth goal of the season, rifling a long slapshot from the point that tore through traffic in front of the crease and over the left shoulder of Ward at 5:40.

New York doubled its lead later on, as Dupuis notched his first goal as a Ranger, and 11th of the season, with 3:41 remaining in the period. Matt Cullen took the initial shot from along the left boards, and Dupuis managed to deflect the puck past Ward at 16:19.

The Rangers broke the game open in the third period, claiming a 4-1 lead on another power play score. From a sharp angle off Ward's right side, Shanahan was able to corral the puck off a slapshot by Rachunek and snap it past the netminder at 4:01.

Carolina managed just six shots on goal in the final period.

Game Notes

Carolina forward Erik Cole is day-to-day with a lower-body injury that has caused him to miss three straight games...In 63 career games against Carolina, Jagr has 30 goals and 37 assists...Williams was playing in his 400th career NHL game...Carolina's Ray Whitney and Rod Brind'Amour both had five-game point streaks end...With 25 games remaining, the Rangers have more wins at this point in the season than they have had in any non-playoff seasons since 1997...Nylander extended his point streak to six games (3G, 5A)...Shanahan has four goals and four assists in his last eight games.

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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.