Blackhawks swept under by Avalanche

Hockey Betting Lines

03/02/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Richardson and Jeff Finger each had a goal and an assist, and Peter Budaj made 23 saves as the Colorado Avalanche routed the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-1, at the United Center.

Brett McLean, Tyler Arnason, Ken Klee and Mark Rycroft all tallied for the Avalanche, who have won two straight following a three game slide. Ian Laperriere and Ben Guite each had a pair of helpers for Colorado, and Joe Sakic also notched an assist, tying Doug Gilmore for 11th place on the all- time list with 964.

"The guys played well defensively today," said Budaj. "There were not a lot of scoring chances, but after we took the lead our guys stopped them the rest of the way. Chicago stopped playing after the fourth goal. It was good for us. We just kept going after them."

Tuomo Ruutu had the lone goal for Chicago, which has lost seven of its last eight games. Nikolai Khabibulin surrendered five goals on 31 shots faced.

The Blackhawks drew first blood just 1:11 in, as Ruutu gathered the puck off a shot by Adrian Aucoin and knocked the rebound past Budaj on the glove side.

The Avs then tied things 1-1 on a controversial goal at 7:43, as Richardson was pulled down from behind and went sliding into the net, taking the puck with him. The teams then continued skating for nearly two minutes because no whistle sounded and the light did not come on above the goal as the puck bounced back into play. Eventually, the replay showed both the puck and Richardson's body crossed the goal line, and after a lengthy delay, officials determined it was a goal.

Colorado made it a 2-1 game at 10:44 in the first, when Milan Hejduk's shot glanced off the right skate of Khabibulin, and McLean wristed the rebound shot into a wide open net.

After a scoreless second stanza, Arnason redirected a cross-crease pass by Richardson past Khabibulin with 7:26 remaining in the contest, making it 3-1.

Colorado then tacked on three goals inside the final two minutes.

Klee's empty net goal made it 4-1, with Sakic getting the assist with 1:52 remaining. Just 28 seconds later, Rycroft scored on a snap shot that went up and over Khabibuilin.

Finger tallied his first career NHL goal on a wrist shot with just 17 seconds to play.

"These past two weeks have been a dream come true," said Finger. "I'm excited and happy (about scoring the goal)."

Game Notes

Colorado won for just the second time in its last nine road games...Paul Stastny had an assist for Colorado, extending his point streak to 14 games (8G, 12A). It is the longest streak in the NHL since Teemu Selanne's 17- game streak during the 1992-93 season...Andrew Brunette's 11-game point streak was snapped...Rycroft has scored in three consecutive games...The season series ended at 2-2.

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Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

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Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

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Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

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