Wounded Rangers look to regroup against Blackhawks

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02/18/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One day after suffering a devastating home loss, the New York Rangers will try to rebound when the Chicago Blackhawks enter Madison Square Garden for a Sunday matinee.

New York's fading playoff hopes took a serious hit when the club fell victim to the NHL's basement-dwellers, the Philadelphia Flyers, on Saturday. Simon Gagne and Geoff Sanderson each had a goal and an assist to lead the Flyers to a 5-3 victory.

The Rangers not only lost the game, but will be without Brendan Shanahan for an indefinite period after the All-Star forward suffered a concussion during a frightening collision with Philadelphia's Mike Knuble in the third period.

Shanahan, who leads the Rangers with 28 goals, was temporarily knocked unconscious when his head struck the ice and had to be taken off in a stretcher. The 38-year-old was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital and underwent x-rays and a CT scan, which turned up negative, and was kept overnight for observation.

New York also endured injuries to two other key players on Saturday. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist did not play the third period after being hit in the left shoulder with the puck earlier in the contest, while top defenseman Marek Malik aggravated a shoulder injury that forced him to miss three previous games this month.

Lundqvist is expected to be available for today's matchup, but Malik will likely sit out the game.

Marcel Hossa, Petr Prucha and Matt Cullen accounted for the New York goals while Daniel Girardi had two assists for the Rangers, who entered the day on a three-game win streak.

Michael Nylander assisted on Prucha's tally and has now registered a helper in seven consecutive games.

The Rangers now trail Toronto, which defeated Edmonton Saturday night, by five points for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Chicago is well out of the Western Conference playoff race at the moment and has lost its last two games, both in shootouts. After coming up short against the surging Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, the Blackhawks were handed a 2-1 loss to Vancouver Friday at the United Center.

Brendan Morrison recorded the clinching goal during the shootout phase and Roberto Luongo made 34 saves to lead the Canucks.

Chicago's Patrick Lalime stopped 28-of-29 chances, but the oft-injured netminder was beaten on both shootout tries. Patrick Sharp had the only goal for the Blackhawks, who have still earned a point in their last three outings.

This will be Chicago's first appearance in Madison Square Garden since coming through with a 4-3 victory there on December 11, 2003. The Blackhawks are 6-1-1 (1 tie) in their last eight trips to Manhattan and unbeaten (3 wins, 1 tie) in their last four overall encounters with the Blueshirts.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.

MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds. 

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.

Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''

Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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