Iginla leads Flames past Sharks

Hockey Betting Lines

02/25/2007 - Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jarome Iginla scored two goals and added two assists to help the Calgary Flames to a 7-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks at Pengrowth Saddledome.

Matthew Lombardi had a goal and an assist and Alex Tanguay and Roman Hamrlik each added three helpers for the Flames, who had lost three of four coming into the game.

Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 33 shots in the win for Calgary, which with 73 points holds the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Mike Grier had a goal and an assist and Evgeni Nabokov was shelled for six goals on 22 shots for the Sharks, who had won their previous two games.

San Jose currently resides in fifth place in the Western Conference with 77 points and is three points behind Anaheim for first place in the Pacific Division.

The score was tied, 4-4, heading into the third period, but Calgary grabbed the lead just 34 seconds into the frame when Tanguay chased down the puck at the right circle and centered it to Iginla, who one-timed it into the right corner.

The Flames added some insurance with 3:05 to go when Iginla fought off a checker and sent a pass from the left boards to the slot where Langkow one- timed it over the glove of Nabokov for a 6-4 lead.

Marcus Nilson's empty-net goal accounted for the final score.

The Flames scored twice in the first period and took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

On the power play, Kristian Huselius slid a pass from the left circle to the right where Dion Phaneuf snapped a wrist shot over the glove of Nabokov just 5:26 in.

A little over two minutes later, Lombardi sent a wrist shot on net that Nabokov saved, but Daymond Langkow tucked in the rebound.

The second period saw an offensive outburst with a total of six goals being scored by the two clubs.

San Jose got things going when Mark Bell fired a shot from the low right side that Kiprusoff saved, but Matthew Carle was in front of the net and banged in the rebound 4:36 in.

Just over a minute later, Grier fed a backhand pass from the left circle to the low slot where Joe Pavelski tapped it in for his second goal of the year to tie the game.

San Jose took its first lead of the game, 3-2, when Grier skated in on a breakaway, deked to the backhand and slid the disc into the net for a shorthanded goal with 4:49 left in the frame.

Calgary immediately answered as Iginla tipped in a point shot from Hamrlik just eight seconds after Grier's goal.

The Sharks again took the lead when Kyle McClaren picked up an errant clearing attempt and blasted a shot from the right circle into the left corner of the net with 1:04 left in the second.

However, the Flames again had the answer as Lombardi's wrister on a breakaway beat Nabokov between the pads with 33 second left in the second.

Game Notes

Calgary plays in Phoenix on Monday...San Jose returns home to face Anaheim on Monday...San Jose went 1-for-7 on the power play while Calgary scored on two of its four chances.

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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.