Sabres, Leafs clash in Toronto

Hockey Betting Lines

02/27/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres will look to rebound from an emotional weekend when they battle the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening at the Air Canada Centre.

Buffalo wrapped up a high energy home-and-home series on Saturday with Ottawa, a series that saw Chris Drury go down to injury, head coach Lindy Ruff get fined and the two clubs split a pair of high-scoring games.

It all started last Thursday in the Sabres' 6-5 shootout win over the Senators in Buffalo when Ottawa's Chris Neil put a vicious hit on Drury that caused the star center to hit the ice hard and sustain a cut to his forehead that required 20 stitches to close.

Drury is out indefinitely due to his laceration and concussion-like symptoms. He now joins an extended roster of injured Sabres, a list that includes forwards Ales Kotalik (sprained MCL in right knee), Daniel Paille (broken finger) and Maxim Afinogenov (left wrist surgery), and defenseman Jaroslav Spacek (broken left hand).

An all-out brawl ensued moments after the hit that included all 10 skaters on the ice and both goaltenders -- Buffalo's Martin Biron and Ottawa's Ray Emery. Heated words were also exchanged between Ruff and Ottawa head coach Bryan Murray.

After the contest, Ruff admitted to sending out his enforcers and was fined $10,000 for his actions.

The two clubs then met on Saturday with Ottawa posting a 6-5 win over Buffalo. The game was calmer than what could have been expected and only featured a pair of fights in the second period as well as some scattered roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct calls.

Henrik Tallinder recorded his first two-goal NHL game for the Eastern Conference-leading Sabres, who lost for just the second time in their last eight. Thomas Vanek had a goal and an assist, Drew Stafford and Daniel Briere notched a pair of assists each, while Jason Pominville and Derek Roy also tallied.

Briere extended his points streak to six games in the loss. He has four goals and six assists in that span.

Martin Biron stopped 12-of-16 shots before exiting the game. Ryan Miller was saddled with the loss despite giving up two goals on 21 shots in relief.

Buffalo is a solid 19-9-2 on the road this season. The Sabres will host Montreal on Friday.

The Maple Leafs were in Montreal on Monday and were handed a 5-4 defeat by the Canadiens. Bates Battaglia and Bryan McCabe each tallied a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped three of four.

Andrew Raycroft stopped only 11-of-16 shots in the loss for Toronto, which sits in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, two points out of a playoff spot. Jean-Sebastien Aubin relieved Raycroft late in the second period and turned aside all eight shots he faced.

Toronto is 12-13-5 at home this season and will travel to New Jersey on Friday.

Toronto and Buffalo have split four meetings so far this season, though the Sabres have won four of the last six and seven of the last 10.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

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.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

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

Barry Bonds 50-1

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

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.