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02/14/2012 - Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Kesler scored the game-winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout as the Vancouver Canucks edged the Phoenix Coyotes, 2-1, at Rogers Arena.
Kesler moved in slowly and fired a quick wrist shot low to the stick side of Coyotes netminder Jason LaBarbera. Roberto Luongo stopped Boyd Gordon on Phoenix's final attempt to seal the victory.
Kesler added an assist and David Booth scored in regulation for the Canucks, who bounced back nicely from a 3-2 shootout loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday and have won four of their last five games. Luongo finished with 23 saves in the win.
"There wasn't a lot of room out there. We knew it was going to be a battle," Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler said.
Keith Yandle scored and LaBarbera had 21 saves in defeat for the Coyotes, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.
After a scoreless first 20 minutes, Vancouver finally opened the scoring at 10:40 of the second stanza when Booth collected the puck along the right wing, cut in on goal on his backhand, and beat LaBarbera with a quick forehand wrister for a 1-0 Canucks lead.
After having the better of the play for most of the third period, and limiting Vancouver to just two shots on goal, the Coyotes finally found an equalizer with a little luck with just 2:06 to go in regulation.
Yandle intercepted a clearing attempt at the blue line and threw a wrist shot on net that was deflected by Canucks' forward Byron Bitz. The change of direction fooled Luongo and wound up in the net.
LaBarbera stopped three shots in overtime, while Luongo turned aside the only shot he saw in the extra session to send it to a shootout.
"It's nice to get the goal at the end, but it would have been nice to get the two," LaBarbera said.
Game Notes
Monday marked the second meeting between the teams this season. Vancouver took the opening game of the season series, 5-0, on November 25...Since being acquired from the Florida Panthers on October 22, Booth has collected 20 points in 29 games played...Vancouver improved to 28-2-1 when Kesler records at least one point...Luongo improved to 28-33 in his career in shootouts, while LaBarbera fell to 11-9...The Canucks failed to convert on three power-play chances, while Phoenix went 0-for-2 with the extra man.
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(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.
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