Thrashers, Predators both aim to avoid third straight loss

Hockey Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of playoff hopefuls will try to avoid third consecutive losses tonight when the Atlanta Thrashers host the Nashville Predators at Philips Arena.

Both the Thrashers and Predators came out of the Olympic break with back-to- back victories, but have since dropped two straight.

With less than 20 games remaining on their schedules, neither team can afford a long losing streak at this stage of the season. Atlanta is currently 10th in the East and three points out of a playoff spot. Nashville is seventh in the Western Conference and just one point ahead of Detroit, which is holding on to the West's eighth and final postseason slot.

Atlanta, which made its only trip to the postseason in the spring of 2007, has been outscored 10-2 in its last two games. The Thrashers were dealt a 6-2 loss Saturday in Tampa and were blanked 4-0 the following night by visiting Carolina. Manny Legace stopped 27 shots to pick up his first shutout of the season in Carolina's win on Sunday.

Ondrej Pavelec turned aside 29-of-33 shots for the Thrashers.

"The game was obviously not what we wanted to happen," Thrashers head coach John Anderson said. "There is still time. We have to lick our wounds and get right back at it."

Atlanta is 15-11-4 as the host this year and had won three straight on home ice prior to the loss against the Hurricanes. The Thrashers' next test is in Columbus on Thursday but the club will then begin a five-game homestand, starting with Friday's test against the New York Rangers.

Meanwhile, Nashville, which is 17-13-3 as the guest this year, is kicking off a four-game road trip tonight.

The Preds were dealt a 4-2 loss Sunday by visiting Vancouver after Jannik Hansen scored the game-winner in the third period. All told, the Canucks scored three times in the final stanza to erase a 2-1 deficit after 40 minutes.

Jason Arnott and Jordin Tootoo each had a goal for the Predators, while Pekka Rinne gave up three goals on 27 shots.

"For the most part we did a pretty good job," said Nashville head coach Barry Trotz. "They're a good hockey team and you have to limit their chances and I think we did. They just made the most of the ones they did have."

Trotz will aim for his 400th career victory tonight and he can become just the seventh coach in NHL history to reach that mark with one team. Trotz is Nashville's only head coach since the franchise entered the league for the 1998-99 season.

Predators defenseman Shea Weber is expected to miss his second straight game tonight with an upper-body injury suffered Friday against Detroit. Weber is Nashville's top scoring defenseman with 36 points on the year.

Nashville posted a 4-3 home win over the Thrashers on January 30. The Preds have taken three of the last four meetings in the series, but they have just one win in their last five trips to Atlanta.

Freesoccerbetting Hockey Betting News

<< Slumping Lakers target win vs. Raptors
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers hope to avoid their longest losing streak in three seasons tonight when they hit the hardwood against the Toronto Raptors at Staples Center. The Lakers dropped their

<< 2010 Southeastern Conference Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The competition level will be through the roof in Nashville this week, as all 12 SEC teams will compete in the 51st annual conference tournament. On the line is an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and th

<< 2010 Mountain West Conference Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It is the usual suspects that are destined to do the most damage in Las Vegas this week, as the members of the Mountain West Conference descend on the Thomas & Mack Center for the 11th annual conference t

<< 2010 Pac-10 Conference Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nine team will converge on the Staples Center in Los Angeles to compete for the Pac-10 Conference Tournament championship beginning on Wednesday, March 10th. The only member of the league that isn't compet

<< 2010 Big West Conference Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 35th annual Big West Conference Tournament will once again take place at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena for a tenth straight season. The bottom four seeds of the eight-team field will take part in fi

Red Wings host Flames in matchup of playoff hopefuls >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames and Detroit Red Wings will both be aiming for a third straight victory when they meet in the Motor City tonight for a battle between playoff hopefuls at Joe Louis Arena. In addition to winning two straig

2010 Big Ten Conference Tournament Preview >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th Annual Big Ten Conference Tournament gets underway on Thursday, March 11th from Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. Purdue is the defending tournament champion, having topped Ohio State in l

Blazers welcome Kings to Rose Garden >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers hope to bounce back from one of their worst defensive performances of the season tonight when they take on the Sacramento Kings at the Rose Garden. Carmelo Anthony posted 30 points on Sunday to

Flyers try to continue mastery of Isles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers will be attempting to extend their current home winning streak in tonight's matchup with a New York Islanders team they've dominated over the past few seasons from the Wachovia Center. The Flyers ha

Jazz open trek against Bulls >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Utah Jazz hope to keep the pressure on Northwest Division-leading Denver when they begin a four-game road trip in the Windy City against a reeling Chicago Bulls team. Traditionally the Jazz don't per

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.