Balanced Habs steamroll hapless Kings

Hockey Betting Lines

03/08/2008 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Guillaume Latendresse posted a goal and an assist, as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the lowly Los Angeles Kings, 5-2, in a matinee at the Staples Center.

Patrice Brisebois, Saku Koivu, Andrei Kostitsyn and Tom Kostopoulos also tallied for the Canadiens, who momentarily jumped over New Jersey for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. New Jersey plays Toronto on Saturday night. Roman Hamrlik collected two assists, while Jaroslav Halak, making his first start of the season, finished with 35 saves.

Anze Kopitar registered a goal and an assist for the Kings, who have won just twice in their last 10 games. Rob Blake also scored and Erik Ersberg allowed four goals on 22 shots in defeat.

The Canadiens opened the scoring when Brisebois ripped a slap shot from the right point that deflected off Kopitar, causing the puck to slide between the pads of Ersberg at the 5:09 mark of the second. It was the 400th point of Brisebois' career.

Montreal's top-ranked power play made it 2-0 at 7:40. With Brian Willsie serving a two-minute minor for slashing, Mark Streit fired a shot from the right point and Koivu, skating through the slot, redirected the puck up and over the glove of Ersberg, who had dropped to his knees to protect the lower part of the net.

Latendresse put the Canadiens ahead 3-0 with 7:17 to go, but Los Angeles got on the board courtesy of the power play. On a broken play in front of Halak, Blake cruised down the slot and lifted a loose puck over the goaltender's glove with 3:07 left in the stanza. Blake's tally gave him 700 points in his career and tied Bob Berry (159) for 10th place in franchise history.

Broken glass caused the second-period intermission to be taken with 47 seconds remaining. Following the break, the teams played out the allotted time before switching ends at the start of the third frame.

Kostitsyn restored a three-goal cushion at 3:49 of the third. Tomas Plekanec fed Kostitsyn, who was standing alone in front, and jammed the puck past the left pad of Ersberg.

Kopitar's 29th goal of the season cut the deficit to two at 6:29, but Kostopoulos added an empty-net goal with 1:53 remaining to put the game away.

Los Angeles' Tom Preissing appeared to have scored a power-play goal with about nine minutes left in the first period, but the marker was waved off after Kyle Calder made incidental contact with Halak.

Game Notes

Montreal made its first trip to Los Angeles since March 6, 2004...Plekanec extended his point streak to five games (six goals, three assists)...Montreal wraps up its four-game road trip Sunday in Anaheim...Los Angeles concludes its three-game homestand Monday against Vancouver.

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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.