Wild try to halt slide vs. Blue Jackets

Hockey Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild will try to snap a three-game losing streak tonight when the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets come to town for a battle at Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild have gone 0-2-1 in their last three games after winning three out of four prior to the skid. Minnesota is tied with Calgary for the 11th seed in the West and is two points behind Phoenix for the conference's eighth and final postseason berth.

Columbus, meanwhile, is dead last in the NHL with just 36 points on the year. The Blue Jackets had won two in a row before losing Thursday in Dallas for their seventh setback in nine games.

At an earlier point in the season, Minnesota was considered a pleasant surprise, but the Wild have squandered away a good start with a 5-14-5 record in their last 24 games. Head coach Mike Yeo sounded off about his team's struggles over the past few months following his club's 5-2 setback Thursday against the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

"We flat out stink the last two months," Yeo said. "We come in and don't have a good enough effort from too many guys and that's concerning. I'm concerned about the fact that we come into games and we don't have enough guys that should have absolute desperation in their game."

Minnesota did score just 13 seconds into the game against the Canucks, but Vancouver held a 2-1 edge by the end of the first period and would build that lead to 4-1 by midway through the third period.

Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi scored for Minnesota and Niklas Backstrom gave up four goals on 19 shots. One good sign for the Wild was the return of captain Mikko Koivu, who had missed the previous eight games with a left shoulder injury. Koivu was a plus-1 in nearly 23 minutes of ice time on Thursday.

The loss to the Canucks was a bad way to start a four-game homestand for the Wild, who are 13-8-3 at home this year compared to a 12-13-5 record on the road.

Columbus was trying for its first three-game win streak of the season against Dallas on Thursday, but dropped a 4-2 decision to the visiting Stars. Dallas led the game by a 3-0 score in the second period before the Blue Jackets cut the deficit to 3-2 by the end of 40 minutes. Jamie Benn's second goal of the game -- an empty-netter in the final second -- sealed the win for Dallas.

Curtis Sanford was roughed up early for Columbus, but he held the Stars scoreless after the early minutes of the second period, stopping 31-of-34 shots overall. Vinny Prospal and Rick Nash scored for the Blue Jackets, who were trying to win three straight for the first time since last February.

"I liked the way we battled back," said Blue Jackets interim head coach Todd Richards. "The problem was we weren't ready from the start."

Columbus ended a seven-game road skid with an overtime win in Anaheim on Feb. 3, but the Jackets are still just 6-19-3 as the guest this season.

The Wild have recorded a pair of 4-2 victories over Columbus this year, winning one at home and one on the road. The Blue Jackets have taken four of seven overall in this series, but Minnesota has claimed five of the last seven encounters in St. Paul.

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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.