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Trailing 3-1 in the series, the Denver Nuggets bounced back with two straight wins to tie their first round playoff series with the Los Angeles Lakers, setting up a pivotal Game 7 on Saturday night at the Staples Center.
The New York Yankees fresh off a tough three-game at home division series with Tampa Bay, will open another three-game weekend set on Friday when they host the Seattle Mariners who are trying desperately to turn their season around since finishing a miserable 10-and-12 in April.
The Cincinnati Reds will square off in the final game of three-games set at Milwaukee on Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Lakers will aim to close out their first round playoff series at home with a win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
The Milwaukee Brewers have not performed as expected this season, and scoring has been their main problem.
The 2012 Triple Crown horse racing season kicks off this Saturday, May 5 with the 138th running of the crowned jewel of the three races; the Kentucky Derby from fabled Churchill Downs in Louisville.
Well, the Hawks had all of the momentum in the world for a game. Plus another two and a half quarters. They had an 11-point lead with under three minutes to play in the third as they were looking to hold serve at home in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The Milwaukee Brewers have not performed as expected this season, and scoring has been their main problem.
Even though their records wouldn’t tell you this, these are the two teams atop the AL Central currently. They are each a half game up on the Tigers, but neither team is really playing their best baseball.
The Magic got off to a good start in this series by stealing Game 1 on Jason Richardson’s hot shooting. While they did take home court advantage away from the Pacers, you still have to like Indiana’s chances because of how they rebounded in Game 2.
Even though Albert Pujols finished his first month with the Angels without a homer, Anaheim returned from a rough road trip with a 4-3 victory over the equally miserable Minnesota Twins on Monday night in game one of a three games set that will continue on Tuesday.
After winning Game 1, the Hawks managed to take control of a series that not many gave them a chance in. Not only did the Atlanta win, but they flat out dominated the game. They never trailed, and the closest it got in the latter stages was just four points.
This is a match-up between the two best records in the National League. The Dodgers are fresh off of their first two home losses of the season at the hand of the Atlanta Braves, but that isn’t to say they didn’t play well. Matt Kemp hit another home run, pushing his league-leading total to 10.
The New York Rangers were anticipating a tough first round series versus the Ottawa Senators but there is no way that they could have envisioned having to win Games 6 and 7 just to move on. That is the case as the top Eastern seed hosts the pesky #8 seed in the deciding Game 7 on Thursday night.
#1 Seed in the East Rangers Hopes to Avoid Upset at the Hands of #8 Ottawa
Ottawa Senators at NY Rangers
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, April 26, 2012
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Broadcast: CBC,RDS,NBCSN,CSN-DC,NESN (HD)
Series tied 3-3
Sens vs. Rangers Betting Lines from betonline.com
Spread: Rangers -1 ½ (+175)
Moneyline: Senators +150: Rangers -165
Over/Under: 5 goals
The Ottawa Senators, it could be argued, deserve a better fate than the one that faces them – Game 7 on the road in one of the most iconic buildings in the world. But an average effort in Game 6 is the reason that they are here. Jason Spezza was benched, team Captain Daniel Alfredsson snapped and even the coach was critical of their effort.
Chances are that Ottawa will be better on Thursday night. They have brought the intensity all series long – there is no reason to think that they won’t rekindle the hate and the emotion for Game 7.
Offense hasn’t exactly been Ottawa’s strong suit in the series so far but key players are conspicuously absent at the moment. Eric Karlsson is inexplicably pointless in his last four games and Milan Michalek hasn’t been nearly the player that he was during the regular season. But it is up to the veteran on the team to get it going. Daniel Alfredsson showed plenty of emotion in Game 6 but they will need his to show up on the score sheet. Jason Spezza has three points in two games but has been prone to lapses that could cost his team in game 7.
Make no mistake about it – Craig Anderson has been the story of the series so far! He has been sensational and owns a 1.70 goals against average in the series and a save percentage hovering around .950 – amazing!
The New York Rangers are in a tough spot. Why? One could point to the poor play of Marion Gaborik in the series so far – no goals since Game 1! Although there is not a whole lot to love about the Rangers offensively they can take solace in the fact that the previously pointless Derek Stepan woke up and registered one goal and two assists in Game 6 and Brad Richards chipped in with a goal and two assists. However with the good, there is some bad. [ad-4437448]
The Rangers haven’t scored an even strength goal in over three games and in a Game 7 that will likely be short on power play chances (hopefully the referees let them play), New York will need some better five-on-five play.
No worries about Henrik Lundqvist – he has been stellar as per usual. However an interesting stat – Lundqvist is 2-5 in elimination games and has never won back-to-back elimination contests.
Betting Prediction: Ottawa is 23-7 in the last 30 meetings in New York and the road team is 21-7 in the last 28 meetings.
The road team has won four of the last six Game 7s in the playoffs. The Rangers have won the last three Game 7s at MSG but are just 3-5 all-time in deciding games while the Senators are -0-4 in Game 7s.
The New York Rangers will likely be forced to play without Brian Boyle once again on Thursday and that could be a factor. Ottawa has been the better team in the series and deserve to go through – don’t you think? Karma catches up to the Rangers and the Senators send the remaining #1 seed home Thursday.
Pick: The Underdog Senators +150
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Both of these teams are squarely into the playoffs, so they are set in that regard. Nevertheless, these two teams also each have something to play for on this shortened season’s last day.
By the time this game tips off, we’ll know a lot more about what the Suns need to do in order to make this year’s postseason. And whoever said the final two days of the NBA’s regular season wasn’t exciting watch?
